Computer troubleshooting...?

Question

I'm working on a Gateway computer (probably an Essential 700C since it has a 700 MHz Celeron processor). When I turn it on, both the green and amber lights in the power button come on and stay on. There are no audible beeps. The floppy drive's light doesn't come on, but the CD drive light comes on for a few seconds. The monitor doesn't seem to be receiving anything, and none of the keyboard lights come on and neither does the optical mouse.

Swapping out the hard drive seemed to make no difference. I put in a new power supply but the symptoms are the same. The old supply was very dusty and I wonder if the processor overheated.

Possibly helpful details are that the keyboard and mouse both have USB interfaces (there are no PS/2 connections available), the graphics are integrated into the motherboard, it had 512 megs of RAM, and it was running Windows Me.

Even the most basic suggestions or comments are welcome.

Answer 1

sounds like a dead motherboard to me. but if amber light is not supposed to come on and they are both still on then it would be a dead power supply.

Answer 2

I would concurr that it sounds like either the processor has failed or indeed the motherboard. I would rule out the PSU completely since it is obviously providing power by the nature of LEDs coming on.

At this point I would disconnect all drives from the system. I have had systems in the past where a failed drive causes the board to freeze on boot. If you get a screen then plug in a drive at a time to try and identify the faulty one.

I would also try powering the system on with NO RAM. This should cause an audible bleeping. If you receive this then the motherboard and CPU are operational to at least a basic degree. In which case try reinserting the RAM. It may well have been dirt lying across the interface. Failing that you could try replacing the RAM.