Computer Won't Start

[vsprogrammer]

Hi!

I have a Dell that is about two years old. Have not had any problems with this desktop before today. When I tried to turn it on today all I get is a flashing orange light where the normally green light is where I push the button to turn on. There was no sound at first so I read on a post to change the outlet that the computer was plugged into and now it sounds like it is trying to read the hard drive but nothing happens. Any suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance

VSProgrammer

 

[wahnula]

VSProgrammer

Specs please, or at least a model#. Generally Dells are marginal in the PSU department, but with this little info it's hard to tell what your problem could be. Does the screen display anything during startup attempts?

Tony

 

[vsprogrammer]

Hi Tony!

Thanks for the reply. The system is a Dell Dimension 1100. No, the screen doesn't display anything. I listened again this morning and I think that it is only the fan that I am hearing and that it is not even reading the harddrive....

Thanks, VSProgrammer

 

[burtsbees]

I would think power supply.

Burt

 

[vsprogrammer]

Hi Burt!

Thanks for the reply. Just wondering if it was the power supply would the fan on that still be working? Both the power supply and the fan are running fine. Also, just noticed that there is a green light on the motherboard - not sure if that was there before or not....

Thanks again,
VSProgrammer

 

[Aussie2]

You could try removing power cable and press on switch for 10 secs or so, might reset

 

[wahnula]

If this was an overnight thing, I would consider paying to have the PSU diagnosed rather than buy a new one. In the US Circuit City has a new FireDog repair service that offers "first checkup free". Other than that, I would first go into the PC and re-seat every connector, giving a good cleanout w/ canned air (1/2 -second bursts only) along with cleaning out the PSU. If no luck, head over to

http://www.pcpower.com

and purchase a Dell PSU or see if you can't get your hands on a known working one.

Yes, the case fans can spin merrily along even though the PC is not getting the correct voltage. Depending on the design, there could be several 12V rails + a 5V rail.

I would recommend a PSU tester but not sure if they fit a Dell or not.

Best of luck

Tony

 

[vsprogrammer]

Hey!

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions! Greatly appreciated! I read on the Dell website that a steady amber light meant that there was a problem with an installed device - which really doesn't make sense to me as there are no new devices installed. Oh well, perhaps will drop off somewhere and have it looked at. Thanks again for all the replies!

Have a great evening!
VSProgrammer

 

[burtsbees]

Run it without any hard drives, cdrom drives or pci cards in it, and see if you at least see POST messages. Sometimes RAM in the wrong slot, or the wrong kind of RAM can do this. Other times, you'll get 2 beeps. I have tried different RAM in systems, and got exactly what you are getting. If you see POST messages with nothing ionstalled (PCI, hdd's, etc.), then replace them 1 by 1 until you get nothing---the last thing you install will be the culprit. Who knows---it may work with everything, indicating that perhaps something simply needed to be reseated.

Burt

 

[theunknownprogrammer]

I Have The Exact Same Program With A Compaq. Except Nothing Happens.

 

[theunknownprogrammer]

i've tried the most obvious solutions... the last thing i remember doing was pressing in the power button for a few seconds(the system was unresponsive) and i think i messed up the power button. after that i checked all the connections and RAM and cards and stuff and fixed the power button. now it's still dead. i'm thinking it might be the ram.

 

[theunknownprogrammer]

well i tried that... it's dead... must be the psu. my thing is , i don't wanna spend say 30 + bucks on a power supply and see it's not it.

 

[cjelec]

You said that the pc froze and you had to reset it, this could indicate a CPU (or even a mobo) problem. But if it was a CPU problem you would normally have a beep code.

To anyone, Would the mobo light come on if there is a problem with the BIOS chip or even the mobo its self?

 

[JSD7878]

I can confirm the mobo light does come on regardless even if there is problem with Bios chip.

 

[bursland]

Any help on this would be welcome .Yesterday my pc a hewlett packard t685 stopped with a going to sleep message on the screen.Up to that point it was working fine.On Re-booting the green led lights on the monitor then changes to amber displaying the going to sleep message again.There appears to be hard drive activity and there are no discernable beeps to indicate any bios problems.I have checked all the psu voltages and all are ok.The only thing I have noticed is on the graphics card an ATI Radeon x600 pro the cooling fan is not operating .Does this only run when cooling required or should it run continuously indicating a possible failure of the graphics card cpu due to overheating .

 

[theunknownprogrammer]

well i tried the power supply for mine. it still won't work.
everything configured correctly. and 79 bucks lost!