Computer won't turn on

[Puglyman]

My computer won't turn on anymore. It's not the PSU because I tried it on another computer and it worked fine. The light on the motherboard is lit up, but other than that, there are no lights, sounds, or anything when I press the button. My computer is a Dell Dimension 4500. Anyone have any ideas about what the problem could be?

Thanks

[fffreak]

Have you tried reseting the CMOS? Also make sure all of your cards RAM, video card, sound card, and any other peripherals are all seated correctly.

 8-)fffreak

[patio]

Assuming it's not the PSU cause it works on another machine can get you going in circles testing other peripherals...

What machine is this with as many specifics as possible ? ?

What OS is this ? ?

What type PSU and wattage is this ? ?

What happened prior to this ? ?

[Puglyman]

It's a Dell Dimension 4500

Processor                      Intel Pentium 4 2 GHz
Installed Memory      256 MB (DDR SDRAM)
Operating System      Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

      
Motherboard
Bus Speed      400 MHz
Video Output Interface      AGP 4x

Memory
RAM Technology       DDR SDRAM
Installed RAM      512 MB
Installed Video Memory      16 MB
Installed Cache Memory      512 KB

Hard Drive
Hard Drive Capacity       80 GB
Hard Drive Interface      DMA/ATA-100 (Ultra)


The power supply is 250 watts.

I hope that's enough info.

Thanks

[Puglyman]

And I forgot. I tried reseting the CMOS by removing the battery (like the page you linked said to do), but the computer doesn't boot up.

And nothing in particular happened before it stopped working. I just tried to turn it on and it wouldn't do anything.

Thanks

[patio]

Borrow a known good PSU and swap it into that machine and see if it does the trick...

patio.  8-)

[Puglyman]

I swapped it with another computer I have and it didn't work. Still no lights or sounds or any other indications that something is working. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[patio]

I would remove all components except the bare minimum which would be CPU PSU, 1 stick of RAM and the video card, a mouse , keyboard and monitor.
See if you get anything with this setup.

patio.  8-)

IMPORTANT NOTE: I just noticed that machine is a Dell. Some of their PSU's are made differently...another PSU might not work on that machine and might even cause damage. Contact Dell.

[GX1_Man]

That is correct. Just because another PSU did not work is not a good indicator. It needs to be from a similar Dell model to test accurately.

[Puglyman]

The PSU that I swapped it with was from a Dell 4600. And they looked comparable.

I stripped everything down to what you suggested and it worked... sort of. The computer started up, but nothing came on the screen. It beeped though. I turned it off to try again, and now it won't turn on at all again. Should I have left it on?

Thanks