Not rebooting - Computers & Internet

Okay, each OS has it\'s own problems when it comes to this. In most cases it\'s not rebooting (presumably you\'re clicking the "restart" button in windows or reset function in the Mac OSX "xx"). First check to make sure that no software is stopping the process of rebooting. Most often software updates may order the computer to do something that you\'re not expecting, either stalling or even stopping a proper reboot as the new updates are installing. This is especially true of Mac OSX which will update the computer automatically without telling you and then not completely install them until the computer is restarted from a total shut down. The process may produce a blank screen while the updates are installed.

If this is the case you\'ll hear HDD spin up or see the HDD in use light flash (with both SSDs and HDDs). Don\'t interrupt this process or you\'ll create more headaches. Now if it stalls, restart. You\'ll know it\'s stalled because the HDD light will stall and not flash any longer.

If this isn\'t the issue, run diagnostics on your computer. Install and run CCleaner if you can. If it\'s a window\'s computer start up the computer and hit either Tab, F2, F10, or F11, and on the rare occasion Escape to get into the bios and confirm that the hard drives are recognized, the boot order is correct, and that he correct power and control settings are in place. If you can\'t do even that turn on the computer and check to make sure no media is trying to boot. Remove all peripherals from the computer; like CD/DVD/Blu-Ray disks that may be in the optical drive, USB thumb drives and connected external hard drives, any usb connected phones. If you have a non-OS hard drive connected remove it too. Then try to boot. If it then boots you know that either one of the peripherals were interfering with the boot process or that the computer was trying to read from the wrong hard drive which has be set as primary.

If none of these steps solve the issue, start with hardware; check for correctly seated connections, RAM, cables, etc. Look for damaged ribbon, heat damage on the motherboard. Check the power supply. Flash the bios by removing the CMOS battery for a day and then replacing it and restarting the computer.

Check that the hard drives are working and not damaged or faulty. This can be done by connecting it to other computers.

Attempt to start the computer with another medium, like a live CD or USB of Ubuntu.

If the live CD or USB boots, then you can safely assume it\'s a peripheral or hard drive, and not the power supply, ram, or main board.

Lastly, always check the simplest things first. Make sure that the computer is plugged in. Make sure that the monitor hasn\'t been connected to the wrong video output. Make sure the monitor is plugged in and working and on when you start the computer.

There is the best answer I can give you.