i have a computer i bought in 2001. The computer will not turn on even for a second when the button is pushed. I was wondering if its the PSU? being, 4 years old... and the PSU is probably a cheap, 200W or 150W one. Any other possibilities before i go out and buy another PSU?

no lights?

no beeps?

no nada?

when was the last time you had it working?

try the internal plugs? unplug/ plug? the main board plug?

does the psu get warm?

OK... i took it upon myself to go out and buy a new PSU.. becuase i have tried your tips, and mine... nothing worked.. BUT!!!!.. i PSU i bought.. i put it in the computer.. made sure everything was just as it was witht he old burnt out PSU... and the Computer starts up... the CPU heatsink fan tirns on... but no other noises... no hardrive sounds nothing. Well. i seem to havew a problem on my hands. Did the PSU (old one) blow due to a power surge?.. did that fry the mobo and PSU?. the new PSU turned on fine. but the computer didnt boot. I thought i heard one beep the first time i turned it on. But after trying turning it on several times. the same things happen. Push the power, CPU fan spins, ... nothing, no display no sounds other than the CPU fan, the Chipset Heatsink and CPU heat sink get tempid warm, probably body temp but nothing happens. !!!!!!! PLEASE HELP!!!

Puterno

long shot, but...

Unplug the computer from the wall, then hold the power button in for 1 minute.

It actually does 3 things: it resets the bios in a minor way;
removes any static electricity in the system; and it helps reset the
power connections.

Hmm... interesting.. ill try it... and get back to you.

Thanks.

Another idea while you're there. Take out the RAM and the graphics card. Then switch it on. You should definitely hear a beep code of some kind. If you don't, then that shows that the speaker isn't working and we all know how useful that is in diagnosing these pre-POST problems.

If that seems OK, try powering up with just the motherboard, CPU, CPU fan, 1 SDRAM module (or 1 pair of SIMMs) and graphics card connected. No drives. No IDE cables. No modems or anything else like that. That's the minimum you need to get a system to POST. Keep it simple to narrow down the cause of your problem

I have lots of systems like this at one stage or another and the problem rarely turns out to be the PSU.