Computer dead

[Tom]

Hello - I have a 5 year old Gateway Media Center XP. In the last year I've
replaced the hard drive and the bios battery. Last night, without warning my
computer shut completely down - just went black. I tried restarting to no
avail. Nothing turns on - not the fans or a hiss of the hard drive. I
unplugged the computer overnight - did not start this morning. I opened it
up, the only sign of electricity is a green light on the motherboard that
lights up when the power is connected. Thoughts/ suggestions? Thank you, Tom

 

[philo]

Hello - I have a 5 year old Gateway Media Center XP. In the last year I've
replaced the hard drive and the bios battery. Last night, without warning my
computer shut completely down - just went black. I tried restarting to no
avail. Nothing turns on - not the fans or a hiss of the hard drive. I
unplugged the computer overnight - did not start this morning. I opened it
up, the only sign of electricity is a green light on the motherboard that
lights up when the power is connected. Thoughts/ suggestions? Thank you,

Tom


try a different power supply

 

[Tom]

thank you for your reply - the power supply is fine. If you perhaps are
referring to the power cord as well, it seems fine as I checked it too but
I'll pick up a new one tonight and give that a try too. If none of the above
- any other thoughts? Is there a fuse in this darn thing?

 

[Malke]

thank you for your reply - the power supply is fine. If you perhaps are
referring to the power cord as well, it seems fine as I checked it too but
I'll pick up a new one tonight and give that a try too. If none of the
above
- any other thoughts? Is there a fuse in this darn thing?

Did you swap the power supply out for a known-working one and that's how you
know it's fine? If you didn't do this, that's your next step. If you did do
this and still don't get any response when you push the power button on
your computer, then your motherboard has died. On that old a computer it
will not be worth trying to replace the motherboard as you would need to
get the replacement from Gateway. Putting in a retail motherboard won't
work with your XP install since it is tied to the original Gateway
hardware.

It is extremely unlikely that the issue would be the power cord, although
you certainly can try a different one and also try a different power outlet
if you just want to be sure.

Malke

 

[philo]

Did you swap the power supply out for a known-working one and that's how you
know it's fine? If you didn't do this, that's your next step. If you did do
this and still don't get any response when you push the power button on
your computer, then your motherboard has died. On that old a computer it
will not be worth trying to replace the motherboard as you would need to
get the replacement from Gateway. Putting in a retail motherboard won't
work with your XP install since it is tied to the original Gateway
hardware.

It is extremely unlikely that the issue would be the power cord, although
you certainly can try a different one and also try a different power outlet
if you just want to be sure.

Malke

I agree. Just because the green light on the mobo is on does not necessarily
mean the power supply is good.
However...since the green light did come on...the line cord is OK.

If the PS is definately good, the mobo is probably bad...
but reset the bios...that might bring it back.
There is usually a jumper near the cmos battery. With the power
disconnected...move it over one notch
then back again

 

[w_tom]

thank you for your reply - thepower supplyis fine.  If you perhaps are
referring to the power cord as well, it seems fine as I checked it too but
I'll pick up a new one tonight and give that a try too.  If none of the above
- any other thoughts?

Don't forget to replace X and replace Y and swap Z and ... at what
point does all that labor still result in no answer. Well the power
supply is only one component of the power supply 'system'. In but two
minutes with a multimeter, either you have an indisputable answer OR
you have numbers so that others with better knowledge will reply with
a useful answer. The two minute procedure is "When your computer dies
without warning....." starting 6 Feb 2007 in the newsgroup
alt.windows-xp at:
http://tinyurl.com/yvf9vh
Connector chart to locate each color:
http://www.hardwarebook.net/connector/power/atxpower.html

In your case, what happens on purple, green, orange, red, and yellow
wire are important both before and when power switch is pressed. Post
those numbers so that the next post is immediately useful - long
before replacing or removing anything.