Computer POSTs, but doesnt boot up. HELP

[RadiatingLight]

I recently attempted to install java 8 on my brother's computer so he could play Minecraft. i clicked accept, did all the normal things, but halfway through the installation, the computer black-screened. after about 3 minutes of waggling the mouse, trying to get the display to show something, I gave up and pulled the plug. now, the computer posts, shows the windows logo, but then blackscreens. is the windows installation corrupted?

[Nena Trinity]

Reset the CMOS?

[RadiatingLight]

Just now, Nena360 said:

Reset the CMOS?

as far as i understand, the computer is getting to the OS, (because the windows logo shows up) but then fails to completely launch the OS. how will clearing CMOS help?

[Nena Trinity]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

as far as i understand, the computer is getting to the OS, (because the windows logo shows up) but then fails to completely launch the OS. how will clearing CMOS help?

It could, but if not try to check the drive?

[RadiatingLight]

Just now, Nena360 said:

It could, but if not try to check the drive?

that's what i was going to do, but the drive is an SSD, so it probably didn't fail.

[Nena Trinity]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

that's what i was going to do, but the drive is an SSD, so it probably didn't fail.

Actually SSDs can fail at any time with no warning...

[RadiatingLight]

29 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

Actually SSDs can fail at any time with no warning...

"probably"

 

I chucked the SSD into my own rig, and it works 100% fine, so the problem is something to do with my brother's pc.

 

 

[Nena Trinity]

11 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

"probably"

 

I chucked the SSD into my own rig, and it works 100% fine, so the problem is something to do with my brother's pc.

 

 

Ouch, well have you ran memtest86?

[RadiatingLight]

12 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

Ouch, well have you ran memtest86?

not yet. good idea

[Nena Trinity]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

not yet. good idea

No problem! That is why I am here.

[RadiatingLight]

48 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

No problem! That is why I am here.

sometimes good ideas yield no answers....

after 45 minutes in memtest86

 

as far as i understand, if the posts, the CPU is fine.

because the cable going to the monitor is connected to the GPU, and something does show up on the screen, i assume that the GPU is fine

i put the main SSD into another PC, and it was fine, so i assume the windows install is fine.

due to memtest not returning any errors after 45 minutes, I assume that the RAM is fine (should i spend more time on completing extra passes? what is the chance it will find an error?)

 

this leaves either the motherboard or the PSU

the PSU is a 460Watt Dell D460AD that comes with the XPS 8300 system, and the motherboard is unbranded, and is the default one that comes with the dell XPS 8300 system. (i basically took a dell XPS8300 and put a GTX 650 in it)

 

although the motherboard and the PSU are not very high quality, the watts of the PSU should be more than enough for a low end GPU + i7 2600K

 

what would you suggest i do next?

 

[Nena Trinity]

11 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

sometimes good ideas yield no answers....

after 45 minutes in memtest86

 

as far as i understand, if the posts, the CPU is fine.

because the cable going to the monitor is connected to the GPU, and something does show up on the screen, i assume that the GPU is fine

i put the main SSD into another PC, and it was fine, so i assume the windows install is fine.

due to memtest not returning any errors after 45 minutes, I assume that the RAM is fine (should i spend more time on completing extra passes? what is the chance it will find an error?)

 

this leaves either the motherboard or the PSU

the PSU is a 460Watt Dell D460AD that comes with the XPS 8300 system, and the motherboard is unbranded, and is the default one that comes with the dell XPS 8300 system. (i basically took a dell XPS8300 and put a GTX 650 in it)

 

although the motherboard and the PSU are not very high quality, the watts of the PSU should be more than enough for a low end GPU + i7 2600K

 

what would you suggest i do next?

 

I normally go with 4 full passes but it will take days...

[RadiatingLight]

Just now, Nena360 said:

I normally go with 4 full passes but it will take days...

well. thanks so much for your help anyways. i will let it run for a long while (maybe 2 or 3 passes because i am impatient)

 

[Nena Trinity]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

well. thanks so much for your help anyways. i will let it run for a long while (maybe 2 or 3 passes because i am impatient)

 

Mine found a error on the last pass... o3o

[RadiatingLight]

3 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

I normally go with 4 full passes but it will take days...

how much have the extra passes helped you? was there ever a situation when the RAM looked fine 1st pass, but failed the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th pass?

 

edit: thanks for your reply. i will let it run 4 passes then

[Nena Trinity]

4 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

how much have the extra passes helped you? was there ever a situation when the RAM looked fine 1st pass, but failed the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th pass?

 

edit: thanks for your reply. i will let it run 4 passes then

If something is wrong, it should be shown in the 4th pass...

[samiscool51]

if you have the install disk/usb maybe try repairing the os

[RadiatingLight]

3 hours ago, samiscool51 said:

if you have the install disk/usb maybe try repairing the os

sorry for replying pretty late after you posted this:

the operating system is totally fine, because i put the SSD into my own PC, and it boots up wonderfully, with all system files intact.

 

at this point, seeing as I'm already three passes deep into memtest86 (I'm doing four passes) and see no errors, I'm thinking that the problem might be a bad SATA cable or bad motherboard.