My old XP box is close to death; the problem may be with the power supply. Options?

The computer is from 2004. I'd rather not ditch it, but I don't want to invest money in it either. It's not my main computer.

The problem is ocurring more and more frequently these days. I push the 'on' button, I hear some noise (fan?) a light near next to the start button starts burining. It looks like it's going to start ... But then it's off again.

Turning off the computer (pressing power button at the back of the device), meddling with the cable, switching that electricity button again ... Again, pressing the start button ... it will do the same thing. Sometimes I get lucky.
I've had these problem for a little while, but these days it's hard to get it up and running. Once it runs, no problems ... But the next day !

Of course I can bring it to a repair shop, but would anyone have a clue as to what's going on and how much a 'fix' would cost ?

 

I sure hope you don't let this unsafe system connect to the Internet and risk it becoming a threat to the rest of your own computers, or worse, a threat to the rest of us!

This could be something simple like the front panel power button switch being worn, but indeed it sounds like a power supply issue. But without swapping in a known good spare to see if the problem continues, there is no real way to tell since everything inside the computer depends on good, clean and stable power.

If you want to check the power button switch, a simple method is to follow the two wires from the back of the case's front panel "Power" button switch to where they connect to the motherboard. Disconnect those two wires from the motherboard and move them out of the way. Then follow the two wires from the case's front panel "Reset" button switch and attach those wires to where you disconnected the Power switch wires. Then use the Reset button as your Power switch from now on.

Be sure to unplug the computer from the wall and touch bare metal of the case interior BEFORE reaching in to ensure there is no destructive static build up in your body. If the case is full of heat trapping dust, clean it out at this time - frequently touching bare metal to keep static at bay.

Let's face it, 13 years for a computer is a very long run. Nothing to be disappointed about. But at that age, taking it to a shop will cost you more than it is worth just in labor costs. And due to the age of the rest of the components, there's no guarantee something inside will not bite the dust as soon as you bring it home.

I recommend you remove the hard drive from it and temporarily install it into an external drive enclosure and attach it to, or install it into your main computer as a secondary drive (not boot). Scan the heck out of it with all your security apps. Then copy off any personal data files you don't want to lose.

If you do want to put some money in to it, swapping power supplies is something most users can easily do with just a #2 Phillips screwdriver and good lighting. All the connectors are keyed to go in only one way. If that fixes the problem, I would urge you to block Internet access for this computer in your router's admin menu. Alternatively, you could install Linux on it.

 

Windows 10 will run capably on a computer that old.

The requirements aren't that forbidding. PSU's on consumer PCs are built cheaply and when they wear out, replace it with a better PSU.

If the motherboard is shot, time to shop for a new PC.

 

You don't know that! And you shouldn't say that since you don't know that!

The OP has not listed the hardware for this computer so you have no clue if the various hardware makers have developed any current drivers for them. It is highly unlikely the makers would expend the resources (since there would be no returns on those investments) to develop even W7 drivers for that hardware, let alone Windows 10 drivers.

 

Vacuum all the dust out of it. Be sure to stick a pencil in the fan so while vacuuming it doesn't spin too fast.

Edit: Too right Bill Bright. Didn't see dust mentioned. Back in the day, some of the cases I opened wow!

 

Hi Fly

Strong advice.

 

I'm still using Windows 7 hardware drivers on what was originally a Windows Vista PC. No issues here. You don't need the latest drivers to run Windows.

 

Just because you can run W7 on your particular system built for Vista means absolutely nothing! It definitely does not imply everyone can with their systems.

Vista came with an entirely new driver set than those used by XP and Windows 7 (and subsequent versions of Windows) built on that original Vista driver set.

There is nothing that says a hardware that supports XP can support later versions of Windows. There MUST be compatible drivers.

And I NEVER said you need the latest drivers. But you do need compatible drivers if you want to run any specific version of Windows. If this were not true, Microsoft would not have created the update adviser for W7 and would not test hardware for W10 compatibility before installing. And all new hardware could run XP and earlier versions of Windows and that simply is not true either.

 

OP stated fan noise? Nobody else suggesting checking for dust balls? Simple fixes first then move on. Or should brain surgery come before replacing a tight hat with a hat that fits?

 

Yes, I said to look for "heat trapping dust" in my first post above.

 

I have a laptop bought in late 2004. I can't install Win8 or Win10 as the CPU isn't compatible.

 

If the MB is shot, you can just shop for a new MB instead of a whole new PC. I have done this several times over on my circa 2005 XP desktop.

Of course, since my last XP crash in Jan 2006, I switched over to Ubuntu Linix via USB flash drive, and now only use it w/8GB RAM and have not looked back or fixed my XP drive. I can still access its files as root from Linux. And none of my hard drives have ever been compromised as they are not mounted during my Linux sessions unless I mount them after disabling networking.

-- Tom

 

That's likely if its x86. Modern computers are x64. Windows 10 is available in x86.

 

I doubt Fly could get the same MB so a MB, CPU and RAM would be needed.

 

Yes, it is x86 but 32-bit Win8/10 won't install because of the CPU. It doesn't support PAE/NX/SSE2.

 

You'd need to replace everything. Just cheaper to get a computer with updated hardware, ready to run out of the box.

 

I had a similar situation like you and if the CPU fan is clean and working The PSU box and fan can get crammed with dust like mine. A lot of PCs will close down automatically or not start if a fan is not working properly, it's like a safety valve. I believe that PSU boxes are dangerous and it is not recommended to open one but I carefully opened mine and took the fan apart making sure that the PC was completely unplugged from the wall and I DIDN'T ALLOW MYSELF TO TOUCH ANYTHING THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN LIVE LIKE A CAPACITOR to avoid potentially life threatening Electric shock. The fan usually has a sticker in the middle of it. I carefully removed that sticker after cleaning the dust and stuff from the box and fan and put some tiny amount of sewing machine oil or the like down into the spindle NB I didn't use WD40 or oils that are used to free stuck nuts as they don't lubricate well. I replaced the fan sticker when lubricated. I found that this stopped my pc from turning itself off. I'm not recommending that you do this but just saying what I did.

 

Too bad as I run x86 apps on Windows 10.

 

Well, I'm not sure what was going on.

The situation I described: the computer startup sequence activated briefly, then it just stopped. But the light of the ethernet cable at the back of the computer remained on.

As of now, it's dead. The usual tricks don't work anymore. I did open up the computer, used the vacuum cleaner etc. Nothing that is obvious to the naked eye.

As for the power supply, I have a QTech switching power supply model ATX350 (output 350 watt). I'm not even sure that replacing the power supply would work, but I did look around. I noticed a second hand one on ebay.co.uk ...
Anyway, any comments om replacing that power supply ? I have no technical background, I'm not sure what would work (aside from the same specs). Obviously, I don't want to spend a lot of money.

It is and was not a danger to the internet, I knew how to handle it .

 

@sdmod,

I did open the power supply, cleaned it ... but nothing ...

 

When I used to work on computers and wanted to see if the power supply was bad, I didn't even swap it out. I jut unplugged the cable from the old and connected cables from the replacement. also when working in casinos We had to use special vacuum cleaners that did not generate static, which can fry electronics.

 

Last year I came across a similar problem.
One system would not power up all of a sudden. I unplugged all cables and repluged them and still the same thing.
Then I used a PSU from another system just to verify that everything the components were ok and the system started fine.
Out of curiosity, I re-plugged again the problematic PSU, just to be sure before sending it back RMA, and strangely it worked again and still works fine without any problem.

Till today I have not figured out why all of a sudden did not work, even after reconnecting all cables, and why it started to work fine again, after testing first another psu on the same system.

Panagiotis

 

What CPU?

 

Get a volt meter and read the voltages coming from the power supply. Disconnect it from the motherboard and drives to do this. If they are the correct voltages, the power supply is not the problem and it is probably something in the motherboard that is not letting the computer power on.

Ignore the sermons about Xp not being safe on the Internet. I am posting this in Xp right now and this Xp box is used online daily. My local post office also uses Xp to run their POS systems. It is still widely used online and if you are careful and cautious and know what you are doing it is safe enough. If you've been using it up to now and not had issues, you know what you're doing.

I ran into a similar problem in a similar Dell Xp box from the early 2000s. It wasn't worth fixing but the owner still wanted to use her old Xp system so I took the hard disk and used Paragon Go Virtual to make it into a Virtualbox VM. I used the OEM product key on the chassis to activate it.

 

There ya go- - so long as you follow some precautions, never ditch a computer because it's running XP and certainly not because someone else tells you you should. If you're otherwise happy with what the computer is doing for you then there's no reason to upgrade, so I'd say do what you can. My 2003 puters I found were getting a little too underpowered for my needs, but thats me. Thats said, I too am posting with XP right now, which I really like. I also use it on the net daily. I consider myself at the lower end of the knowledge level especially at Wilders, so if I've been safe to date, then I have no plans on quitting XP. NONE. In fact I wont put my W7 computer near the net as I don't trust it enough. Maybe in time, but I won't hold my breath with the direction M$ is going.

I've heard it's never good to put a vacuum cleaner nozzle near your sensitive electronics because of the static electricity. I had real issues with a faulty power button similar to what you describe, which in the end I never got to the bottom of. The 2 old 2003 XP boxes both eventually went awol, but while I was trying to get to the bottom of it, fortunately I was able to acquire a PSU someone didn't want and which I installed myself with little knowledge before I did so. I did a little research, took some healthy precautions and as always when you're fiddling inside, use an anti static strap. What I did do was photograph my board so I knew where to put things back. I hate dust and often clean things out. They say dust is one of the majors in causing failure.

Around the time the 2 computers died someone happened to give me an HP with no HDD but had the XP Pro sticker on it. Thankfully MS was OK with activating the license over the phone. I installed that (with little knowledge) on one of 2 HDDs I was also given with no idea if they worked. This was at the end of 2015. No problems to date, though crystaldiskinfo has a caution for the larger one with some reallocated sectors. I make sure a have backups for important stuff.

I still have not got around to putting a guest OS into virtual box. I have a spare XP Pro product Key and a XP Home. Hopefully MS will still activate these.