power supply replacement

[schmitty66]

hey all,

my son has very old Compaq presario 4000 series and when we returned from vacation last week......no power. I assumed the power supply and yanked the old one(250W) and took it to a supplier and they sold me a generic 500w power supply. The new PS has a on/off switch on the back of it(old one didn't) and when i turn the PS switch on....the box comes to life and the HD light is on for about 15seconds then it shuts off and the system doesn't reboot.

any suggestions

thanks,
schmitty

[mjc]

Replace the CMOS battery...

[schmitty66]

switched out the CMOS battery...same symtom...i also replaced the power supply again with a ATX 250W...same thing....lights, fans but the HD light goes out after about 15 seconds and nothing.....the kids need their fix of WebKins not to mention the last 6 years of digital pics....what's next?

thanks...schmitty

[Lostatsea3]

Alright... possible culprit is the motherboard... but first try a few other things.
Do you have multiple RAM sticks? Try one at a time.

Take out the HD... if you have another computer reconnect it to that one. You can then get off all your pictures... if the HDD works which it should.

You could have had a power surge and fried some stuff.

Let me know those results and then I can throw you another couple ideas.

[mjc]

Break it down...disconnect all the drives, add in cards, etc...leave just the CPU, its fan and the power supply connected. You should get some beeps due to lack of RAM...if so, then add in the RAM...one at a time if you have more than one stick.

[schmitty66]

anyway i can hook the HDD into my IMB thinkpad t-60...to get the pics before i start the other troubleshooting tips....schmitty

[Lostatsea3]

Ok. Let us know how it goes.

[schmitty66]

okay....removed d-link card, modem card, nividia mx4000 card, sdram 256mb, sdram 128mb(don't laugh), unplugged the floppy, dvd and cd drives from motherboard leaving only the HD plugged into power and motherboard as well as power to the motherboard......nothing....no beeps but what is find strange is that the on/off button doesn't work and now when i plug the power cord into the PS...i hear a faint 'buzz', fans starts on CPU and stops...no power.

what's next?

[schmitty66]

i plugged all the power connections back in and at least i'm getting power to the box. tried both sticks and nothing....no whirliing or what i thought sounded like the processor...well.....processing.

i really appreciate any help and tips......i'm a bio-med engineer so i'm used to troubleshooting but this is out of my expertise......what else should i try???

thanks...schmitty