My PC won't turn on

[WorldDomoNation]

I just finished building my PC after spending ~6 or 7 hours of putting my fingers into incredibly uncomfortable positions. Unfortunately when I turn it on it doesn't stay on. It turns on for a little bit, but then it shuts down for a couple seconds and tries again and repeats this until I turn it off. Nothing is displayed on my monitor when I do this. If someone who has built their own PC would like to take a shot at what could possibly be the problem it would be more than greatly appreciated. I don't really know what else I can tell you to help you understand whats going on, but if you need more information just tell me what you need to know. Thank you very VERY much in advanced for your help or suggestions.

PS: I hope you like the potentially confusing wall of possibly unhelpful text, I'm tired and frustrated that this isn't working

[Drofder2004]

Check part by part (After doing what KS said). Plug in the minimum, motherboard with PSU (and GFX if there is no onboard), check if it stays on. Continue adding part after part.

[helium]

Did you use any ESD (electro static discharge) tools when building the PC?

[WorldDomoNation]

KS what do you mean by that? I think my case came with little paper washers that I might have to use... You mean on the screws that you use to attach the motherboard to the case? The holes for the screws to attach it had what could have been contacts (meaning that I should have used the paper washers so the screws would not touch the contacts).

And Drofder, if it comes to that, i think i'll try calling someone who actually knows exactly what they're doing. Not only do I not want to go through part by part, but I think if someone knew exactly what they were doing it would go a lot faster

And no I didn't use an anti-static bracelet, but I was very careful to make sure I grounded myself on something before I touched anything and I did this quite often.

[WorldDomoNation]

Thanks for the suggestions guys I'll try what KS said (the possibility that the mobo is shorting out because of the case) and if that fails I'm probably gunna have someone do it for me I shall report back with the results, thanks again guys.

[WorldDomoNation]

Damn, those washers didn't do it No for the long perilous journey of taking it out of the case and disconnecting everything until it works, than putting it all back together If you hate wiring PC's with a passion say aye!

[Drofder2004]

Why would you be supplied washers if you wasn't suppose to use them? >.>

101 - Metal conducts electricity, mobos are circuit boards, circuit boards transfer electricity in precise directions, metal can change those directions...

[WorldDomoNation]

tbh, I have no idea. I am probably supposed to use them, I never said I wasn't (that's why I'm keeping them in), but there is still probably something else that's keeping it from working. And yes, I know all about metal contacts

[Drofder2004]

Is the light coming on (if your mobo has one)?
Maybe try setting up outside of the case (on a sensible surface )
Reset the BIOS/CMOS (Can you access the bios without the computer dying?).
Check all jumpers.
Can't think of anything else, apart from setting up using older bits in a trial and error run.

[WorldDomoNation]

I'm clearing off a table right now to set it up and try some things. I haven't gotten a chance to really work on it all day, I was at the Scottish Highland Games up in northern connecticut Here's the order of which I plan on going about fixing this problem:
1) Loosen screws to see if they were shorting out (and possibly taking them out completely)
2) Putting in the Vista installation disc to see if that does anything (although I can't get it to boot into BIOS so I don't know why this would work)
3) Take out the motherboard and see what happens/make sure everything is connected exactly right
4) Take out all the components except the bare minimum required to run the PC and try to boot it, then install the components one by one to see if one of them might be causing a problem.

Unfortunately I can't just use old parts seeing as I don't have old parts, this is the first PC I've ever built.

And the PC runs for a about 2-3 seconds before shutting off, then it tries again for a little less than that, probably about 1 second, and continues to do that until I turn it off myself.

And yes, the light on my motherboard does come on, as do all the fans and LED's on the fans (the LED's on the fans are powered directly through the power supply not through the motherboard)

Also, this might be a stupid question, but do I need to actually access the BIOS to reset it? Or is there a way to do it through the hardware.

[Drofder2004]

Indeed, highly unlikely a short. But would a CPU at room temperature start over heating after 1 second even at bios load up, with a heatsink attached?

Grab your motherboard manual and search for CMOS/BIOS clear and also check the back for the support, usually there will be a diagnosis section (although usually not any good).

Could you list ALL of your parts you have connected, maybe there is an incompatibility problem.

[Drofder2004]

Most fans I have dealt with have all been the same port, and it doesn't fit in any other port. The question is, does the fan start to spin before the PC dies?

Is the processor fan seated correctly and firmly secured?

[WorldDomoNation]

Good news! I finally got a chance to really sit down and work on my PC and I got working! I tried pretty much everything you guys suggested. It ended up being that my second of stick of RAM was either faulty or dead Thanks for all your help. I just installed vista and now I'm installing all the drivers