The computer fails to power on, yet briefly lights up.
The computer fails to power on, yet briefly lights up.
My computer has been running smoothly since installation. I came home from work, wanted to play, and it briefly turned on before shutting off. The motherboard indicator stayed lit and the power button remained pressed. Yesterday it worked perfectly with no problems at all—I don’t see any reason it won’t start for more than a second.
Unplug your device from the power source, remove the CMOS battery for a short time, then reinsert it. The CMOS battery, a small silver cell on the motherboard, maintains your BIOS configuration after shutdown. Removing it resets these settings, even without accessing the BIOS interface. Certain high-end boards include a 'clear CMOS' switch or button for this purpose; however, most standard builds lack this feature.
Others might need more than a minute, some could even take up to ten. Clearing the CMOS is a solid initial step, perhaps test the RAM and GPU connections to confirm they’re properly seated and making contact, since cooling cycles can sometimes affect this if they sit for too long. Overall, it seems like weak PSU capacitors might be the issue.
I left it off during the night and turned it back on to check, and it started working again. I reached the home screen and it ended up shutting down once more before resuming its activity.
I shouldn't assume CMOS would assist with a power supply problem. It might relate to the motherboard, maybe. There could be other issues too. Failing capacitors can cause startup surges, and the output may fail or shut down due to heat. Watch this video on testing a PSU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr70VyoACPg Updated August 12, 2022 by An0maly_76 Additional details