On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 00:52:20 -0500, mr x wrote:

Old PC Occasionally Won't Start, Doesn't Power Down all the time
--------------------------------------------------------------------

I have several computers, but I am having a problem with an old computer I
keep around for testing/experimenting purposes (trying out new OS's, and
generally tinkering with).

This computer is an old gateway g6-300, Pentium II 300, 128MB ram, 8.4
maxtor hdd

A couple of weeks ago I hit the power button and nothing happened. I hit
it again and again. nothing. I was getting ready to leave to do some
errands and didn't have time to fool with it, so I left it for the time
being.

A day or two later I went to start it and it started no problem. It
currently has win98se with most of the MS win98 updates installed. I also
noticed if I choose "restart" for the shut down menu, it acts like it's
going to shut down, you see the win 98 "your computer is shutting down."
screen, the screen goes black, but the computer doesn't shut down (lights
are still on and I hear the fans going).

However if I choose "shut down" from the shut down menu, it does actually
power down all the way.

Last night it also did a strange thing where after I pressed the power
button, it began to power up and then shut itself off after about 4-6
seconds. I hit the power button again and it did the same thing. Again and
it did it a third time. I un plugged in and plugged it back in and hit the
power button again and suddenly it powered on normally.

I am guessing perhaps the power supply is starting to go, and I am
wondering if anyone out there has experienced a total or partial power
supply failure. I have never actually had a power supply go on me before.
Does this sound like what might be happening? I don't have another power
supply lying around to swap out and see if it makes a difference. I also
don't have a multimeter or any equipment to test the power supply on hand
( I guess I know what I may need to get if I really want to get to the
bottom of this).

Thoughts?

-- A

Others have covered the power supply possibility, so I'll just toss in
this: The actual on-off switch could be at fault. When you buy a power
supply it usually comes with a switch, but if you have another dead
computer lying around that you could steal a switch from...

Karl S.

--
I'm still waiting for someone to WTFM!