lights come on, nothing else

  • Thread starter Thread starter JB
  • Start date Start date
J

JB

I have an old computer where the boot up was always agonizing -- bascially,
it would sit there for ages until a light flashed on the monitor, and then
because of all the registry entries would take another ten minutes to boot
to the desktop. Anyway, now I turn on the power and a light comes on on the
front but it never actually whirs up the disks or starts at all. What would
this be? I don't really need to save this system, but it woudl be nice. It's
a Celeron 450 with Win XP.

If not, is there an *easy way to get the data off the hard disk?

- JB
 
possibly the power supply


If not, is there an *easy way to get the data off the hard disk?

take the hardrive out and put has a slave in another system.
 
I have an old computer where the boot up was always agonizing -- bascially,
it would sit there for ages until a light flashed on the monitor, and then
because of all the registry entries would take another ten minutes to boot
to the desktop.
Click to expand...

There would be no possible registry that extended boot time
by anywhere near that long. The system might've been
instable, or have insufficient memory, or other factors but
registry isn't one of them. To a certain extent this is
relavant to improve performance if it were to become
functional again, but even so it'd run a whole lot better
with a paired-down win2k or 98se.

Anyway, now I turn on the power and a light comes on on the
front but it never actually whirs up the disks or starts at all. What would
this be? I don't really need to save this system, but it woudl be nice. It's
a Celeron 450 with Win XP.
Click to expand...

It's the classis failure-to-post scenario. You might check
the battery and power supply voltages with a multimeter.
Check cables and cards (particularly if the system had been
moved or work done inside), and try clearing CMOS.

Examine motherboard for failed capacitors- vented, domed
tops and/or leaky residue about their tops or bottoms.

If not, is there an *easy way to get the data off the hard disk?
Click to expand...

Hook it up to another system and copy it off, or just get
that one running again of course.

Motherboard and power supply are the two most likely
candidates. Check that all fans are spinning.
 
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