Help With Machine

[nanner30]

Hi I just found this forumn and has quite a bit of useful information hope someone can help me out
I was just given an Hp a210n tower problem is when I push the button on the front nothing happens the fans will not turn on but the LED on back of computer comes on when plugged in and stays green is this something that can be fixed easily or not I am willing to try it myself first before taking to local BB as they don't know to much I seem to know more than them and I am just a housekeeper

Thanks so much for any help or advice that is given

[4th&3wood]

Does the fan in the PSU come on when you press the on button?

[nanner30]

no fans come on at all

[hardball]

if the fans in the power supply don't come on I would say your power supply is bad. Changing a PSU is not difficult but if you never opened a computer I would not recommend it.

[nanner30]

thank you for the reply i figured that is what it was so i am ordering one and I have worked on computers somewhat so I am gonna try it and will let you know the results thanks again for the your help

[hardball]

just make sure your 2 plugs on the motherboard are on tight. They are keyed so they only go on one way. Pay attention to how you remove the old one and you shouldn't have any problems...good luck

[nanner30]

thank you again so much for the useful information

[nanner30]

Well I installed new PSU got power now but nothing comes up on the monitor. Going to go back in and double check that all wires are tight and memory is seated right will report back.

[hardball]

double check the memory modules and your video cable..if you have a seperate video card (not onboard video) check and make sure the video card is seated and the thumb screws are tight. Is the hard drive spinning?

[nanner30]

Installed new PSU have power now but nothing comes up on the monitor, Have checked all cables to make sure they are on nice and tight,and they are. Memory is also seated correctly. What can I try next? Hard Drive???
Thanks for the help

[nanner30]

sorry for the double post this dsl acting weird today

[nanner30]

I believe it is < I took out and held in hand when i powered on being careful not to touch any contacts sound is faint is there something i should look for to spin out it if so I dont see anything spinning

[hardball]

1. is the hard drive spinning? 2. does it seem like the computer is bootin up and you just can't see anything? and of course check the obvious, is the monitor turned on, plugged in?
3. do you have a seperate video card or is it built into the motherboard?

[nanner30]

1-sounds like it is
2-yes but very quiet don't hear nothing turning
3-the monitor is turned on and plugged in and how do i know if it's separate or on board I believe it's on board

[hardball]

since this tower was given to you i guess you dont know if it had video before? if it is onboard video your video connector would plug directly into your motherboard if it is a seperate card it will be plugged into one of your PCI slots. everything seems to be working (computer wise) so i would say IF your video is built in to the motherboard then it is bad. you can pick up a PCI video card and install it and you should be OK. At this point I would say it is your video card..I have a drawer full of them....lol

[nanner30]

The lady I got it from said it was working fine that morning then when she went back in that evening everything was off. This is the kind of board I have
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07845&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=330089&lang=en

[nanner30]

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07845&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=330089&lang=en

[hardball]

OK, you have onboard video so it is possible when the power supply died it took the video with it. The first thing you can try is a new cable (cheapest) if that dont work pick up a new PCI video card and all you do is insert it in one of your open PCI slots, plug your cable into the new card and boot up. Hopefully you will be up and running again. If you have a shop near you try to pick up a used one cheap just to see if it solves your problem before spending money on a new one....good luck

[sittas87]

Hi
No its certainly not the hard drive. Fisrt reset the cmos, because Im sure you did some troubleshooting before posting here.

you can remove all ram except for one and swop them aound in youre slots, starting the machine up after each swop. btw what is the current wattage of the psu you bought

[nanner30]

okay sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday but had a massive migrane. I tried another hard drive just for my benifit and that was not it. So on to the video when I plug in a monitor nothing happens there is power but thats it. I guess I will try another video card but have to get one for a PCI slot as mine was on board can I do that or not, The lady at the tech store said not all computers support that

[hardball]

I fix and rebuild computers all day, everyday and never had a problem putting a different video card in a PCI slot. But like I said b4, see if you can find a used one cheap to see if that is your problem first.

[nanner30]

I took one of of a sony computer but it doesn't seem to fit kinda pops in just like memory and modems right will try again

[hardball]

make sure you are putting a PCI card in a PCI slot. not a PCIE or a AGP slot

[nanner30]

Gonna have to find a PCI card will report back when I find out results. Thank you for your help and patience in trying to help me out. I just want to figure out myself while learning at the same time. Everyone has to start somewhere right? Lol

[hardball]

lol...i have patience to a point. i've been where you are, i worked for ford motor company for 23 years and got laid off. So i went back to school and got my certs and am now on my second career....let me know how you make out and if i was a help please add to my rep

[nanner30]

Got someone bringing me a card tomorrow after work will post results and I will be sure to post to your reputation cause you have been patient and understanding in helping me

[joycee98]

There should be a led light flashing if the hard drive is running when you start up. but you have not mentioned if you get the post beeb.
Even if there is not a fault on a machine, and the Bios does the post check, for keyboard mouse, drive's etc it, just gives one little beep, very faint. did you hear a beep. Sometimes people say no they haven't heard a beep. but it is maybe because they were unaware this would happen, and when they restart the machine they then hear the faint beep.
Other times, if the BIOS setting is to halt on all errors, then you will get nothing either. So you could try getting into the bios settings. Depending on the make of your machine, this is how you would get in.
Most machines you would keep tapping the DEL key, as soon as the power button is pressed. Some machines the key would be the F1 key or the F2 key. Some machines it is ESC. Some like Toshiba you use different combination's like keeping Esc down while pressing the F1 key. Also have you tried swapping your monitor kettle lead with the computer kettle lead, that is if they both have kettle leads?

[joycee98]

Me again, forgot to mention, another way to see if the machine itself is actually booting, and to distinguish if it is the monitor or the graphics card or the board at fault. Plug a headset into the sound card, if the hard drive is booting up you should after a couple of minutes hear the Windows jingle thing if windows is starting up.

[hardball]

very good advice from joycee...nice job. i just assumed that after we got power back it was the video card. you should definitly hear a single beep when your machine pasts post test. if you hear a series of beeps, listen carefully and remember what they are ( 3 long beeps or 1 short and 2 long etc.) they are beep codes to tell you what the problem might be. these things are much easier to troubleshoot when you have them in front of you.

[sittas87]

HI Nanner

>>you can remove all ram except for one and swop them aound in youre slots, starting the machine up after each swop. btw what is the current wattage of the psu you bought<<

You never posted any results for the suggestion I gave you. You see buying a PSU was a good move seeing that its obvious that youre PSU was bad or there might have been leakage of power. NOw that thats eliminated I want you to look at RAM. As someone suggested beep codes is very important.The above code that I provided you with was to see if there is indeed a memory problem.
Removing the all the RAM should give a long string of beeps witch will be good news. if that happens replace youre ram one at a time if you have more than one stick.
Try that and lets take it from there youre problem might even be gone for good.
Always try the simple fix first
:)