WIN 98 computer not turning on/restarting

[clarnet73]

This afternoon, I had left my computer running upstairs while I attended to things downstaris. I went back upstairs to attend to something and heard the familiar "restarting" beep... curious, Iwent to check it out, only to find it running through scan disk... it got to about 15% and autiatically restarted the computer again... it did this 2 or 3 times, and then the screen went black, but the monitor button blinking, like it does when you still have the monitor on after shutting down the computer.

Now I can't get it to respond at all.  I press the power button, nothing happens. I press reset, nothing happens.  I turned it off by the switch in the back, let it sit for a while, turned it ack on, and pushed the power button... the fan turns on and it SOUNDS as if it's turning on, but still the "monitor is working, check yor computer and cable" message on the screen.... and no change after letting it go for a while.  The fan only turns off if I turn off the switch in the back.

Any ideas?  I haven't installed any software or even downloaded anything in quite a while... this is an "All of a sudden" thing that I can't seem to solve.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[patio]

Check the cables from the monitor to the computer first off...the error message you got suggests this might be the problem.

patio.

[[email protected]]

They seem OK... plugged in securely...

I should add that the red light underneath the green "on" light is glowing on the CPU box...

[pcdoc4christ]

...Now I can't get it to respond at all.  I press the power button, nothing happens. I press reset, nothing happens.  I turned it off by the switch in the back, let it sit for a while, turned it ack on, and pushed the power button... the fan turns on and it SOUNDS as if it's turning on, but still the "monitor is working, check yor computer and cable" message on the screen.... and no change after letting it go for a while.  The fan only turns off if I turn off the switch in the back...

It's most likely a hardware problem.  If you are fortunate, only the power supply (the device with the switch that you turned on and off) has died easy.  Try plugging a lamp in the electrical outlet to make sure that is not the problem.  If the lamp works, take the computer into a repair shop.  Power supplies are less than $50.00 (USD) to replace.  

Regards,
Doc

[Raptor]

Unplug the computer from the powergrid entirely and then reconnect it.

Your PSU may have failed. Can you test a known working Power Supply Unit on this computer?

But first, reset your BIOS:

To reset the BIOS, take the following steps:

1. Power down computer
2. Take countermeasures against electro-static discharge
3. Remove computer casing
4. Inspect mainboard for a CMOS jump switch or CMOS battery

In case of CMOS jump switch:

Follow instructions provided with the mainboard manual.

In case of CMOS battery:

I. Remove CMOS battery for approximately 10-15 seconds.
II. After 10-15 seconds, place the CMOS battery back.

5. Power on system.

Do not power on the system when CMOS jumper is set to clear_cmos or when CMOS battery is non-present.

[GX1_Man]

 Power supplies are less than $50.00 (USD) to replace.  

Unless you pay them to do it!!!

[clarnet73]

Turns out we think the processor died... that fan was no longer working, so probably fried itself... got a new box on loan from a neighbor, so now i'm all set again.

[pcdoc4christ]

OK, Clarnet.

Thanks for lettings us know how things worked out.