Why won't my PC boot?

[skip_1]

Everytime I start my PC i have to go through the process of yurning it on and off with the power button, at least 6-7 times before it brings up the boot screen. Then it takes another few attempts to locate the IDE drives and boot up.

Any ideas?

[Man-At-Arms]

operating system ?

age of components ?

time for a backup and reinstall ?

[paddyhasneeds]

If when you say "boot screen" you mean the BIOS (the bit that typically has the manufacturers logo and where it says "Press XYZ to choose boot options" and so on) then it could be almost anything causing it:

Bad PSU
Bad Hard Drive
Bad RAM (seems unlikely)
Bad motherboard or drive controller
Dodgy cables

Best thing to do assuming it's a desktop is to crack it open and start from basics and see if you can isolate anything i.e. try with just a motherboard with a HDD plugged in and some memory.

[skip_1]

Yes it is the Bios screen. The PC is within a year old. The issue started a few weeks after upgrading Vista to W7. It is a desktop so I can crack it open and see if anything is loose, but that's as far as my skills go. Wondering if it was software (that I might be able to fix) or if I can't find anything loose within then a PC shop jobby.

[Cerberus90]

It shouldn't be software.

Because, at that stage of boot up, its just the BIOS.

So its most likely hardware.

However, it could be anything. Could be a short circuit, it could be the PSU failing.

[skip_1]

Thanks for the help. I'll open it up and take a peek, if I can't see anything I'll drop it in the local computer shop.

Wondering if it took a knock when I was moving house

Edited by skip_1 on Sunday 7th March 19:21