Pc won't boot.

[Grandta]

My pc doesn't boot when I turn it on.

My fan starts and stops when I turn the power off for some reason.

I get my pc to boot by waiting for the fan to start and turn back on the power and click the power button, but this takes anywhere from 1-3 hours.

Anyone know how to fix this or should I buy a new pc.

I have a medion pc that I had for a few years now and it runs vista.

[MidnightCowboy]

Sounds very much like a hardware problem, possibly power/supply related. Try downloading and booting from a minimal Linux CD such as Bodhi. If the situation persists I'd see a technician. Power units are not that expensive if that's all it is.

[oblivion]

Originally Posted by Grandta

My pc doesn't boot when I turn it on.

Does ANYTHING happen at all? Does anything appear on the screen? Do you hear any beeps?

The fan that starts and stops -- is it the main power supply fan?

As MidnightCowboy says, this sounds like a power supply problem -- but it could also relate to cooling.

You might try looking at it from the outside as you turn it on, see if you can see anything that might be an issue -- dust bunnies come to mind. If you can see a lot of dust and fluff, you could try, with the power supply disconnected, CAREFULLY removing any you can grab with tweezers. If you're in any way confident to take the cover off the PC, do that, still with the power disconnected, and use a compressed air canister (most computer outlets sell them) to blow out any dust and fluff that's built up. Always try to aim the air in such a way that the dust gets blown up and out, not down and further in... and don't touch anything with your hands or the nozzle of the air canister. (You may want to do this in a well-ventilated area!)

If you see any messages on the screen when you switch on, you may get some clues.

If you have a friendly computer geek in the area, ask her or him to take a look.

I always advise people to ensure their computers have several inches of free space around them, both to ensure good airflow into the cooling system (such as it is!) and to minimise the "dead areas" that dust bunnies accumulate in when PCs are put in areas that fit them too tightly -- I've seen too many CPU deaths through "heatstroke" caused by inadequate ventilation -- even top of the range brands and machines.