I just found this website thankfully. My problem is this...when I try to power on the computer (desktop CPU), it acts like there isn't enough power to power up. Just like when a car battery is about dead. The lights in the front barely come on in the front. I checked my plug and all was good there. I unplugged the pos from the unit itself for about 5 minutes. When I plugged it back in..nothing. Then after about 10-15 min. when I would try to power it up, the lights on the fron would just barely light like before. Something in me told me to hold in the button...so I did and it sure sounded like the computer was trying to power on and finally did. So, is my motherboard about to go or the battery on it? Thanks in advance for your help!!

When your computer does power on, how well does it work?

A motherboard does not really have a battery on it, except for a small battery (round) that keeps a few things alive at all times (the BIOS memory and the clock, I think). What supplies the power for the computer is, well, the power-supply (which just converts the AC power from the wall-plug into DC power (12V / 5V) that the computer hardware needs). Failures of the power-supply are very common (often under-designed or neglected in the selection of components). I'm not sure that your particular symptoms are really indicative of a power-supply failure, but it could be, especially if the computer seems to function normally otherwise. But your symptoms are weird. Replacing the power-supply would be a fairly easy and somewhat inexpensive fix. But I'm not sure it will solve your problem.

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