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trying to fix computer

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by myriotact

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I am trying to repair a dell that someone gave away. the motherboard led comes on, so the power is availible I think, but nothing comes on when i try to power up. are there any simple checks I can make to determine the problem?

5 replies

by cg it

if you have a blank screen, then try a known good processor with old memory. if you still have a blank screen, try a known good processor and known good memory. If you still get a blank screen, it's possible the motherboard [provided that it has built in video].

If it doesn't have built in video, try a known good video card.

by myriotact

ive got power(triple checked everything and it suddenly powered up, but now the monitor says no sync... comp only has a video card, nothing built in, drives cleared up using my other comp, but my Emachine, has no place to plug in video card from old comp, to test it, can i link the two somehow to do what i need, find drivers etc... not really comp savy, but i know a little here and there. I intend to use new comp with pentium with my hard disc from old with celeron... what can i do???

by oh smeg

If you don't get the No Sync message on the monitor when there is no power to the Computer but it appears when you have it turned on a circuit in the Power Supply has either died or is way below Specification that it is effectively Not Working. There are several different Voltages produced by a Power Supply the mains ones are the 12 V DC and the 5 V DC and then depending on how good the PS actually is there may be a 3 V DC Supply to power the CPU & RAM. Some just use a Dropping Circuit to product the 3 V DC Supply though. But while you may have power even at the correct voltage it doesn't mean that it is at the correct current so when a load is applied the Voltage can drop to nothing and that circuit gets no power.

Replace the Power Supply with a Known Good one and it will most likely work

Col

by willcomp

Most older Dells have diagnostic LEDs on the back panel labeled ABCD. Tell us what color those LEDs are are whether power switch LED is green or orange.

For more details, provide model number.

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