How can I fix this blinking orange power light

[jack413man]

I got this old computer, dont know how old, but after not using it since I got my laptop 2 years ago, I had tried to turn it on as it has a lot of storage plus whats stored. It was sitting under the desk, there was a compartment that can house it, and so I plugged in the power supply or cord into it and pressed the power button. Nothing happened except the power light would blink orange. So I tried to unplug it, wait and plug it back in to try again with no luck. I am using that same power cord for the monitor as it has the same connection and it works fine. I want to try and fix it and avoid any technician, though we have a tech in mind whos a good person that has fixed it before, at one point replaced it.

Anyways, facts:
It is a dell Windows XP desktop
When I press the power button, it blinks orange light, even for a few seconds after i unplug it
nothing turns on in the back, fan, lights ect

[patio]

So it's been sitting awhile...see if the PSU has a toggle switch on the back...Not the 110 / 240 1 which is red...this one is usually black...
With power to it toggle it 2 or 3 times then power up and see what happens...

Also try a different power cord...everyone has a spare.

[patio]

Worst case scenario if it won't power up and you need the data you can pull the HDD...connect it as a slave drive in a working PC...and get it that way...

If you need info on that Post back...

[jack413man]

Added the back of the computer, and 2 photos from the inside here
https://imgur.com/a/jRyV4rn

I see no toggle that you describe. Also I have no spare power cord, that I know of. My brothers may know. As for the storage, yes I want whats on there but we dont exactly have the money to buy a new computer. Something I left out, the computer standard storage is about 27GB and we added a 1TB drive to it which made it faster and that's what I need if I cannot upgrade my laptop (separate issue).

[patio]

I'm confused...this is an XP older PC with 27G storage and an added 1 TB HDD ? ?

Please clarify.

Also it's pretty filthy...perhaps doin some housekeeping with all power removed may bring it back to life...do NOT use a vacuum...

[jack413man]

By older I meant we have had it for many years. Last time I checked it was OS XP. Dont know the exact year.

[BC_Programmer]

It looks to me like a Dell Dimension 4X00 or at least it is a very similar model, as I had one myself a few years ago.

Mine had the same issue- A Blinking Amber power light for those systems means that the power supply has probably failed. I replaced the power supply and it worked again for a few more months before the motherboard itself failed.

[DaveLembke]

That model also has the diagnostic LEDS at the rear of the computer. The 4 LEDS can be used for troubleshooting. Look up the model in an online manual for it and it will state what the 4 LED ABCD code means. It might point to PSU failure which also goes with the front panel LED blink. Here is a link that might lead you to the manual for your system which would explain what the LED code means if its showing something. With a PSU problem though if the PSU is too dead to report then no error code will show. But for the fact that your getting the well known orange blink it might have a low level diagnostic to it to display error condition in the ABCD LEDS at the rear of the PC. https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/A-B-C-D-Diagnostic-Lights/td-p/2173059

I too have had a Dell Dimension 4600 with Pentium 4 CPU die this way and a power supply fixed it. I later gutted the P4 motherboard and all drives and older 20 pin PSU from it and installed all modern parts inside the case. Just needed to patch in a universal front panel harness end to it to make it work the same as a universal  PC case since front panel pins on motherboards dont hold to a set pinout standard between boards.

[Lisa_maree]

The Dells also won't power up if the cmos battery is flat ,

https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000239.htm

Worth a check I think.

[patio]

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