In my attic I have an older Win 95 based Gateway that won't boot. I want to resuscitate it so I can use it to each myself Linux as I'm such a clutz I'm sure to screw up the PC I'm using now if I tried something like that.
So what I need to know is why it won't boot. What it does when I hit the power button is go through the motions of booting up to a certain point, then nothing. The operating system won't load, and I notice that the hard drive pitch doesn't seem quite high enough.
My guess is that the power supply is malfunctioning to some degree and is no longer sufficient to juice the hard drive 100%, but I'm a bit of a novice so appreciate if someone would set me straight if I'm heading in the wrong direction.
2007-12-05 07:58:15 · 5 answers · asked by bishopsjewels 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
Power supplies do go bad. When they do, things usually do not start at all so I suspect the problem is not the power supply. I have not seen a power supply as the problem and have it exhibit what you are describing.
I suspect you have a bad hard drive - preventing booting. The hard drive pitch issue further suggests this is the problem.
2007-12-05 08:10:08 · answer #1 · answered by GTB 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In all my years of working on computers (seven), all power supplies either work or they don't. They don't slowly stop working over time.
From what you are describing, the BIOS successfully starts, but it cannot boot the hard drive. This may be either because the hard drive is dead or malfunctioning, or because the BIOS no longer knows to boot it. Check the BIOS to see if it displays the correct time. If it doesn't, replace the little coin battery in the case. Then check to see if it detects the hard drive. If it doesn't, see if the BIOS has an autodetect feature. If the autodetect fails, you likely have a bad drive. If the BIOS does not have an autodetect, remove the hard drive and copy down the cylinders, heads, and sectors informations, and add them to the BIOS.
2007-12-05 08:05:31 · answer #2 · answered by inclusive_disjunction 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ah, if the system comes up, I doubt it it's the power suppy. BUT, it's not hard to find out. 90% of the supplies out there have one of two connectors to the motherboard and standard ISA/SATA power leads for the devices. In my list of essential tools is a $15 power supply tester. I would invest in one to verify the supply.
Okay, to test any system, it's important to simplify it. Power down, remove the power cord and remove the cover. Make sure all the connectors are well seated. Reseat all of the RAM and plug-in cards. Clean out any dust you find wih canned air (another essential tool). Try the system again.
Next, (if it does not work), remove the IDE cables from the backs of the CD drive(s)--these can lock up and prevent booting. Try the system again.
If this does not work, reconnect the CD/DVD drive(s) and try to boot from a bootable CD or floppy. Run chkdsk from the Command prompt. See if the system will access the hard drive. If it can, try to boot from the hard drive into Safe mode and see what works.
hth
2007-12-05 08:13:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are going to put Linux on it you don't need to worry about it power up all the way. Download a linux install - http://www.ubuntu.com/ (for instance) and create a bootable disk. What this mean is that you can run linux from a CD without deleting anything from your HD. This way if it is the power supply then it will crash before it complete loading.
Another way to test the power supply is to boot into MS-DOS mode. Get a windows 98SE boot disk http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm . The will allow you to run into dos mode and check to see if you can even access the HD. Good luck
2007-12-05 08:08:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
what are you getting out of it video wise? ever see the gateway screen? sounds like you may have a bad video card/ or mobo/ or hdd.
Id have to further hear whats going on to better answer
2007-12-05 08:06:17 · answer #5 · answered by hit_evo 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋