Own a windows 10 PC, very often these days it won 't start , I have to take to cover of and unpl...

[G+_Rich Mclean]

Own a windows 10 PC, very often these days it won't start , I have to take to cover of and unplug the power cord that goes from the power supply to the motherboard, I believe is 30 pin. Is this a sign that perhaps the plug is bad or the power supply is about to go bad? It's a built and it's about 4 or 4 years old. TY

[G+_Travis Hershberger]

That sounds more like a motherboard going than a power supply. Have you done a visual check of the capacitors on the mb? My 2nd guess is power supply.

[G+_Shooter_FPV (Shooter_FP]

It may be the power supply. Would you by chance have another computer that would have the same pins as your current PS? Swapping out is a good way to tell.

[G+_Ben Reese]

I agree that it sounds like motherboard, but the power supply is easier and usually cheaper to test.

 

If you unplug the system from the wall for 30 seconds and plug it back in, does it still not boot? It's odd that you'd have to unplug the 30-pin to make it work again.

[G+_Rich Mclean]

Unfortunately I don't have another computer to test. I will unplug from the wall for 30 seconds and see what happens. TY

[G+_John Sullivan]

I would suspect motherboard. In the old days, a power supply had a simple on/off toggle switch. Modern computers use a push button. The push button momentarily connects one of the wires on the connector (called the PS_ON pin ) to ground, though a control circuit. This signals the power supply that it is "ok" to start up. Another wire on the connector (called "PWR_OK") signals that the motherboard is receiving power and then keeps (latches) the power supply ON.

 

Your connector is probably 24 pin, not 30, as shown in this Wikipedia page (scroll way down to "Wiring Diagrams" near the bottom)

 

In your case, if the PWR_OK detection circuitry on the motherboard "thinks" that the power is on, so pushing the power button doesn't send the PS_ON signal.

 

When you unplug the connector, the circuitry resets (loses whatever charge is causing the circuitry to think that power is present) and once you plug the connector back in, the power button works again.

 

If I had that computer here, I would cut the PWR_OK wire and install a simple toggle switch, just as a test. Then, after restarting the computer, and then turning it off, I would turn the toggle switch off for a few seconds, and then back on. Then push the power button to see if the computer starts up.