Aspire x1800 Desktop Doesn't Always Start Up

Enkil
Enkil Member Posts: 8 New User
edited March 2023 in 2017 Archives

I've been having issues with my Aspire x1800 Desktop. For the past week or so, when I want to turn on the computer, I have to press the power button several times. Last week, it used take me about a minute of pressing the power button non stop until it turned on. Now, this week, for the past few days, it's been getting harder to power it on. I have to unplug the power suppy cord, press and hold the power button for about a minute, replug the cord. Sometimes, after a few tries, it finally turns on (though it takes awhile compared to last week).

 

When the computer is on, the fan makes a lot of noise and I get a black screen message. At the end of the message, it says "Press Del to Run SETUP" / "Press F1 to load..." I press F1. When I'm on desktop, the clock time is wrong, so I always have to fix it.

 

What's wrong? Should I do a System restore? A hardware issue?

Answers

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    CMOS battery to change.

     

    it's near the purple ram slots, on the motherboard

     

    battery is a standard CR2032

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Enkil
    Enkil Member Posts: 8 New User

    Thanks for the reply. I replaced the battery yesterday. I tested it and it was indeed dead. However, this morning, I still couldn't turn on the computer. I pressed the power button several times, didn't work. So I unplugged the power cord, pressed and hold the button for about a minute. I then replugged the cord, pressed on the button and it worked.

     

    No fan noise, no "Press Del to Run SETUP" / "Press F1 to load..." message. Everything was normal.

     

    What could possibly cause the computer not to turn on?

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    which Windows OS version is installed?

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Enkil
    Enkil Member Posts: 8 New User

    Windows 7

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    was the PC shutted down correctly, using shutdown option on windows power button?

     

    can you please try this command and then try to power it on as usual?

    windows logo + r keys

    type

    shutdown -s -f -t 00

     

    PC will shutdown immediatly, so be sure to save any open file.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Enkil
    Enkil Member Posts: 8 New User

    Yes, the computer is always shut down correctly using the windows shutdown option. I used that command, it shut down fine. A minute later, I pressed on the power button and it turned on fine. But... What I noticed is that when I shut down the computer during the day and turn it on, say within 30 minutes, it turns on fine.

     

    It's always in the morning when I turn on the computer that I get problems. The computer would be shut down for 10 hours at night. The only different is that, now I don't get the fan noise and the wrong clock time.

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    please try again in the next days if the power on issue is still here, if so, it can be a bad PSU (maybe old capacitors)

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Enkil
    Enkil Member Posts: 8 New User

    This morning, same thing happened. I unplugged the cord, pressed and hold the power button, replugged and pressed the button, still didn't work. Did the same thing, but pressed and hold for about 2 minutes. Replugged, pressed once and it worked. When the computer is on, everything works fine.

     

    Could it be anything else besides a bad PSU? Is there any way of knowing for sure?

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    can be 2 things:

     

    1) Bad PSU

    2) Bad Motherboard

     

    both probably caused by some bad capacitors, how to know which one is the bad one?

    only switching to another PSU that you know it's working for sure.

    I'm not an Acer employee.