Old PC Stopped Booting, Please Help

[bigbob]

I have an old PC that was running completely fine about two days ago upon posting this, I went to turn it on today and it would not boot. It would turn on for less then a second before turning off, theres a 4 pin connector that has 2 yellow and 2 black wires and on the mother board beside the connector it say ATX12V1 and when I unplug it the fans on the case, PSU and CPU cooler spin but the PC still doesn't boot up what do I do to fix it, I've checked for any leaking/damaged compasitors and found none. I cant reseat the ram because I dont want it to break and stop working like the other 2 sticks. And this is the stick that came with the PC and says something about it being twinMOS. Pls help me get it running again

 

[pavle]

That ATX12V1 need to be connected; possibly a dead PSU. Try with another if you can. The condensers can be bad in your current PSU...

 

[bigbob]

Okay I will order a new PSU and try it. Thank you for your help, I will reply if it fixes the problem or not

 

[sambam]

How old? twinMOS is the brand of Memory [from Googl], It does not sound like a PSU to me but so many parts to check. mobo, cpu, memory

Whats the speed of your CPU? Win 10? DDR4?

I am wondering if its cheaper to buy a complete used computer from Facebook Marketplace from a person in your same city in person and put you HDD in it.
I recent bought a used I5 tower for $100. Proly windows will say 'not activated' but I have run non activated Win for a few years in the past.

Get a few usb flash and DL the files you miss. I sent you a DM.

 

[bigbob]

How old? twinMOS is the brand of Memory [from Googl], It does not sound like a PSU to me but so many parts to check. mobo, cpu, memory

Whats the speed of your CPU? Win 10? DDR4?

I am wondering if its cheaper to buy a complete used computer from Facebook Marketplace from a person in your same city in person and put you HDD in it.
I recent bought a used I5 tower for $100. Proly windows will say 'not activated' but I have run non activated Win for a few years in the past.

Get a few usb flash and DL the files you miss. I sent you a DM.

CPU is a AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core, PSU is Sparkler power INC., ram is 1GB DDR 2 I think, and the motherboard says A8M2N-LA. It runs windows XP, yes it actually runs windows xp, I wanted to fiddle with the thing and try to download a windows 10 OS, the PC is 2005 HP brand, and I think the cpu speed is 3.8GHZ. I did a psu test and it passed according to the test thing so I dont think it's the PSU

 

[P4-630]

yes it actually runs windows xp

the PC is 2005 HP brand

Oh boy....

 

[SPDIF]

I would try to reseat the CPU and memory, contacts may be corroded making bad contact, happens a lot in old stuff.
1 week ago i had an desktop PC that did the same thing and played dead, i did take out memory, cleaned the contacts with IPA and reseated them, computer started again.

Reseating RAM can sometimes resolve issues with a computer because it ensures a proper physical connection between the RAM module and the motherboard. Over time, the connections between the RAM and the motherboard can become loose due to thermal expansion and contraction, dust accumulation, or other factors.

Windows 10 on a pc with XP, i hope you have lot's time and good nerves...

 

[bigbob]

CPU is a AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core, PSU is Sparkler power INC., ram is 1GB DDR 2 I think, and the motherboard says A8M2N-LA. It runs windows XP, yes it actually runs windows xp, I wanted to fiddle with the thing and try to download a windows 10 OS, the PC is 2005 HP brand, and I think the cpu speed is 3.8GHZ. I did a psu test and it passed according to the test thing so I dont think it's the PSU

I would try to reseat the CPU and memory, contacts may be corroded making bad contact, happens a lot in old stuff.
1 week ago i had an desktop PC that did the same thing and played dead, i did take out memory, cleaned the contacts with IPA and reseated them, computer started again.

Reseating RAM can sometimes resolve issues with a computer because it ensures a proper physical connection between the RAM module and the motherboard. Over time, the connections between the RAM and the motherboard can become loose due to thermal expansion and contraction, dust accumulation, or other factors.

Windows 10 on a pc with XP, i hope you have lot's time and good nerves...

I've done this already and it still only turns on for less then one second unless the ATX12V cable is unplugged but then there is no boot

 

[Shrek]

I did a psu test and it passed according to the test thing so I dont think it's the PSU

That does not test with a load; try with a power supply from another PC

CPU is a AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core, PSU is Sparkler power INC., ram is 1GB DDR 2 I think ... I wanted to fiddle with the thing and try to download a windows 10 OS

Need more than 1GB

 

[lexluthermiester]

I have an old PC that was running completely fine about two days ago upon posting this, I went to turn it on today and it would not boot. It would turn on for less then a second before turning off, theres a 4 pin connector that has 2 yellow and 2 black wires and on the mother board beside the connector it say ATX12V1 and when I unplug it the fans on the case, PSU and CPU cooler spin but the PC still doesn't boot up what do I do to fix it, I've checked for any leaking/damaged compasitors and found none. I cant reseat the ram because I dont want it to break and stop working like the other 2 sticks. And this is the stick that came with the PC and says something about it being twinMOS. Pls help me get it running again

Pictures, model numbers and specs would be helpful.

Need more than 1GB

XP was ok with 1GB. Not Great, but usable.

 

[Shrek]

XP was ok with 1GB. Not Great, but usable.

I meant for the plan to try Windows 10

I've checked for any leaking/damaged compasitors and found none.

For the power supply also?

 

[lexluthermiester]

I meant for the plan to try Windows 10

Ah, right. 3GB bare minimum there.

 

[SPDIF]

Then you should test now with another PS to rule some things out, then you can look further. Maybe bad ram, try with one stick and exchange them. You need minimum 2GB of memory for Windows 10, best to install an older version that still works in X86 mode.

 

[bigbob]

Pictures, model numbers and specs would be helpful.


XP was ok with 1GB. Not Great, but usable.

It's the ATX12V1 cable that wont let it turn on but without it it wont boot

It doesn't let it turn on with the ATX12V1 connector in but then theres still no boot with or without it

 

[SPDIF]

Test first with a new PS, and do not connect anything else then things required to start. Keyboard, screen, no HDD or anything and see if u can get in the bios to begin with. No cards or sound card, leave empty. Just the bare minimum.

Remove the little red card below in the slot, it's a modem card, not needed anymore these days, and unusable anyway.

 

[lexluthermiester]

It's the ATX12V1 cable that wont let it turn on but without it it wont boot

Ok, that helps us a bit better.

HP model numbers are a bit of a pain. Can you take a photo of the front and back full-on?

Just guessing based on what has already been discussed, SPDIF might be right, the power supply might be suspect. But it could also be the motherboard. First things first, put it all back together. You should never run a CPU without it's heatsink properly attached.

 

[bigbob]

Test first with a new PS, and do not connect anything else then things required to start. Keyboard, screen, no HDD or anything and see if u can get in the bios to begin with. No cards or sound card, leave empty. Just the bare minimum.

I will try

 

[SPDIF]

Don't forget you cpu cooler, needed! No cd-Rom or anything attached. Goal is to come in the bios, that's the beginning.

If still the same behavior, then you should try a new PS to test and maybe also some other sticks of ram.

If even with a new PS and ram nothing changes, you may have a dead CPU or Mobo. Also check you CPU to see there are no bend pins and dirt in the socket.

Also remove that rig with cables attached to the mobo, not needed for start. Take a picture to remember where all cables where connected to.

 

[bigbob]

Ok, that helps us a bit better.

HP model numbers are a bit of a pain. Can you take a photo of the front and back full-on?

Just guessing based on what has already been discussed, SPDIF might be right, the power supply might be suspect. But it could also be the motherboard. First things first, put it all back together. You should never run a CPU without it's heatsink properly attached.

The CPU cant even get over 27 degrees Celsius with and without the heatsink. Heres the pictures too

also some other sticks of ram.

The other ram sticks dont work, when inserted the PC gives me error codes in beeps

 

[Shrek]

Did you try an alternative power supply?

 

[lexluthermiester]

The CPU cant even get over 27 degrees Celsius with and without the heatsink.

Never run a modern CPU without heatsink. Ever.

Heres the pictures too

Sorry, when I asked Front & Back, I meant the case, not the motherboard. I want to go look at the service manuals for you PC on HP's website and one can't get access without the specific series model number.

 

[bigbob]

Never run a modern CPU without heatsink. Ever.

This thing from 2005 buddy this ain't really modern. And the case is just metal, but the model of the PC is "HP pavilion a1600n" from 2005

Did you try an alternative power supply?

I dont have one but I'm looking for one

 

[Shrek]

Look in the old one with a flashlight to try and see the capacitors.

 

[sLowEnd]

This thing from 2005 buddy this ain't really modern. And the case is just metal, but the model of the PC is "HP pavilion a1600n" from 2005

"Modern" as in newer than a 486. Everything from the 5x86 (AMD's Pentium 1 competitor back in 1995) onwards needs a heatsink as far as I know


There's a pretty good chance that your PSU is the culprit for your issue. It's not uncommon for PSUs of that vintage to have bad capacitors by now. Good news is it looks like your board uses standard connectors, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a replacement PSU.

 

[Dr. Dro]

That thing is bloody ancient. But let me save you some time and money, OP: it won't run anything newer than the original release of Windows 8, even if you spice this with 4 GB of DDR2, a budget SSD, and basically rebuild the whole thing.

The original K8 architecture AMD64 CPUs lack an instruction required to boot Windows 8.1 and newer. These OSes require CMPXCHG16B compare and exchange instruction that the Athlon64 and 939 Opterons do not support. They will run on the Pentium 4, but AMD's always been behind in instruction set support... until the very latest generation of Ryzens, that is.