Power Up

Then press the power button. If smoke appears (it shouldn't, unless your power supply orcooling systems are really bad), or if the computer doesn't do anything, check the steps above tomake sure you haven't missed anything. Give special attention to the cables and powerconnections. If the computer does appear to come on, but, you hear beeps, listen carefully to thebeeps and then turn it off and refer to your motherboard's manual for the meaning of the beeps.Some boards have an optional diagnostic device, usually a collection of LEDs, which whenproperly plugged in will inform you of the nature of the problem. Instructions for installing thisas well as the meaning of it's display should be in the manual for the motherboard. If it turns onbut the only thing that comes on is your power supply, turn off your computer. This probablymeans something is shorted, and leaving it on could damage the parts.At this point, you will wish to set certain options in the Computer's BIOS (usually be pressing'F1' or 'Del' a few seconds after boot.) These options will be explained in the motherboardmanual. In general, the default options are OK, but you may wish to set the computer'shardware clock to the correct time and date. The BIOS is also where you determine the defaultboot order of the system, typically Floppy, then CD-ROM, then Hard Disc.If you want a further quick test, before you install an operating system, you may find a bootableCD-ROM such as Knoppix extremely useful.