POST fail

[Wicker]

Hi, hoping I may get some guidance on this issue, perhaps a process to go through to try and eliminate potential problem components.

I built my first ever system earlier today, had quite a bit of fun doing so and it worked when I powered it up much to my surprise! I installed the OS (7) and all the utilities supplied by the motherboard manufacturer. After being distracted for a couple of hours I noticed it had powered off, powering back on led to failed POST.

I'm both disheartened a little and concerned something serious (read expensive!) might be wrong, potentially from user incompetence and would love to know if there is a defined process which will help me to identify the source of the failure.

Oh and BTW, yes I have read the manual and scoured online help, neither of which has got me any further forward, also note I don't have other components to swap in as replacements for testing purposes.

EDIT: Ok, I just read the stickies (something I usually do, but forgot this time) and there appears to be some interesting suggestions which I'd not encountered before, will give these a go and then request further assistance as needed, please feel free to disregard the thread for now.

[Caesium]

Can you elaborate on failed POST? Is there a diagnostic LED display on your board that gives any status code, or failing that, any speaker beeps to try and narrow the problem down?

The usual first step is to unplug everything you can and try again - excess memory, try with just one stick at a time, the GPU if you have an onboard port you can use temporarily, etc.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Post your build too if you could. A lead could have come loose. Above is good advice.

[ajones]

Google for something like 'bios beeb codes' and look for you bios. The code will often point you in the right direction