How to turn on my computer with out power on switch?

[Castanosaur]

Hi I think I broke my computers power on switch. How do I turn it on now?

 

[xomm]

Is it a pre-built computer or a custom built rig?

If custom - look in your motherboard's manual, and figure out where the power switch header is. Then take a screwdriver or other metal object, and short the pins (be careful to short only the pins you want!), and that'll turn your computer on. This is basically what your power button does - nothing risky here so long as you don't poke around.

If pre-built, look to see if the power button has a cable to an accessible part of the case - if so, do the same as above.

 

[smorizio]

if the switch is not clicking. and you need to turn the pc on. use a paper clip and short out the two on switch pins on the mb for a few seconds. if your pc is a newer pc with windows 8 on it try hitting the keyboard or mouse and see if it turns on.
before you turn your pc on check the case front panel. a lot of switches held in by plastic and can fall out or push in. some time 2-3 min of looking at the switch can fix it or band aid it.

 

[Castanosaur]

Is it a pre-built computer or a custom built rig?

If custom - look in your motherboard's manual, and figure out where the power switch header is. Then take a screwdriver or other metal object, and short the pins (be careful to short only the pins you want!), and that'll turn your computer on. This is basically what your power button does - nothing risky here so long as you don't poke around.

If pre-built, look to see if the power button has a cable to an accessible part of the case - if so, do the same as above.

Sorry it's an old computer from my moms friend, I don't have any manuals. How do I short the cables? Sorry for everything I'm just very frustrated. A few more details- before it started not turning on, I shut it down normally earlier this afternoon. When I tried to turn it on again its all just normal, fans, lights were on but there was nothing on the monitor. So I just tried to turn it off and on using the power switch and now I think it's broken.

 

[xomm]

Sorry it's an old computer from my moms friend, I don't have any manuals. How do I short the cables? Sorry for everything I'm just very frustrated. A few more details- before it started not turning on, I shut it down normally earlier this afternoon. When I tried to turn it on again its all just normal, fans, lights were on but there was nothing on the monitor. So I just tried to turn it off and on using the power switch and now I think it's broken.

What brand/model is the computer?

In this case, you're really just completing the circuit, not shorting it, but without getting into too much semantics, all you need to do is to place some metal object across two wires or pins.

You mention you think the button's broken - what happens when you press it? Are any lights on inside the case if the computer's off?

 

[Castanosaur]

if the switch is not clicking. and you need to turn the pc on. use a paper clip and short out the two on switch pins on the mb for a few seconds. if your pc is a newer pc with windows 8 on it try hitting the keyboard or mouse and see if it turns on.
before you turn your pc on check the case front panel. a lot of switches held in by plastic and can fall out or push in. some time 2-3 min of looking at the switch can fix it or band aid it.

Sorry it's an old computer from my moms friend, I don't have any manuals. How do I short the cables? Sorry for everything I'm just very frustrated. A few more details- before it started not turning on, I shut it down normally earlier this afternoon. When I tried to turn it on again its all just normal, fans, lights were on but there was nothing on the monitor. So I just tried to turn it off and on using the power switch and now I think it's broken.

What brand/model is the computer?

In this case, you're really just completing the circuit, not shorting it, but without getting into too much semantics, all you need to do is to place some metal object across two wires or pins.

You mention you think the button's broken - what happens when you press it? Are any lights on inside the case if the computer's off?

Yeah, I opened my side panel and I see the power led is lighting up on the motherboard. Regarding the power button, I was trying to turn on my computer but there was nothing on the monitor. Everything was working, fans were spinning, lights were on. So I kept restarting it using the power switch. And some time after that i couldn't turn it on using the power button. So I opened up my front panel and pushed the power on button using a screwdriver and the button just fell in

 

[xomm]

Yeah, I opened my side panel and I see the power led is lighting up on the motherboard. Regarding the power button, I was trying to turn on my computer but there was nothing on the monitor. Everything was working, fans were spinning, lights were on. So I kept restarting it using the power switch. And some time after that i couldn't turn it on using the power button. So I opened up my front panel and pushed the power on button using a screwdriver and the button just fell in

Usually there's a button on the inside of the front panel that the external button pushes, depending on what brand/model it is. The same thing happened to my parents' old HP - the button cover on the front panel fell in, but the actual button on the case was still fine - nothing a little hot glue couldn't fix.

Can you provide the make/model? It's hard to visualize without that.

 

[smorizio]

with the fans moving the power switch is working the issue now is a hardware failure. first see if the mb glitched. reset the cmos on the mb. if the system wont post see if there any video from onboard video port if the mb has it. if there no video look at the power supply see if there any fault led on or the system showing any fault led. most times a power supply loses a leg and the system wont post.