Working on a freinds pc. Have some weird signs?

[CHARLIEBORG]

Ok , he has a old Compaq, with a 278636-002 - Motherboard. He had replaced the power supply thinking that was the problem. Not so lucky.. I noticed the ramm was burned. so ordered new ramm and installed it. Still not working? Ok, here is what is happening now. I plug in the power supply and it turns on right away, I have not pushed the power button. But it never tries too boot? I'm thinking the bios is corrupt or missing all together? If I'm correct, I cant load a new one if it does not even try to boot? so the MB is toast?

 

[CHARLIEBORG]

OK, has no one got any advice on this?

 

[nForce2]

OK, has no one got any advice on this?

Honestly? If parts are literally burned, quit throwing new parts at the problem one at a time or you're just going to end up with a pile of NEW burned up parts and a hole in your wallet from doing so.

278636-002? Google says this is a Presario 4400...
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/compaq-presario-4400-c/4507-3118_7-30063581.html

Replacing the power supply and the RAM, you've already spent waaaaayyyyy more than the machine is worth. Just buy an external USB enclosure for the IDE hard drive to recover the data, and cross your fingers that it too hasn't burned up.... and buy the lowest-cost low-spec machine you can possibly find for sale, even an Atom netbook.... and it will still be a huge upgrade for your friend.

 

[CHARLIEBORG]

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

[Wow. I was thinking the same thing. I remember buying a transportable "IBM-PC-compatible" in 1983. I kludged together an expansion box (ISA slots), Tall-Tree-Systems RAM boards and costly chips. Now that I think about the money I threw at that thing with "tech-enthusiasm," it makes me sick. I finally sold it to a college student in 1993 -- for $25.]

 

[nForce2]

Now that I think about the money I threw at that thing with "tech-enthusiasm," it makes me sick.

I've done that too. It's no problem if it's fun and/or you're learning something from it. :thumbsup:

But in cases like this, helping out a friend or family, it's *very* easy to get too focused on solving the problem - and lose sight of the big picture.

There's a certain subtle element of pride involved too... It's hard to separate "This old PC isn't worth fixing" from "Nope, I tried but I couldn't fix it." :\ ...and sometimes, an extra $20-50 in parts may feel like it is worth it just for that reason.

 

[Morbus]

Rule of thumb: never spend money.

Second rule of thumb: don't bother repairing laptops unless you absolutely know what's wrong with it.

 

[Cammy Murphy]

if you are facing the problem of wierd signs then it must be virus or window problem ..install a new window and updated antivirus to shortout this problem

 

[Morbus]

Third rule of thumb: take advance written in Engrish with a buttload of grains of salt...

:EDIT: and for those wondering, yeah, I'm looking at you Cammy Murphy.

 

[piasabird]

You could have a giant money pit there. If RAM is burned, maybe the motherboard is totally messed up. Could have been water damage also.

Power button has a short.

How the power button works is if you connect 2 pins the power comes on. Sometimes the power button can get stuck in a down position or the 2pins can be connecting somehow. The power button is suppose to work like a door bell switch.

I think it is a bad idea to mess with someone's computer.

Maybe someone unplugged the pins on the motherboard and reconnected them wrong???