Q: Gateway XP PC. I keep my old computer unplugged (because of thunder storms) until I need something from it. When I plug it in, I get a black set-up screen, then I push the on/off button, turn it off and push the button again to restart it, and it boots up normally. This time, however, when I tried to restart it, it didn't boot up. It starts to make the usual fan-whirring noise and then just shuts down. Can someone tell me what's happening?
A: Reseat all of your connections. This means unplug and replug all of you connectors connected to all of your hard drives and optical drives as well as recoonect all of the IDE or SATA cables to your motherboard. Reseat your memory. If these two things don't work then reseat your processor and MAKE SURE YOUR COMPUTER IS TURNED OFF WHILE YOUR RESEATING. Also make sure you are grounded by placing your arm on the chasis of the computer while it's plugged in, but turned off. If this doesn't work, call support. You also want to make sure that your Processor fan is turning and that the Heat sink for the procesor is clean. It may be turning off because it's sensing that the fan is not running at the correct RPM. If it's extremely dirty then you need to blow it out using an air compressor. If it's making a noise than you probably need to replace the CPU fan.