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i found a Tower Computer an Athalon something , has 3 g mem , 3 ghz speed quad cpu says it was made for Vista but i wanna put XP Pro on it ,

can't get Video to come on , tried a few things like switching mem cards there's 4 of em , tried 2 matching ones only but still no video , tried disconnecting the Sata Hard Drive in case it was interfering still no video , i connected an Ascii Hard Drive instead of the Sata Hard Drive still no video , tried 2 separate video cards one PCI and the other one a brown slotted Video Card but still no video , scratches head , what could be the problem ? , the fans still function 2 of em so the machine is getting power

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FreeSpirit1 · 51-55, F

You have a blown capacitor on the video circuit of the motherboard, that's why I threw it away in the first place.

FurryFace · 61-69, M

@FreeSpirit1 i doubt i actually found YOUR Computer , lol

TheThinker · 56-60, M

@FreeSpirit1 Yup, that generation of machines was notorious for blown capacitors, all down to a single dodgy dielectric-manufacturing company somewhere in the depths of the Far East.

@FurryFace Does it make any sort of pattern of beeps on start-up? Do the keyboard lights work and which ones, if any, change when you press their associated keys?

FurryFace · 61-69, M

@TheThinker those Bastards !

FurryFace · 61-69, M

@TheThinker it looks for something on the CD Rom but nothing on video

TheThinker · 56-60, M

@FurryFace Unfortunately that probably doesn't say much as most CD-ROM drives will do a seek (with accompanying green light) as soon as power hits them, regardless if there's any data connection.

Turn it on, wait for a few minutes until it's properly booted up, then press Caps Lock a few times and see if the LED changes. (NOT Num Lock as some keyboards do the Num Lock light internally for some reason.) If no light change, then the motherboard's probably dead.

FurryFace · 61-69, M

will look for that too

FurryFace · 61-69, M

@FurryFace tried both PS2 and USB keyboards and nothing no indicating lights for num lock , power or capslock although i did manage to get main power back on , had to disconnect the main power cable to the motherboard and reconnect it , whew !

TheThinker · 56-60, M

@FurryFace In which case, as @Quetzalcoatlus says, dead motherboard. Sorry.

FurryFace · 61-69, M

@TheThinker yeah Dammit ! , lol it was freaking heavy to carry home to 1/2 a mile