Had the computer on, everything was working fine. Did some stuff outside, had dinner, watched TV, came back to the computer and thought it had gone to sleep (monitor off).
Moved the mouse...nothing....did Ctrl+Alt+Del ...nothing....hit the Reset button.....nothing....Turned off (using on button) unplugged....You guessed it...Nothing!
When I push the ON button, the CD & DVR lights flash, the HDD drive lights, but then goes out a moment after the CD/DVR lights quit.
I looked at the motherboard (had issues with graphics card a while back...push on it, and it works again - bought a new one, but didn't install yet) blew some dust out, and tried it again. This time, I thought I heard HDD noise (nothing out of the ordinary), but still....nothing.

So....unless someone has an idea as to what it could be, it looks like it's time for a new box. This one is 6 years old, so maybe it's turning into a cheap MB.

Any brand recommendations? I was hoping it would last until the new OS came out...the one replacing Vista...but...

Would I have a big problem with adding my old HDD as a second drive? I have pics and documents that I do not want to loose!

Thanks!

__________________
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

No problem reusing the old hard drive in your new machine...it you need one.

Check to see if your CPU fan works? If not, could have possibly overheated? Some motherboards won't let the machine run for more than a few seconds before it senses a thermal overload and shuts back down...

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Sounds like a case of "Shaken Computer" to me. Larry I hope you get this worked out.

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

We can only hoped that it died comfortably while asleep . . .

Seriously (from me it's a stretch) . . it could very well be a power supply issue. First check would be to see if the internal fan(s) spin up and if your motherboard is so equiped, that the power signal LED gets lit up.

Good to hear about the HDD! I thought about heat as well, which is why I didn't worry about it last night. However, this afternoon....well...you know. CPU fan works, as does the power supply fan, as wall as an addtl. chassis fan, and a fan below the Graphics card (takes up 2 peripheral slots/tabs).

__________________
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

There is a green LED somewhere on the motherboard (besides the ethernet connection) that eventually goes out, once I unplug the 110V power cord.

__________________
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

The Hard drive may not work readily. If the PC is a full 6 years old then it likely has an IDE/ribbon cable connection for the hard drive/optical drive(s)....a brand new computer (especially an off the shelf store box) may no longer have any IDE ports on the motherboard.

I think your issue might be a damaged/fried graphics card or an improperly seated one. I've worked on systems where the positioning of the card in the slot was very touchy. Probably a simple issue.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Sounds like your power supply is okay. The next step on my diagnostic routine would be to disconnect or remove all peripherals and drives (except video and keyboard) to see if you can get the Power On System Test beeps or get to the BIOS setup screen via whatever keyboard sequence your motherboard supports, such as F1, F2 (Dell), ESC or DEL key combos.

Unplugged peripherals except for monitor and keyboard, and it's the same as before...no beeps (It can beep, as I found out when a mem stick went some time ago).

__________________
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

Wow, with no POST or BIOS access it's going to be tough to diagnose. On the up side . . . you're getting a new PC!

Looks like it.

What do you think of the HP Pavillion models?

Here are specs for one I am considering: Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition with Service Pack 1
Processor: AMD Phenom X4 9650 Quad-Core Processor
Processor Speed: 2.3GHz
Chipset: AMD 780G / SB700 Chipset
Cache (L2): 2MB L2+2MB shared L3 Cache
Bus Speed: 3600MT/s System Bus
Memory: 8GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM memory (4x2048MB)
Hard Drive: 750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
Optical Drive(s): SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technoloy
Video Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics with 256MB dedicated graphics memory
Network Interface: 10/100/1000Base-T network interface
Wireless Connectivity: Wireless LAN 802.11b/g
Sound: High Definition Audio, 8 speaker configurable
Memory Slots: 4 DIMM (240-pin, DDR2) (occupied)
Expansion Slots: 3 PCI Express x1 (two available); 1 PCI Express x16 (available)
Expansion Bays: 2 external 5.25" (one available); 1 external 3.5" (available); 2 internal 3.5" (one available)
External Ports: Front panel 15-in-1 memory card reader; 4 USB 2.0 ports (Back); 2 USB 2.0 (Front); 1 FireWire (IEEE 1394) port (Back);1 FireWire (IEEE 1394) port (Front); Headphone; Microphone (Front); 2 PS/2; LAN; Microphone/Line-in/Line-out; Rear speaker-out; Side speaker out; Center (subwoofer); VGA-out and DVI-D (Back)

__________________
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

Uhhh...no more ribbon cables? Wow....guess you get behind technology when your machine lasts as long as this one has. Maybe I should stick a 240/300D emblem on it....because as far as computers goes, this one has lasted me longer than any other machine.

Sooo...what do they use now to connect a HDD?

__________________
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

You're going to love SATA and e-SATA.

It may be just me, but the video card seem a little on the weak side if you're into graphics.

Too bad that Windows 7 isn't slated for commercial release till probably the Fall, although the public RC beta is out.

I have this problem sometimes on my Dell laptop. Turns out that I have to hold the ON button down for about 4-5 seconds. During this time I see three green lights burning, then the three lights blink and the computer turns itself on.

Have you tried disconnecting it from power (both AC & remove battery), let it sit for a few hours, or even overnight, then plug it back in (AC) to start?

If that improves the start up situation, you're likely dealing with a capacitor failure on the logic board.