My motherboard is probably shot. Windows 95. (I hope)

I found this computer in my basement just sitting there. So I decided to see if it still worked. It starts up but nothing comes up on the screen. The motherboard is probably shot. I didn't hook up any other hardware except the monitor. It has probably been sitting there for a while. It also might be the monitor I used. (an LCD one and a CRT one) but I doubt it. Should I have put this in the hardware section? All I have hooked up is a floppy drive and a CD ROM drive. The CD ROM drive opens... I don't know if that is any indicator

 

Hi pennie4tim, Welcome to WindowsBBS.

You don't give us any details about brand or type of comp.
I would suspect if it's Windows95 OS that only a CRT monitor would work with it. When you start the comp - does it make fan noises? - do you get a POST beep? - are there any LED's showing?

Try and give us as much info as you can. Neil.

 

I do get all of those.
Does the disc spinning when I insert one in the CD ROM drive count for anything..
I guess I should edit my specs.

 

You should have got some kind of signal with either the CRT or LCD as the BIOS of the motherboard goes through it's POST (Power On Self Test). If the LCD hooks up to the video card, it should take some sort of signal from it, at least 16 color VGA, not to be confused with 16-bit VGA which might be the max setting of it's current video card.
It may be that the video card is malfunctioning. Onboard video adaptors (part of motherboard) was still in the future for most IBM compatible PC's of that era. It could be possible to find a video card ($10-$15) for it, if you have a convenient used computer store near you. But I wouldn't spend the money on it unless you want a new hobby.
The CD spinning is sort of a good sign, as it appears some communication is going on with the IDE controller.

On a lighter note; if the monitor did show something, you would have got the famous "Keyboard not found! Press any key to continue" error message.

 

The light went green for a second then turned yellow

Hmm, I'm starting to think it has nothing to do with the motherboard.
Looks like the video card is built in to the motherboard?
I see nothing that looks like a video card.

 

You need to fill in your 'System Details'. Under CP User top left of BBS window and fill Make and Model etc. Scroll to bottom of page and save.

We're shooting in the dark here so give us more info. Neil.

 

If you open the case than you will see if the CPU fan is spinning and also if there is a PCI video card installed, if so,it would most likely be something like a 16 or 32 MB, if you very lucky 64 MB.
Can you bring up the BIOS, or start up in Safe Mode ??
This type of info will help the guys here to see where you are.
hawk22

 

Nothing comes up on the monitor.

 

pennie4tim, can you tell us what brand and model computer this is????

Is the Monitor self -powered or is it connected to the PSU on the comp? Neil.

 

Connected to PSU

Dell Optiplex GX110

 

Hi, just a quick suggestion before I fly - replace the PSU as this may be failing. Not enough power for everything. Cheers Neil.

 

My guesses in order of probability

The graphics card is dead? If that's true, you would still notice disk access (HDD light moving) or even sound if speakers are connected. (test it by getting a new card or placing the one you have in a different computer I'm assuming you don't have).

A memory module is preventing the boot sequence? (test that by removing all but one module, trying to boot, then the others. Some motherboards won't boot with changed memory/hardware unless they're reset - the CMOS is cleared, through a jumper or battery removal. For that matter some boards won't boot without memory in specific positions, for instance, one module in slot 0 and one in slot 1.)

The power supply is faulty (you guessed...test). Please note that some Dells used a proprietary power supply arrangement and therefore require a correct Dell compatible replacement.

Not likely, but I once came across a macintosh (6100) that refused to boot simply because the CMOS battery was weak. What a terrible design. The majority of systems will boot even if there is no battery, but I don't have your computer, so who knows.

If you really want to get the system running, look up the model name on a search engine to see what, precisely, the replacement parts are.

Notice I didn't even mention the motherboard. It's exceptionally rare, unless someone was doing some very inappropriate things, that the board itself will fail. Motherboards are solid state. But now that I think of it, some Dells had a problem with faulty capacitors near the CPU. In that case the system did in fact boot and run, but took hours, literally to accomplish any task as if the CPU was not available. That manifests as an exploded battery looking part on the board. But any way, the video worked just fine in that case.

 

Had a boss, back in the days when a 486 was fast and Pentium I was stratospheric, who could not figure out why the various monitors kept not booting up. Over and again I told him we needed some new CMOS batteries as the ones installed were dead.

Next day, Nimrod the Observant comes in with a small bag of .... "C" batteries.

Well, at least he got PART of the message!