Computer Forums - View Single Post - Bad PSU, Video, MotherBoard? How do I test?

guyladouche · #7 (**permalink**) 03-09-2007, 07:21 AM

I don't think it's the PSU--the computer "powers on" just fine--but it stalls on the POST (stands for Power On Self Test). This could be due to quite a few things, but the simplest way to get around it (if it's a problem with a setting in the BIOS) would be to reset the CMOS--that's the thing that remembers settings in the BIOS when the computer is not on. But if there was some problem, and a setting in the BIOS got screwed up, resetting the CMOS would be the simplest thing. Typically this is done by switching a jumper between two of three pins--shorting one pair of pins keeps everything in the memory, and shorting the other pair clears the CMOS and resets the settings to stock--this will also reset your system clock as well. On nicer motherboards, it's a simple button that you press instead of moving the jumper to the number 2 and 3 pins, then putting it back on the 1 and 2 pins.

If you have custom settings in the BIOS, you'll have to re-do those. But if the system is hanging before/during the POST (and assuming you don't have catastrophic hardware failure like the CPU or RAM), it's likely the computer is stuck on something that is enabled/disabled in the BIOS which prevents it from starting up correctly.