Computer powers but that's it.

[chas638]

My nephew has a Compaq Presario SR1426nx running Windows XP home which he asked me to look at. About a week ago the mouse stopped working and now when you start the green light on the PSU goes on, the PSU fan runs, the cooling fan above the cpu runs, the disk drive light goes on about 2 seconds than nothing. The monitor is good because I'm using it now on my computer to write this post. I put the HD in a external enclosure and it appears to be fine. The monitor goes right to energy saver and that's it. I tried adding a separate video card but still same result. If I unplug the monitor cable I get a no signal message but when I plug it back in it goes right to energy saver. Without video I can't check BIO or anything else.
It's an 7 year old computer so I don't want to spend too much replacing parts that it doesn't need but it is good enough for my 10 year old nephew.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Computer_Commando]

Swap psu with known good one.

[chas638]

Even though the PSU runs the fans it could still be NG? I'll try to find a compatible power supply and swap it out. Thanks

[patio]

Yes...that's very possible...it takes nothing to run the fan compared to what else it does.

[chas638]

Changed the PSU with new one, still acting the same. The computer power goes on with fans, the HD  and optical drive lights for about 2 seconds and the monitor goes into power saver. If I remove the VGA cable it shows no signal but when I plug it back in, power saver again.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My nephew is lost without his computer and driving me crazy.
Thanks

[truenorth]

Given the vintage of the computer is it possible the CMOS battery is still the original? If so it is getting quite long in the tooth. A dying battery can cause a myriad of strange occurrences with a computer. They are cheap and easily obtainable also easy to remove and install. For the small expenditure involved you might want to give that a try.truenorth

[chas638]

The first thing I did was change the CMOS battery before I bought and installed the new PSU, still NG. If the computer is in power saver mode is there a way to get it out blind, can't see anything on the monitor. I'm pretty sure it's a Win XP home OS.

[patio]

So you did try another Monitor ? ?

[chas638]

My nephew had this problem connected to his monitor and that's how I got stuck trying to fix it. I know my monitor works because I'm looking at it now. He also tried his sister's monitor with it and same result. I'm hoping as a last resort that the bio has the computer in power saver mode. Now I have to figure out how to get it out of power saver without seeing the bio with a monitor. It's a catch 22. Worst case the motherboard is shot and will have to find a new computer. Because of the age of this unit it not worth spending about $100 for a replacement MB.
Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Computer_Commando]

The first thing I did was change the CMOS battery before I bought and installed the new PSU, still NG. If the computer is in power saver mode is there a way to get it out blind, can't see anything on the monitor. I'm pretty sure it's a Win XP home OS.

Remove battery & reset BIOS by use of shorting jumper on motherboard.  There should be a jumper block with 3 pins, Normal is 1-2, Reset is 2-3.  If not labeled, Normal is current position.  Removing battery alone is not always enough to reset BIOS; current draw is micro-amps, takes a long time to run down on it's own.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&os=228&product=465651&sw_lang=&

[chas638]

Remove battery & reset BIOS by use of shorting jumper on motherboard.  There should be a jumper block with 3 pins, Normal is 1-2, Reset is 2-3.  If not labeled, Normal is current position.  Removing battery alone is not always enough to reset BIOS; current draw is micro-amps, takes a long time to run down on it's own.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&os=228&product=465651&sw_lang=&

Removed the battery and changed the CIOS jumper with power off to 2-3 reset for about 15 seconds. Put battery in and jumper back to 1-2 and powered computer. The system still didn't boot but the PSU fan and CPU fan ran faster than normal. Shut the computer off and restarted and the fans ran normal but still no boot. Don't know if this means anything.

I'm going to give the motherboard a visual inspection as suggested. I guess the next step would be to replace the motherboard but before I go through the time and expense (about $100), is there a way to test it to make sure it's the problem?
Thanks for your help and support

[jason2074]

Does monitor power button stays orange while computer boots? Does numlock on keyboard lights up/stays or gets response when turning on numlock?

[chas638]

Does monitor power button stays orange while computer boots? Does numlock on keyboard lights up/stays or gets response when turning on numlock?

The monitor light stays orange. If I unplug the video cable the light goes green but when I plug back in the light goes orange. There is no response on the USB keyboard or USB mouse. My nephew told me he was having trouble with his mouse than keyboard right before it stopped completely. That is why I thought it was faulty PSU and CIOS battery and replaced with new units.

Just one more thing. When I power up the computer the light on the hard drive goes on for about 3 seconds. Is there a sequence that BIO posts use, first cpu ,than memory and so forth?
Thanks for taking the time to help