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PC won't boot - help needed

Started by Andrew Hill18 · · 👁 3 views · 10 replies

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Participants Andrew Hill18placidtinker39Kenneth Cruz67Alexander Moore67fadedorca66
Andrew Hill18 Andrew Hill18 NewcomerOP
8 messages
joined May 2020
#1 ·
My PC was running hot for a long time because of overheating issues. I finally noticed it since my son uses it, so I blew out all the dust. Temperatures went back to normal, but then the thing started shutting itself down constantly. So today, I did a full overhaul—new thermal paste, deep clean, and I swapped in a new SSD since the old one went into a different rig. Now I’m stuck with boot problems. When I hit the power button, it kicks on for a second, dies, then tries again a few seconds later, but it won't always boot—sometimes there's just no signal. When I actually get a picture, I keep getting those messages saying the computer couldn't boot several times in a row and that I need to fix the BIOS settings. I'm guessing the overheating might have fried something... maybe the motherboard or the CPU. Anyone got any advice on what I should do? Thanks, guys.
placidtinker39 placidtinker39 Member
39 messages
joined Nov 2015
#2 ·
Did you go ahead and install macOS on the new SSD?
Kenneth Cruz67 Kenneth Cruz67 Regular
376 messages
joined Oct 2017
#3 ·
Andrew Hill18 said:My PC was running hot for a long time because of overheating issues. I finally noticed it since my son uses it, so I blew out all the dust. Temperatures went back to normal, but then the thing started shutting itself down constantly. So today, I did a full overhaul—new thermal paste, deep clean, and I swapped in a new SSD since the old one went into a different rig. Now I’m stuck with boot problems. When I hit the power button, it kicks on for a second, dies, then tries again a few seconds later, but it won't always boot—sometimes there's just no signal. When I actually get a picture, I keep getting those messages saying the computer couldn't boot several times in a row and that I need to fix the BIOS settings. I'm guessing the overheating might have fried something... maybe the motherboard or the CPU. Anyone got any advice on what I should do? Thanks, guys.

Maybe you should check the CMOS battery.
Andrew Hill18 Andrew Hill18 NewcomerOP
8 messages
joined May 2020
#4 ·
@placidtinker39 Just finished putting macOS on a fresh drive. It’ll boot up even without an OS installed, and honestly, it acts exactly the same whether there's an OS there or not.

@Kenneth Cruz67 How do I go about checking the battery? I can just swap in a new one if I have to.
Alexander Moore67 Alexander Moore67 Active Member
137 messages
joined Jun 2013
#5 ·
Andrew Hill18;80443561 said:@placidtinker39 I installed macOS on a new drive. It boots up without an OS, but it's doing the exact same thing even with one installed.

@Kenneth Cruz67 How can I check the battery? I could just swap in a new one.[/QU
If you don't have a multimeter handy to test the voltage, the easiest move is to just grab a new one. They're dirt cheap anyway.
Andrew Hill18 Andrew Hill18 NewcomerOP
8 messages
joined May 2020
#6 ·
Got a multimeter sitting here but honestly, I have zero clue how to actually use it. Plus, I've got a brand new battery ready to go too. :-)
fadedorca66 fadedorca66 Regular
372 messages
joined Nov 2022
#7 ·
Maybe try jumping into the BIOS and loading the optimized defaults? Just reset everything back to factory settings and see if it starts acting right then...
Andrew Hill18 Andrew Hill18 NewcomerOP
8 messages
joined May 2020
#8 ·
Alright. I'll give it a shot.
Andrew Hill18 Andrew Hill18 NewcomerOP
8 messages
joined May 2020
#9 ·
I tried resetting everything back to factory settings, but honestly, nothing happened. Then I just ran CCleaner to grab all the updates it could find, and boom—everything’s running smooth as silk now.
fadedorca66 fadedorca66 Regular
372 messages
joined Nov 2022
#10 ·
I doubt CCleaner actually did anything here—if your PC was acting up during boot, drivers don't even start loading until macOS gets going anyway...
Andrew Hill18 Andrew Hill18 NewcomerOP
8 messages
joined May 2020
#11 ·
Man, I was getting totally screwed during the boot process without an OS, and even when I was installing Windows, it hung right at that part where it’s supposed to restart. Then, once Windows was finally installed, it kept acting up during boot too. I ended up using DriverBooster, and it grabbed some random Intel bus driver or whatever—but honestly, once that was installed, everything just clicked and started working perfectly. As a total amateur, I have zero clue what the actual root cause was, but hey, it works now. That's all that matters. Thanks everyone for the help.

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