# Dell Dimension 4100 wont power up.



## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

I recently took apart my computer to clean the dust out of it and I took out almost all the hardware except the motherboard, cd and floppy disk drives, and the networking drivers. When i put it back together it wouldnt turn on and by this i mean that when i pressed the power button the key board lights would flash and the computer would make some noises like the fans turning on and thats about it. when i would press the caps lock key on the keyboard the light wouldnt turn on so the computer must not have booted up. also the moniter would be working but would say that there was no signal from the computer. I have tested the monitor on other computers and it works fine. I have also taken out the graphics card and blown on it and re-inserted it and it still didnt works so i am confused. what should I try next?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Do you hear any beeps after you push the Power Button? Remove and reseat the GPU and RAM stick(s).


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

nope it still isnt working, how do I know if the ram stick is brocken? and what is the GPU stick?


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Did you separate the Heatsink from the CPU?

GPU is the video card


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

im not sure what the heat sink is but i did blow on the connections for the GPU and it didnt do anyting


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Click on the link to Bench Test in my signature and follow those troubleshooting steps


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

ok so I have did the benchtest and here are the rusults:

ther are lots of lights blinking on the mother board, the cpu fan is spinning but the monitor says that it is working fine and i need to check the computer and there is no fan on the graphics card(its really old) im not sure if the problem is with the graphics card but when i press caps lock and numb lock nothing pops up on the computer so i dont think that it is booting up


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

What happened when you removed the memory, video card and all other pci cards and tried to start? Did it beep?


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

yea, it just peeped and the led lights turned on and the fan turned on


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

what does it do with just the memory added back? . . then with just the memory and video card added


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

by memory do u mean hard drive and ram or just ram


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

memory = RAM


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

ok so heres what happens is that when i turn on the computer with the ram in there is no beaping and the same with the ram and the graphics card, also the power light on the computer power button turns on. when i connect the hard drive a second light apears on the power button but still no image on the monitor


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Do you have another video card to try?


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

umm yea but its in my moms computer so itll be a litile while before i can try it


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

That is where I would start . .



> when i connect the hard drive a second light apears on the power button but still no image on the monitor


That would indicate that the system has posted and is trying to boot from the hard drive . . may is booting from the hard drive, but no video signal is sent


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

ok, my mom wont let me take hers but she has a new computer at her work with a big case and not that much in it so I may be able to bring this graphics card and try it in her computer


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

I have completely new news now, it seems as though the computer is trying to boot up and the keyboard lights will blink on and off then the caps lock button will work then the computer screen is black and I can here it turn on then i turns off and the whole prosses starts over again. i am completely baffeled now


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

do you think there may be a shortage of power and the reason why it starts to boot then starts over again is because it doesnt have enough electricity to start up completely?


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Does anything show on the monitor when it does that? Untill you try a known good video card, no telling what is goin on


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

ok i still have to wait for a good video card but , no, nothing shows on the monitor it just makes the sound it does when it turns on and the light stays green for a few mor seconds then goes beack to orange and green


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

nothing appears on the screen


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## homeydog1257 (Sep 14, 2010)

im going to be helping my mom get a dual monitor graphics card for her computer and when she gets it then i get to have her old one which works fine. that will probably be this weekend so ill get back to you when i get it 

-Thanx


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