Resolved Power Problem

I have two computers with the same problem. One using an N232 MB with SDRAM 256 OS WIN XP PRO SP3 it will normally take from 5 to 15 minutes to startup and will work fine until I shutdown. A couple days ago try to bootup and nothing happens there is an indicating light on the MB which is lighting but the power supply will not start, have change power supply it comes on but after shutting down it will not come back on I left the power cord on it over night nothing happens.
The next one is a Dell Dimension 2400 series using a later N232 model MB and will only use DDR 333 memory which I upgrade from 256 to 512 it worked beautifully for the night after the upgrade but the next day it will not come on. I got a CE-15-P44-011130 MB which I used with another power supply that can use both SATA and IDE hard drive so I tried loading Vista on the Sata drive but after a while it said file missing or corrupt and would not go further then I tried XP PRO SP3 it tells me BOOTMGR missing I change to the IDE drive and it tells me error loading operating system then I shut it down by holding down the start button for a few seconds when I tried to start back it will not start after many failing attempt left it for a couple days then tried again then it started but soon as I shut down it will not start back have also tried different power supply from 200 to 500 watts but nothing happens.

 

Only a maybe, the BIOS might be losing the settings. Change the CMOS batteries. When you get a successful startup, go into the BIOS settings (restart if you miss it), check that devices seem to be detected correctly, Save and Exit.

Disconnect any extra drives, floppy or CD/DVD and try starting again.

If you have mixed RAM modules, try running a single stick. Read about RAM in the motherboard manual for any special requirements. If you can borrow some modules from another computer, try testing those.

Does your home suffer any power problems? Is there any heavy industry nearby that might be causing power fluctuations or maybe something like your house's air conditioning cutting in and out?

Older m/b's may have "dodgy" capacitors. They regulate the power. A great deal of the P4's I come across are dying from leaky capacitors.

Matt

 

Make sure the power supply is compatible. Some Dells used a different pin-out on the power connector from standard ATX power supplies.

 

In response to my power problem. Thank you all for solutions which I tried but the problem was the harddrive. I change the harddrive and now the computers are working again. The harddrive just give up without any indication that it was going bad I even tried using it as slave and it was not showing up in the system. Just to make sure I put it on an old system and it did the same thing-it would not come on.
Once again thanks for the suggestions.

 

Thanks for letting us know the outcome.