[CJIS]

When I turn the power on to the computer the monitor light on the left is supposed to come on but doesn't. The keyboard is also supposed to power up but doesn't. The BIOS doesn't load up at all. All that happens is the DVD-ROM drive light flashes and the loading light on the computer flashes but that is it, no power to Keyboard,Monitor and also no BIOS or windows whatsoever.
The monitor and keyboard both work on different computers.

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Hi there

Can you post your system specs please?
Also, can you tell us if the system was working before OK & this has just suddenly happened? If so, did anything of any significance happen or change just prior to this problem, etc?

[Samm]

Hi there

Can you post your system specs please?
Also, can you tell us if the system was working before OK & this has just suddenly happened? If so, did anything of any significance happen or change just prior to this problem, etc?

[dsenette]

are there any beeps?

[CJIS]

It was working OK before just started to freeze a bit more regularly and crashing more but then it just went off totally.
There are no beeps when the system starts up.
I tried the monitor and keyboard and mouse on my other computer and everything loaded fine I got two beeps and the monitor came on and the computer loaded and I had no problems at all.

[Samm]

OK, can we have the system specs please?

[CJIS]

I don't really know.
The hard drive is tiny there is about 100MB or something RAM and that is all I know really.
There are two computers doing this.
One computer has been connected to a really old Acorn monitor and worked on that but now it doesn't work with a normal PC Monitor.

[Samm]

I really do need some idea of what sort of system we are dealing with here.

The system that has been connected to the old acorn monitor may be need a setting changing in the bios to work with the newer monitor.
Are both systems identical or not? If not, I suggest we concentrate on one at a time.

Is there a manufacturers name & model, or anything on the front of the case?
If not, you will have to open up the case & look on the motherboard for the mobo manufacturer's name & model number. Have a good look with a torch & see if you can find it.
If you really can't find that info, then describe the cpu socket to me instead.

[CJIS]

Both systems are identical and if it were a setting that needed changing in the BIOS I can't get into the BIOS because I can't see it. There is nothing on the front of the casing for the computer. The motherboard has nothing printed on it and there are no stickers and it doesn't say the model name or number anywhere. The CPU? Do you mean the big fan in there becuase that says:
akasa
ball bearing
12DC
and below that is an orange thing that has nothing written on it, it is just blank.

[Samm]

Both systems are identical and if it were a setting that needed changing in the BIOS I can't get into the BIOS because I can't see it.

lol, I realise that! There are ways round it though which I will get to shortly.

The CPU? Do you mean the big fan in there becuase that says:
akasa
ball bearing
12DC
and below that is an orange thing that has nothing written on it, it is just blank.

Hmmm, ok. Hopefully you are looking at the cpu fan & not the case fan! Underneath this fan should be a heatsink, then the cpu itself.

There are 2 distinct shapes of cpu socket - one is square (ZIF socket), the other is long & thin (slot 1)
Have a look at the file I've attached to get a better idea & determine which type you have.

[attachment=2666:attachment]

If you have a zif (or square) socket then do the following :
The socket is the part thats permanently fixed to the motherboard. It will be plastic looking & white/cream in colour (see pic 2 in the attached file).

You won't be able to see most of it due to the heatsink/fan covering it, but you should notice one of its sides sticking out from underneath the heatsink/fan. If you can't see it at all you will have to remove the heatsink & fan (there will be a metal clip that fastens it in place).

The edge that sticks out the most should have something written on it. This won't be very visible because the writing will be molded into the plastic & therefore the same colour as the socket.

Can you tell me what is written on the socket if its a zif, or whether you have a slot 1?

[CJIS]

It says socket 462 and the actual processor itsels is an AMD Duron.

[Samm]

Excellent, well done.
How did you find out it was a duron? Did you remove the heatsink/fan assembly in the end?
Being a duron, this is important, because if you did remove it from the cpu, you will have to clean off the old thermal compound with an anti-static cleanser & reapply fresh paste.

Next thing to look for is this :
You will see somewhere on the board, a round silver flat battery (approx 2cm in diameter). Locate the battery (but don't remove it), then locate the jumper(s) nearest to the battery. A jumper is a small rectangular plastic cap, often black but can be almost any colour. The jumper you are looking for will have a metal pin next to it.

If you see anything fitting that description, look at the writing next to it on the motherboard & tell me what it says. (Often it will be something like: JP1 or JPBAT or CLR_CMOS, but thats not guaranteed)

[CJIS]

I did remove the heatsink/fan to find it was a duron. It is very faint and hard to see but it says :JP4

[Samm]

JP4 - hmmm thats an unusual one but possible its the right one.
Are there any other jumpers (or dip switchs - row of tiny sliding switches) in that vacinity at all?
How far away from the battery is JP4?