It is time for the moment of truth. To see if this thing works!!
Let’s get everything connected and prepared to turn it on:
- Connect your mouse and keyboard
- Connect your monitor to the video card and connect the power cord to the monitor.
- Connect the power cord to your power supply on the PC itself.
Okay, now for boot up time!
- Stick your system disk into the A: drive. You should have prepared or gotten a system disk in the first step of this tutorial. If you are using a bootable CD-ROM (as is the case with Windows XP) then just stand by on this because the CD drive will not be openable until the power is on.
- Turn your monitor on and let it heat up a few seconds before proceeding. Heating it up for a few seconds ensures you don’t miss any potential error messages because the CRT tube is not ready to display an image.
- Before hitting the power switch, take note of what to expect. If you notice something awry right away, you may need to quickly turn the PC back off. Here’s what to look for:
a. The power LED should turn on
b. The CPU and PSU fans should start spinning
c. The hard drive should power up.
d. You will see the video BIOS screen first, then you will see the BIOS screen and it will proceed to count the memory.
e. You may hear one beep from the PC speaker. It is possible you will get more than one beep, which indicates an error which we will address.
f. You may also get a “CMOS checksum error” or another error saying the CMOS or time isn’t set.
g. Know what key(s) to hit to enter CMOS setup. This will be shown on the bottom of the screen usually during the memory count. You will want to press the stated key combination to enter setup immediately because CMOS setup is the next step.
h. If you hear any weird sounds such as grinding, scraping, or loud whining, be ready to turn the system off immediately.
i. Keep in mind that if you miss the stated sequence to enter the CMOS setup before the boot sequence moves on, there is nothing wrong with just hitting the reset button and rebooting until you do catch what it is. It will not hurt your PC to reset it immediately or turn it off quickly if you notice a problem.
- Press the power switch. If it powers up, observe the system closely. As soon as the BIOS screen appears, press the appropriate key(s) and enter CMOS setup. The correct key combination should be visible at the bottom of the screen. Sometimes it pops by too quickly for you to see which keys to press. No problem. Don’t hesitate to just hit reset and try again, as stated above.
- If everything started up as expected and you successfully got into the CMOS setup screen, just let it sit there while you take out a flash light and inspect the system as it is running. Make sure all the fans are running. Make sure all the fans are operating smoothly and not generating any strange noises. Make sure the case power LED is on. Make sure the floppy drive light is not stuck on. If it is, the ribbon cable is not properly aligned with Pin 1 and you will need to turn the PC back off and flip it around. If any of the fans are not spinning, turn the PC back off immediately and plug the fan in. You do not want to run the PC for long without fans running, especially the CPU fan.
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when upgrading the motherboard, processor, memory and video card… can you use the same hard drive or do you have to start from scratch with a brand new hd? the reason i ask is because i did all the above and my monitor is blank! i then went back to all the original hardware and the monitor is still blank… YIKES!!
sounds like there might be something wrong with your video card or maybe it isn’t pushed into its ports all the way.
To rephrase Ryan’s question: Is it possible to use an existing, or pre-loaded hard drive? For example I would like to save some time in the building of this computer, I have the Hard Drive that I will be using in a computer I use daily. I would like to just preload all the software (OS) and drivers onto the Hard Drive before turning on the new computer. Is this possible? or is it just a bad idea and should I just stick to what I’m doing. P.S. some mobo’s don’t come with on-board video, will the mobo still give out video with an installed video card on first boot? Or do I have to preload atleast those drivers onto hard drive.
I have all the same questions as this post. Did you ever get an answer? Can I use a hard drive per-loaded and my mobo does not have integrated graphics, so will it recognize the video card.
Thanks
if ur mobo has integrated graphix, that means u dont need a GPU. but take note, these grapics usually suck! i recommend getting a gtx 275, or a ATI Radeon HD 4850
You MIGHT be able to get away with using the same hard drive, but it will be problematic, if it works, at all. Whenever I am going to be upgrading the motherboard, I will do a clean install of the OS. Using a new hard drive for that is not a bad idea. You can always install the old HDD as an extra storage drive, or even in an external enclosure, if you want to keep the data as it is.
If you have no onboard video, just install the graphics card and hook the monitor to it AND ANY POWER CABLES REQUIRED! The card will provide basic graphics capabilities for the OS installation and CMOS setup. You can install the video card drivers later to get full functionality.
OK so i just built my second computer and it didn’t quite go as planned. first thing i notices was the monitor is just blank…. also the USB ports don’t seem to work. i plug the mouse in and the light does not turn on… any ideas????
I have the same problem Kyle. This is my first build and my monitor is blank. Also, my optical drive doesnt open when connected to the ide cable
Are you sure the monitor cable is plugged into the correct port? (the mobos default, or either of the aftermarket cards slots?)
I needed to build a visual synthesizer and yesterday I put the computer processor together and I turned on the power and all the fans and lights came on, but the BIOS did not come up. My monitor reported that there was power going to the monitor and there was no signal coming from the computer. Also there was no power going to the keyboard. I switched the monitor out with a monitor and keyboard that I know works and ended up with the same problem. After that, I took all the RAM out and the second video card out, and ended up with the same problem. I checked to make sure all the wire connections were in correctly and made sure the video card was seated all the way. I fired the computer up again and still the same result. I then took everything out of the case and checked that CPU was seated correctly and it was. I put everything back into the case and turned on the computer and the result was the same.
I am currently under a deadline to get this computer working for a live performance. I know it is something simple that is holding everything up, but can someone please help?
Video Cards (I have two installed)
Geforce 8800 GTS 320MB PCIe
Motherboard
MSI K9N SLI-F nForce 570LT Socket AM2
CPU
AMD Ahtlon 64 x2 6000+ Socket AM2
RAM
8GBs
Hard drives (I have two)
750GBs
Power Supply
650 Watts
to andrew 5/8/2008 it looks like u have a small psu for that amount of hardware, i read that for 1 video card u need at least 500w, 2 600w, 3 1000w or more. but try booting up with 1 hd, no cards, u can add them later if it works, about to try sli myself not sure if u add one card 1st then other or both at same time
I just wanted to say that this is a very good website that I will be bookmarking to guide me thorugh a build but it seems some of the things are slighlty outdated.
A floppy drive? I don’t think those are really necessary any more. I built a computer in APril of 2002 and installed a floppy drive but have yet to use it for anything other than a dust trap. The multi-card reader I installed, however has been put to use hundreds of times in transfering data.
And a tube monitor? DO people REALLY still use those space hogging, fugly things?
I’m not knocking the site at all man, it’s wonderful and I’m grateful I found it. But maybe you should go through the literature again and update just a few words. (Even XP to vista- I still sue XP atm but when i re-build I think I’ll try Vista)
By the way- anyone have thoughts about Vista either good or bad?
Julie, stick with XP. Vista has more than its fair share of issues including home-networking (printer and file sharing). It’s definitely a flashy OS if you’re into that stuff but performance-wise XP is better (but also a memory-hog)
Indeed, I was thinking the same thing – “CRT? System disk? Wha?!” And now XP should even be changed to Windows 7, with CD-ROM changed to DVD-ROM.
I’m using Windows 7 at the moment and it’s a really nice OS. There aren’t too many compatibility problems, and are a lot of advantages. And it’s a lot better than Vista, too.
hi im building my first also and my monitor doenst show a screen and i bought a new video card so thats not the problem put it in both of the slots but nothing. theres nothing wrong with the monitor because it works on my old PC. i also cleaned my ram and put it back in. cleared my CMOS settings. so i think that there must be a problem with the mother board correct? maybe it’s something minor like the battery?
You might need to attach a power cable to your video card.
I would add in a comment on turning off ATX systems. I had one customer who’s Vista was caught in an update loop, and he could do nothing to stop it, or even turn off the computer. He said he had to unplug it to turn it off. When I went to his house to help him, sure enough, no user input was possible, so I reached over, held the power button for a couple of seconds, and it powered down. He was astonished.
The ‘hold power button for 4 seconds’ may be common knowlege, but for a primer on PC building, that is a handy bit of info for the first timers.
Make sure that your 12v rail on your power supply has enough amps for your video card. I had the same issue as everyone else and this turned out to be the reason. My video card required 30 amps and my power supply only had 22amps. had to upgrade the power supply. Hope this helps!
Alright…my brother and I had the same problem with the initial boot. We’d plug everything in…and wham…blank screen. Turns out we didn’t have the ram plugged in all the way and we also needed to have the monitor plugged into the graphics card. So we hope this helps someone out in the future.
Right- read somewhere that if I had an NTDR fault then I should check the HDD is connected up. I took the RAM out and replaced it after checking it for size as im thinking of upgrading it. Now when I turn the pc on I get a very loud fan noise but no image on the monitor. Everything is installed in the right place, and clues. BTW- This is a ready made pz and maybe you guys have the right answer! Cheers
Did you mean NTLDR? If so, that’s a problem with Windows (or, rather, partitioning). New Technology LoaDeR is what Windows use as a boot manager (and pretty terrible compared to Linux GRUB to be honest).
The cause of that in most cases is that you tried to install Windows NT (2000 and up) to a FAT16/32 partition. That is not possible, because NT (New Technology) requires NTFS (New Technology File System). So you should restart the Windows installation and format that partition to NTFS.
Another cause might be that you installed Windows on a Logical partition instead of a Primary partition. Windows has a strange requirement of being on primary partitions (Linux doesn’t). And the last cause that I know of is that you either have no active partitions or an active partition without a boot loader. You should set your BOOT flag on the Windows partition that you want to boot, or a partition with a boot loader (such as /boot partition from Linux with GRUB on it).
having the same problem. checked everything. turned on the computer and the monitor not blank but discolored.
The hard drive i am using is balnk and has been reformatted. do i need to put anything on the hard drive as it is totally blank?
Asif, starting with a blank hard drive is the best way.
In my experience, a blank screen means something is not plugged in. For example, the video card is not pushed right into the slot, or the video card needs a power connection, or the monitor connector is not pushed right in, etc.
i just put the finishing touches on my first pc, closed the case and plugged everything in. everything seemed to be in order aside from the fact that i have no video at all. i have no way to cross reference to see if it’s the video card but i highly doubt it is. its an MSI Geforce GTX 260. any help would be appreciated.
all my lights come on hardrive graphics card mobo fan lights all fans are spininnig heatsink gpu fan case fans hdd fans but my keyboard isnt on my mouse is on though and my monitor is on but displaying anything saying there is no signal both my monitor and keyboard work cuz i tested on other comp
my gpu hd4890
psu crossair750tx
am2t 790gx biostar mobo
2 500gb hardrives
lg lightscribe dvdrw write cd r cd rw cd rom dvd r combo thing
stock heatsink
two ddr2 ocz ram at 1100 mhz
phenom x4 9550 black edition at 2.6ghz
Check if the monitor is connected to your graphics card and that your graphics card is connected to the PSU. As for the keyboard, if it’s plugged into a USB port, it’s probably a problem with your BIOS. Use a PS/2 keyboard, enter the bios, go to Peripherals and check that USB mouse and keyboard support are both on.
Update the video card drivers first.Also reseat the card.If you can get a video card from a buddy or you can always buy a cheap one that should work from walmart or another store that sells them then try it to see if it works.If it does then your card isnt any good.Then return the card to the store you bought it from and send your faulty card bck to where you bought it.I would also return the board just in case.If its out of warranty then they will fix it or give you a new one for a reasonable price.
OK. A couple of questions and some problems with my first build:
First, when I turn on the box my screen is blue and has some faint, vaguely diagonal lines running across but all very readable for now. I presume I need to check out drivers and so on once I get going. Confirm?
Secondly, when I turn on the power I get the usual boot sequence and it asks me what I want to do. Once I choose an option the power runs for about 30 seconds and then powers off. If I restart it does the same but take a few less seconds to shut itself down. The more I do this the quicker it shuts power down until it barely powers up so that it doesn’t even have time to check the RAM..
Any ideas from here?
You dont need to check the ram.In the bios you can turn that off so it doesnt check it.Also take out one stick of ram and try it.You may have some bad ram.Also reseat the videocard and the ram.If there is a place on the video card for power connect it to the proper connector.If your power supply doesnt have the six pin connector them you will need an adapter which you can buy.Also reset the bios to default.Make sure the ram check is off also.I hope it helps for you.I have been working on computers for many years and have an A+ certificate and i am working on my MCP(microsoft certified professional).I have never had any problems repairing a pc.I have repaired many of them.Also make sure you have the latest driver for the video card.
I have recently built a computer and after some initial problems, it ran very well for about six months. When I boot it up I receive the following message:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM. You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM. Select “r” at the first screen to start repair. This procedure has no effect at all. Does anyone have any ideas????
yes your os is faulty and corupt(files needed deleted) try reinstalling the os again or rapairing it theres more info on microsoft support
Hi Please disregard my plea for help.I clutched at a straw and replaced the motherboard battery and everything fell into place. Thanks
One thing ive noticed in many situations for a new mobo installation.
- Blank Screen? Try removing 1-2 sticks of ram, especially if your running more than 6gb’s of ram. Sometimes mobo’s can act really funny and you may not be allowed that allocated amount of ram yet until you have your 64 bit OS installed for a higher capacity of RAM. If at all possible, i have seen instances where if a video card is installed on your mobo during setup and you have a blank screen, just simply take it out for the time being, and use the onboard standard video ports. You wont believe it, but usually at your initial setup of your new mobo, it is probably best to for your first boot up of your build to only contain your basics such as: mobo, ram, cpu, cpu heatsink, monitor, keyboard and mouse (preferrably ps/2 input). The reason why i say ps/2 is because in some instances, your new mobo doesnt have usb keyboard and mouse support enabled right out of the box, and you may have to manually enable that support. If you have usb keyboard and mouse plugged in and both power up on bootup? GREAT!…. but that doesnt mean its going to work right now!, you should always have ps/2 key & mouse (or at least a ps/2 adapter for both). Blank screen after the bios splash screen will tell you that you need ps/2 keyboard and mouse, the mobo isnt registering your commands such as your f1, f2, esc, del, etc.
Its actually quite humorous to know that you have to use old equipment to get new equipment to work, but thats electronics behaving badly and thats how its always been since electronics have been.
But please keep this information above, those are the two MOST COMMON issues for first time builders is “Blank Screen” issues, and “Bios Setup” issues.
i want photograph from first step which we want to install an operating system(eg:-XP), because i have to put in my record,,,, any one kindly send me please?
When I do this, the screen goes blank. What do I do?
Yeah, Like Nick said… Vista is a big memory hog. Although with Windows 7 out now everyone seems to be moving to that and seems much better then vista. And Hint for anyone who uses vista… to increase performance disable those lame gadgets and go into Control panel- Performance Info. and Tools- Adjust Visual Effects— Then set it to high performance. It disable a lot of the shit that slows you down and just takes away a bit of the neat rounded edges and what not.