Let’s have a look at power supply issues.
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Power Problems
When dealing with power problems, they will generally take two forms. First, when there is no power. No power essentially means the computer won’t start up. Generally, this occurs due to cabling problems or a dead power supply.
The other type of problem is intermittent. These problems appear to happen randomly. Usually, this is either a stop error, otherwise known as a blue screen of death, or in the second case, a random unexpected restart where the screen suddenly goes black and the computer reboots.
Let’s have a look at how to troubleshoot these problems.
Check for Any Signs of Life
The first step is to check for any sign of power going to the computer. So, let’s have a look at the front of the computer and see if there are any lights on. If there aren’t any, press the power button right in. If you are getting nothing, make sure you push it all the way in and hold it for a second or so. If the computer is sleeping or hibernating, sometimes it may have trouble waking up from a quick button push and so you may need to hold it down for a bit longer.
The next thing to check for is are there any fans spinning? In a lot of computers, the power supply fan will be spinning when the computer is working. However, some power supplies are designed to be as quiet as possible. Thus, if the power supply is not very hot, the fan may not be spinning. So, don’t assume that because the fan is not spinning that there is a power problem.
You will notice on this computer, when I plug the power into the computer it will spin the fans up briefly to test them. This is not the case with all computers. If your computer does do this, unplugging the computer and plugging it back in is a good test to make sure it has power. Keep in mind that, with some computers, the capacitors in them will need to drain before this approach works. Therefore, you may need to leave it unplugged for 20-30 seconds to allow the capacitors to drain before plugging the power cable back in.
Another thing you can look for is motherboard lights or lights on other devices. If you have a see-through panel on your computer case, you should be able to see the lights on the motherboard. In this video we are trying to find power problems, thus we are simply trying to identify any lights on the motherboard that may show that it is getting power.
In computing, you want to work out what is working and what is not. If the power supply is completely dead, no power will be going to the motherboard. At this stage, we are just trying to find any sign of life to indicate that the power supply is working.
Check Other Equipment is Working
If you can’t see any signs of life in the computer, check if other equipment is working. Make sure equipment on the same circuit is working. Don’t assume that power outlets next to each other are on the same circuit. Different outlets may be on different circuits. If the outlet is a different color, then that is generally a good sign it is on a different circuit. Different color outlets may indicate that a circuit is on a UPS or a backup generator. Standard color power outlets are generally just connected to a regular power supply.
If you are not sure or the outlet is difficult to get to, you can always test that the power cable works. One of the simplest ways to do this is to unplug the computer and plug it into the monitor. This will test the power cable going to the computer and also that the power outlet is working. By doing this, we have now troubleshooted and shown that power is getting to the computer.
Disconnect Extra Devices
If all this fails, you can consider removing extra devices to see if any of them are causing the problem. This will reduce the power draw on the computer and also possibly remove any damaged devices that may be causing the issue.
If the computer is drawing more power than the power supply can provide, it may not start up. This is not a common problem. Although the computer draws a lot of power at start up, this is less than when the computer is under a high load. Usually, you will see this problem as random crashes when you put the computer under load. But you never know, maybe someone has built the computer with a very underrated power supply.
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References
“The Official CompTIA A+ Core Study Guide (Exam 220-1101)” pages 98 to 99
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