Dell XPS problem...

[Bowtie_guy]

I'm posing this for a member on another forum I'm on hoping someone on here can help him.

Here's his original post...

I have a Dell XPS 600 desktop computer. It was off today when I went to use it, probably because we lost power briefly last night (I had left it on.)

Now when I press the power button I can hear the fans going but nothing shows up on the monitor. I took the monitor off and tried it on my wife's computer and it is working fine. I have checked all the cables and they are all fine. All of the other stuff is working fine (wireless modem, printer, etc...), it just seems to be the hard drive.

Dell has a four-light diagnotic display on the front of the computer. Light #4 is green and the others are all off, which is not a sequence I can find on any of the Dell help sites. My warrantee expired a while ago so calling tech support was pointless.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Any ideas?
Thanks in Advanced.

 

[Bowtie_guy]

anyone?

 

[PC_User]

Could be a number of things. Is his computer plugged into a surge protector? There may have been a surge when the power came back on.

First two things that come to mind are the power supply and the hard drive. If he's not using a surge protector, the power supply can sometimes be first to take a hit. Sometimes there is a sudden jump in voltage when power comes back on and that may have affected something such as the motherboard or RAM as well.

 

[Dangman]

So basically the PC isn't posting?

Hmm, try these steps:

If your system doesn't POST...

This is basic troubleshooting if your system has never POSTed (as in, you just put it together); Though, it may be helpful to others whose system no longer POSTs...

If you have both the 20/24 pin main ATX connector plugged in, AND the 4-Pin (or 8-pin) ATX12V P4 CPU connector plugged in, then the board should boot fine (unless it requires more power connectors from the PSU). First, try clearing the CMOS w/ the proper jumper or button.

The next thing you could do is test the PSU. Jump start it (on the main atx connector, short the green wire with any black wire, using a paperclip), and see if it stays on. If not, then its probably a faulty PSU. If it works then you can proceed with the suggestions below. ***NOTE: The paperclip trick is a simple test for those that do not have PSU testers, multimeters, nor a spare PSU to test with. It is not a 100% conclusive test of the PSU.

How to test with a multimeter @ BFG

Setup everything outside of the case, with the mobo on top of its cardboard box. Plug in only the essentials:
- PSU (namely: main 20/24-pin ATX connector and 4-pin ATX12V P4 CPU Connector; The 4-pin should work in the 8-pin EPS12v plugs, too)
- CPU w/ HSF
- Single stick of ram
- Videocard if there is no onboard video (along with its power connector, if it has one)
- System speaker/buzzer (your board may have an on-board tweeter/buzzer/speaker)
- Monitor & Keyboard

Reset/Clear the CMOS by following the instructions in your mobo manual.

* Use a screwdriver if your board doesnt have an onboard power switch. Jump the two power switch leads to turn the power on.

If it won't post, try different RAM slots. If it still won't post, pull out the ram (so no ram in the system) and listen for error beeps. If none, pull the vidcard and listen for error beeps. If none, re-seat the CPU and HSF, then try again. Report back with results if you're still having issues.