Hardware · 4 min read
Computer Won't Turn On? The 2-Minute Triage
"Dead" doesn't mean the same thing in every case. Before you assume the worst, use the four symptoms below to narrow it down. The fix ranges from a $0 wall-socket swap to a workshop job — and you'll save us time (and yourself money) by telling us which category you're in when you call.
Symptom A — Total silence, no lights, no fans
Nothing happens when you press the power button. No LEDs, no fan spin, no beeps.
Most likely causes: dead power supply (desktop), flat battery and bad charger (laptop), or a tripped power point.
Try first:
- Swap the wall socket — Perth summer power events (dropouts, surges) can trip RCDs. Try a different room.
- On a laptop: remove the battery if removable, hold the power button for 30 seconds to drain residual charge, then try again on AC only.
- On a desktop: check the switch on the back of the PSU is on (ǀ not O).
If all of that fails, it's a workshop job. A PSU replacement on a desktop is usually under $150 parts + labour.
Symptom B — Lights and fans, but no display
The PC whirs into life but the monitor stays black.
Most likely causes: monitor issue, GPU/display connector, or RAM not seating properly.
Try first:
- Swap the monitor cable (HDMI to DisplayPort, or vice versa). Cable failures are more common than most people think.
- Try a second monitor if you have one.
- On a desktop with a dedicated graphics card, make sure the cable is plugged into the GPU, not the motherboard's ports. Plugging into the wrong one is our #1 "didn't fix itself" call-out.
Symptom C — Beeps, then nothing
Fans spin, but the machine beeps — short or long patterns — and never reaches the desktop.
Most likely causes: RAM error, CPU error, or POST failure.
What to do: Count the beeps and tell us the pattern (e.g. "3 short then 1 long"). The beep codes tell us exactly which component has failed before we even open the case. This one is a workshop job — not DIY unless you're confident pulling and reseating RAM sticks.
Symptom D — Boots into BIOS or a "no boot device" message
PC turns on, reaches the BIOS screen or a message like "No bootable device" / "Insert boot media" — but never loads Windows.
Most likely cause: your drive (SSD or HDD) has failed, or the boot loader is corrupted.
If you see this and your files are important, stop using the machine — every boot attempt on a failing drive reduces our chance of recovering data. Bring it in ASAP. We run in-workshop data recovery for most consumer drives.
Not sure which one it is?
Call us and describe what you see — we'll tell you in 2 minutes whether it's worth bringing in or trying one more thing at home.