Ok Computer geeks, I need a little help

[KeithTN]

Ok here's what I got. I had a friend bring me his computer. No power from the power supply, so I replace the power supply. Ok Now I have power, but it doesn't boot up. No beep no nothing. The cpu fan starts running as soon as I turn the power on on the power supply itself, not the power button on the front. I'm thinking the motherboard is toast, but I've never had one do this before. Any help would be appreciated.

[Samuel]

You get nothing on the screen?

If that is the case, make sure you have all connectors hooked up, and locked in tight. Sometime I forget one little plug, or don't get one in tight enough and it causes issues.

If that is all ok, I would move to this question: Is the video output integrated or dedicated? Or, is the video signal coming from the motherboard, or is there a dedicated card added in for video?

If the answer is integrated, yeah .. I would say you have a toasted something in there. Motherboard could be it, but before you come to that conclusion, make sure everything is is right. Make sure every connector is tight, and in the right place, and make sure nothing can be shorting out the board.

If it is a dedicated card, take it out and try the integrated (if available), or place a different card in there. If all that doesn't fix it .. you may have a toasted PC on your hands.

What processor is it?

Do you know what chipset it's running?

Can you provide a model number for the mobo?

[KeithTN]

The vid card is integrated. There's nothing coming up on screen at all. Even my POST tester is not getting anything other than the correct voltage. It's an old Emachine with a AMD Athlon 2600 processor. 80 gig HDD and a whopping 512 meg of RAM. I think he would be better off getting a new system. He could get a little $400 system from WalMart that would be better than that one.

[Samuel]

The vid card is integrated. There's nothing coming up on screen at all. Even my POST tester is not getting anything other than the correct voltage. It's an old Emachine with a AMD Athlon 2600 processor. 80 gig HDD and a whopping 512 meg of RAM. I think he would be better off getting a new system. He could get a little $400 system from WalMart that would be better than that one.

Do you have experience building PCs?

I would assume you know just enough to troubleshoot some issues, but if you are able to, price out a new PC for him. Find his price range, and go to sites like newegg and price one out piece by piece. It's cheaper, and you get way more for the money doing that.

If you don't do that, or are not comfortable doing that, make sure you do not send him out to Walmart for a computer. Please? Find a reputable PC shop in the area, or a friend that can do this sort of stuff ... or hell, email me and I will price something out, just don't buy a PC from Walmart.

[jpod89]

90% Chance the Mobo is toast. I'd bet on it. No beep = bad. However, make sure your CPU heatsink and CPU are connected properly, and double-check all connections. Reset CMOS by removing the battery on the mobo (one of the thin ones) and putting it back.

If all this doesn't work, Mobo is done.

[Samuel]

No beep = bad.

[xanaxez]

make sure you hooked it back up right after installing the new power supply, if you're getting power but no booting up then most likely you have the wrong strap hooked to your hard drive, remember it will not boot up if it cannot read your hd, it needs your operating system files to boot. also make sure you didnt hook the wrong boot strap to your mother board. you sound liek you know what you're doing but theres always a case where someone didnt pay attention and inproperly connected the straps. i have myself lol

[Sebrina]

Your motherboard is shot, even if you bought a new motherboard with those components it wouldn't really make sense. You could spare the HDD and maybe the case I'd throw everything else out (including the processor).

[KeithTN]

If the guy was into video editing or gaming, you know something that actually would make the computer work a little, I'd offer to build him a system. I've built a few gaming machines before. He is in his late 50's and just wants something to surf the internet, check email, and do family pictures. I'll triple check the cables again, I didn't have to mess with these to replace the power supply, but you never know, I might have loosened one when pulling one of the power cables. I did think about removing the CMOS battery. I try that too.
What has me confused is that that CPU fan comes on and it starts the boot cycle when the power is connected before you even push the power button on the front. Holding the power button in on the front won't even force it to shut down. You have to remove power from the tower completely.

I'll try reseat the cables and cycling the CMOS battery after I wake back up after while.

[JeffFlanagan]

To confirm that the problem is the motherboard, disconnect the power and data wires to the drives, remove any cards, and try to boot again. Still no beep, you either have another bad power supply, a short from the MB to the case, or a bad MB.

If it does beep, add things back one at a time until it doesn't to find the problem.