Start-up loop issue on ASUS desktop with Windows 10 - Required hardware-level maintenance

Question

An ASUS desktop running Windows 10 powers on for about 15 seconds before turning off, this is followed by an auto-restart cycle that continues until the power strip is turned off.

Loop description:

• the cycle begins when, while pressing on the power button of the computer, the main cooling vent activates,
• after about 10 seconds the monitor turns on showing the ASUS screen with a the default message stating that pressing DEL or F2 should allow to access the information screen of ASUS,
• shortly after (about 15 seconds after the beginning) something fails (a fused fuse?, a malfunctioning component?), and the computer turns off abnormally,
• after 2 or 3 seconds an auto-restart function re-activates the cooling vent going back to the 15-second phase.
• During the 15 seconds between the activation of the cooling vent and the abnormality I may hear the usual noises from the components, and I do not find any obvious abnormality in the sequence of noises and beep, no useful informations may be found in the beep codes.

The issue began between the last shutdown yesterday's evening and the first startup in today's morning, with no updates or known changes made yesterday that may help identifying the cause.

Finding of the problem and trials to fix it:

• Yesterday the computer worked normally, and there were no known updates or changes that may have caused, while today the problem exists since the first start-up, thus the problem began between the last turn-off in yesterday's evening, and the first start-up in today's morning.
• This morning, as a part of my usual start-up routine, I turned on the power strip powering the computer, and then I pushed the power button of the computer, then I turned off the monitor to save energy and heat, and I heard from the cooling vent that the computer turned off and then on by itself, so I turn the monitor back on to verify visually.
• After some loops I tried to turn off and on the power strip to see if that was sufficient to fix the problem, and the problem continued with the second cycle, so I wanted to verify if it was a temporary problem and cooling the room was sufficient to fix it, and I left the power strip off during breakfast.
• After breakfast I re-tried to turn on the computer,
• when the first loop of the third cycle was completed the temporary problem hypothesis lost probability, also the hypothesis of a cooling problem became less probable, so
• during the second loop during the screen phase I tried accessing the diagnostic tools (first I pressed F2 and the computer didn't respond, than I pressed ESC and the computer didn't respond, then I pressed F1 and the computer didn't respond), then the second loop of the third cycle reached its end,
• since the third loop of third cycle afterward the monitor remained in stand-by as no signals did reach it anymore, thus the trial to access the diagnostic tools worsened the problem leaving only two option families:

1. replacing the affected physical component(s) (fused fuse, un-repairable malfunctioning component(s)), and
2. bringing the affected physical component(s) (repairable malfunctioning component(s)) to a specialised centre for repair.

Which component(s) may be causing this problem?
(so that I may bring to the specialised repair centre only the possible causes and save cleaning time and cleaning cost at return)

Should I try to bring it/them to a specialised centre to check if they may repair it/them in the hope that thay may repair it/them in less than 9 days (I need it to study for a universitary exam in 9 days), or is a direct replacement of the affected components a better option?

Answer 1

Most likely, there is either a problem with BIOS or the motherboard and honestly if there is no indication of Windows attempting to start, you cannot fix this yourself, you will need to take your PC to a PC Shop to have the BIOS re-flashed or the motherboard tested for a hardware fault.