My computer is not working anymore

Dark master

New Member
My old computer, 500Mhz, 64MB RAM, 10GB hard disk, 16MB videocard isn't working anymore. When I boot up my computer the front light stays orange (it used to be green) and the light on the monitor also stays orange as if the computer is off. The monitor is working fine, and all the fans are spinning.
the jumpers of the CD-rom drive and hard disk are both on master.


Here are some pictures of my computer

what's wrong with my computer?
 
Check all internal and external connections. Reseat RAM and re-plug all IDE cables and power cables.
 
It still doesn't work.

I'm not sure if the small grey cable that goes from the motherboard to the CD-rom drive is supposed to there. how do you reset the RAM? just re-plug it?
 
Dark master said:
It still doesn't work.

I'm not sure if the small grey cable that goes from the motherboard to the CD-rom drive is supposed to there. how do you reset the RAM? just re-plug it?
The small gray cable would be the cable that allows you to plug in your headphones into the front of the CD-ROM drive and be able to listen to the CD directly without having to reach around to the back and plug it into your soundcard. Not "reset the RAM", but "re-seat the RAM", which you would do that by taking out the RAM and putting it back in. "re-plug" as in, unplug all IDE cables(flat grey ones), plug them back in properly, unplug all internal power cords and plug them back in. Then check any PCI/ISA/AGP cards and make sure that they are seated properly in their slots. Then, reach around back, unplug everything and plug it all back in.
 
I've re-plugged the PCI/ISA/AGP cards, RAM, IDE cables, and everything in the back but it still won't work. i've only plugged in a keyboard, power suply and a cable from my videocard in the back, and I only have a videocard plugged in. i don't need anything else right?
 
Damn, you got me stuck on that one, only thing left I can think of is to be EXTREMELY carefull and take off the heatsink for your processor, take out the processor, and then reseat those two things...if you do decide to do that, then MAKE SURE that you put the processor EXACTLY the way it was before you took it off. Otherwise, you will bend the pins and you will have just ruined a processor...so be carefull if you go that route, or just wait a little longer and see if somebody else here on this forum can help you, from what I've seen, Praetor seems to know a lot about computers and so do a lot of other people on this forum.
 
the processor was allready unplugged and 3 pins were bend and i've bend them back, none of them are broken and the processor and the heatsink are put back in with no problems.

but the processor does get warm when i turn the computer on but i don't know if it's working.
 
unplugged your video card!!like you said it didnt work !!
dont hang your HD like that!! you are KILLING HIM!~!
get your monitor and test it on another comp!!
it wont be power supply or HD 's problem!! i think!
test your ram on another comp!!( your ram is sdram!!i can see it in the picture!)
did you see any yellow brown colour stain on it??
the last problem may be your MB! take a look at all the resistant!!is it 'swollen'?
any 'beep!beep!' sound when you turn it on??
 
I re-plugged the processor and now it's working again. But can i install windows xp on this computer (500Mhz, 64MB RAM, 10GB hard disk, 16MB videocard) or is it best to install windows 98? i'm gonna use it to browse the web and play music.
 
You can install XP and it'll prolly be a better experience than 98 but as long as u clean out the OS :)
 
go to bios and adjust the setting first!!
change the first boot drive to cdrom!!
than insert your window xp cd!!
wait and it will ask you to press any key.........
and it will start installing window!!
it will ask you whether to format your drive or not!!format it!
 
I can't format the hard disk cause windows is using it. how can I shut down windows and format the hard disk?
The format is done during installation (its the last step before XP installation starts)
 
Wouldn't something like 2000 run faster on that kind of machine? If he's gonna put XP on that machine, he might wanna kill a lot of extra services that don't need to be running like BITS, clipboard, and other useless services. Also, so his RAM doesn't bog down on him, he might wanna turn off the "Fisher Price" GUI because that uses around 8MB of RAM or so, and turn off the fast user switching service because it wastes RAM too.
 
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