This computer seems dead!

[1974stephen]

This is a long shot I know but give me a chance!

An old PC that my dad's got that hasn't been used or powered up for approx 18months now needs to be resurrected as my mum's Amstrad PCW512 word processor (remember them!?!?!) has finally packed in.

When he upgraded he kept it for this very day. Trouble is he's plugged it in and it's "dead" as he puts it. He has checked that there's 240v at the end of the mains lead and turned it on and nothing happens.

I had a PC that when left for this length of time seemed to have lost its memory for starting up and wouldn't then load the operating system.

Any ideas at all on what it might be before I get to it with a screwdriver? If it's terminal then they'll go and buy a new one, but I guess it's worth a shot first.

 

[swelec]

Battery on other board dead


The battery gives the board a small amount of power in order to store some vital data on your machine when the power is off. Data stored is that like the time and date so you don't have to reset them every time you boot the machine up. Motherboard batteries are usually long lasting Lithium batteries. Removing this can reset all the data on your machine including the BIOS settings, however not replacing this correctly can lead to irreparable damage to the motherboard. Only remove the battery if it is dead or if you can't have access any other way to resetting the data on your machine by use of the clear CMOS jumper or something similar.

 

[1974stephen]

OK. I've had the thing apart. The fuse in the PSU is OK, and the lithium 3V cell is kicking out 3V too. Unfortunately I had to remove it to test it, but any problems that may have been caused by that I guess will have to be dealt with later on ie memory loss etc.

I still can't get it powered up even to BIOS settings. Any other ideas how to actually get it started, or is there a possibility that it's just had enough???

Any ideas gratefully received.

 

[JohnD]

Do you mean that power is going to the PSU but not coming out? How about the on/off switch being tarnished or otherwise u/s?

Any chance of swapping the PSU?

No internal fuses, i suppose?

 

[Doc Lenny]

If you plug it in and the fan in the power supply is not turning, that is your first suspect. You might have to look on ebay for one that is compatible with your PC if it's an old model.

£15 will cover it.

 

[JohnD]

Can I insult you by mentioning that it will have two on/off switches, one on the front and one on the back

 

[1974stephen]

John D.....how dare you!!! Yep both switches on. I've been there many times before with customers of mine. Is it switched on? "Yes". Are you sure, and the red light is on next to it yes? "Yes". 200 mile drive later, the chuffing thing isn't switched on!

When power switch on rear is pressed and the button on the front is then pressed, no power appears to go to the PSU. The internal 10A fuse has metered out OK, but there's lots of cables coming from it all supplying different voltages to different places inside the PC, and I guess it only needs one voltage to go down and it won't work at all. Am I Right?

Funny how it worked fine 18 months ago. Has been in the spare room since, and now doesn't want to know. PC World with mother tomorrow I guess. Should be fun being as she has only just got used to the Amstrad PCW that's just given up after 24 years service - pretty good considering!

When speaking to her on the phone tonight she asked whether she had to have one that used a mouse! Oh how times have changed!