A friend of mine was having trouble with their computer and asked for help…
Two weeks later, I’m still working on it. I would appreciate any advice from the experts out there!
Original symptom: Press power button, nothing at all happens. No signs of life.
Let me give a brief troubleshooting rundown:
1. I originally suspected the power supply. Therefore, I brought home a few replacements for testing. None had any affect on the problem.
2. To isolate the power supply problem, I bought a power supply tester. It indicated that the PG was off the map and the +5V reading was inconsistent. Ah ha!
3. The power supply was replaced with a quality unit that tested well with my new tester.
4. My next assumption was that the bad power supply took the MB (Imperial GV 20030812) with it. In order to avoid trouble with the Windows XP OEM version, I opted for an exact replacement vs. an completely new (and better) MB. I found a match on eBay (used) and installed it today with the new PS. I took pictures of the original config to ensure that I got it correct upon installation. The net result of the new MB was a change in behavior, but all was not well.
New behavior: HD light stays on orange after pressing the power button. No CPU fan. No beeps. No video.
5. This new behavior seems to rule out the power switch. Does anyone agree with this assumption?
Where should I turn next? Should I assume that the bad power supply took out the CPU on its way out? RAM? CPU Fan? Would any of these cause this type of behavior?
How can I be certain that the new MB is working properly?
I would appreciate any assistance here. I am a computer professional, but I am certainly no expert in this arena.
Thanks!
David Stickney
