A friend of mine has a Lenovo desktop computer running Windows 7 that attempts to start, but then doesn't.
He asked me to take a look at it to see what I thought of it.
LOL. Anyone that loves computers would take one look at it and want to vomit like I did.
The computer is about 3 years old and has never been cleaned or taken care of in any way, shape or form.
It has always sat on the floor with very little ventilation and it is covered in the kind of dust you would see gathered under a bed. It is also covered with "cat hair" from his 3 cats! Yuck!
Anyway, I tried to start it up by simply pressing the start button. The tower lights up like it is going to start, makes a whining noise like it is trying to load, but then stops.
If it is left alone after pressing the start button it will keep repeating the start up attempt every 5 seconds or so, until the power is shut off by pulling the plug.
Does anyone have any idea what it could be ?
Jim Hillier said
Hey Myles - Sounds like the first thing the Lenovo needs a good cleanup. 🙂
I would try reseating the RAM. Take out each RAM strip and wipe the contacts over with a white spirit (metho or similar) then reconnect them.
Is the machine fitted with a GPU?
Yes Jim, I believe it is but not sure. I'm going to start the clean up process piece by piece.
After looking at the shape this computer is in, I feel like I should start an Activist Group for "Abused and Neglected Computer's". 
LOL.
Okay, if the machine is fitted with a GPU, and if a cleanup and reseating the RAM don't fix the problem, the next step would be to remove the GPU altogether, connect the monitor via the motherboard's VGA port and see if the machine will then boot.
Oh, also, how many RAM strips? If more than one, try each strip one at a time connected in the first slot... that will let you know if one of the RAM strips is faulty.
I suspect this issue may be related to either RAM or GPU.
Hi Myles, my name is Jim also so we will keep it as Jim C. The problem you described does have a lot in common with several old PC I have worked on, especially the bit about cat hairs.
What can happen is that the power supply can become clogged with hair which is a very good insulator and also a collector of dust. The reason this matters is that quite often this will overheat the power supply and most of them have a thermal sensor that will trip at a certain temp and especially. This might be an area of concern for your friend. Also the intake fans can accumulate a lot of dust and hair and will whine when running.
I would suggest you open the side of the case (with the power off, and remember that capacitors can hold a charge for quite some time so you will have to be careful)
If the internals exhibit a lot of dust then get a can of compressed air and take the case outside to give it a few or a lot of good blasts. Certainly if you see any dust or debris keep giving it a blast until you do not see any more.
As I said, I have seen this before, particularly if the case in on the floor but this is hunch but one worth checking out. It is also easy to check.
Hope this helps.
Jim C
Thank you Jim C and everyone that offered advice on this problem.
I gave it a good cleaning and checked all connections and everything else that the good people here at DCT suggested I do. But still could not find the problem.
I have a friend that is a computer tech for the Army and even though I know he is always very busy I gave him a call to see if he would take a look at it for me. [Because I certainly do not know what I'm doing !
].
He asked if I would drop it off at his home and said he would look at it as soon as he could find the time. Well that was 10 days ago, but he called me yesterday to say that he separately tested the processor, fans, and motherboard.
He said the processor was not testing properly and that there might also be a problem with the motherboard.
He will replace the processor with one that he has at the shop first, then test the machine and if that does not fix the problem he will replace the motherboard also, and go from there.
I will report back and post the results and what the problem was as soon as I hear from him.
Thank you everyone, for your attention on this post. The people at Daves Computer Tips are the best !
Jim Hillier
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Carol Bratt
dandl
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Jim Canfield
Terry Hollett
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