Something is wrong with my system and I am not sure how to best test each hardware item to determine the broken culprit. Problem: system starts up but no booting 'seems' to be happening. Monitor never activates during startup. ( I tested monitor with other machine - its not the monitor) 1. The power and HD lights come on but soon thereafter the HD lights goes out. I thought is way perhaps the HD's but for both to go out at once is highly unlikely. I tested each one hooked up to the system as individual HDs. Same result with the light. 2. I removed the CMOS battery for 5 minutes to reset BIOS. Unchanged 3. I removed, cleaned, reseated, regreased CPU and HSF. 4. Same for memory as in 3 5. I cleaned entire box and system inside. I thought dust might have been shorting something out. 6. All fans on all parts that have fans are working. 7. Video card. I have no idea how to go about really testing this since no monitor image ever is displayed. I don't have another video card to drop in there. I removed the video card and then started up and got the traditional long-short-short beeps, so, hopefully I can assume the mobo is ok. But, when I took out the video the system still didn't seem to boot as I didn't see the HD light do its flicker dance as it loaded the OS. 8. CPU? How would one go about testing this. Again, I don't have another CPU laying around to try a swap test. I'm not sure how systematic I have been in trouble shooting all of this but if anyone has any ideas or suggestions on things I might have missed, please chime in. FYI, I don't have extras of anything, except for the two HD's that are in the system. Oh, I do have two sticks of 512 memory in the system. Again, any constructive input would be appreciated. Especially on how to test items when no replacements are available to do it that way.

Hi: IF Fans work,But No Video, No drive access, No boot It Seems like you have a (motherboard problem or CPU problem) Bon Courage..

Best way to troubleshoot hardware is to strip it down to the bare mininimum, then go from there. All you need to be able to boot is the power supply, board, CPU w/HSF, ONE stick of RAM, video card (or onboard), keyboard, & monitor...nothing else. All other cards should be removed, all drives should be disconnected (power & ribbon cables), no mouse, no USB devices. Hellz Yea!

Can you list the hardware you have? Especially, what motherboard is it? Removing the CMOS battery for 5 minutes usually isn't enough to reset the BIOS. You need to set the jumper as well. The most simple/common way to troubleshoot hardware is to either replace suspect hardware, or pop the hardware in a different machine; like you did with the monitor. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like you have much spare hardware or a spare computer. I agree with poweraid. But it also sounds like it could be a power supply problem. One thing you didn't mention is re-connecting all the power and data cables. This is a standard thing to try. This includes the main power connector. Another thing to try is to disconnect all drives (HD and cdrom), and any extra peripherals (like an add-on sound-card) and only insert 1 memory module. Basically, only hook up the minimal configuration to get into the BIOS. If this works at all, it starts the process of elimination. If it doesn't work, well, we would still suspect the motherboard first, then possibly the powersupply. If your motherboard has onboard video, I would remove the video card and try using the onboard.

G'day, I would just like to add a few ideas to the already good advice you have. Do what has been suggested and add a card a time starting from the most basic configuration that works. Try and beg steal or borrow a multimeter. Use this to monitor the supply rails (+5v and +12v in particular and/or the 3V3 volt rail if you've got it). If you "see" any activity like a fall (or sometimes even a rise) in volts, that might point to the device just being added as being the culprit. Just a few other points: 1 check all connectors for loose contacts- particularly video connectors that can have pins missing or even loose so that they look ok but collapse into the socket when you connect to your motherboard. 2 Make sure all fixings are isolated from earth- if some parts are not fully spaced you could get a low impedance path, say, when you push a card in as the motherboard might bend at that point. 3 Similarly give the motherboard a good visual inspection for cracks, shorts etc and inspect capacitors and other components for any obvious damage or wear. That's all: as frustrating as this can be , it will be a learning experience. Good luck Elric