Alright I have a Dell Dimension 5150 series desktop computer.. I've only had it for about two years.. works and runs great.. well until now.. now it doesn't run at all..

I came back home from Colorado to Nebraska for the summer and I brought my computer.. I had the tower in my car in the front seat under a blanket the whole time..

Now when I got home a few days ago I set it all up and turned the tower on.. the only thing that happens is the button I push to turn it on blinks an orangish color.. and that is it..

Does anyone know what this mean? Could it have gotten to hot in the car? Or is the power supply messed up? The orange light even blinks for a while when I unplug it.. so I'm really not sure what is wrong..

Please help me!

 

How fast is it blinking? Like a slow fade in and out or a fast blinking? It is most likely the power supply. You should be able to replace it and not have a problem. Worst case I would say it's the motherboard, but definitely try the power supply first. Neither is hard to replace.

 

The light goes on for a split second then off for a couple seconds and then back on.. so there is a delay between the blinking..

 

If it was in the car - I'd say something needs to be reseated after getting bounced around - ie proc, memory, video card. That is cheaper/easier to test than replacing a power supply.

 

Sounds like the mother board. We had an optiplex in our office (known for bad motherboards) and thats exactly what happened when the board died. Do you have the manual? There are a series of LED's on the back panel that let you know whats wrong, there will be a section in the manual that explains it all.

 

Yep, open up the case and pull out and reseat every circuit board (including memory sticks) and cables and see if that helps. That was our standard trick at trade shows after unpacking and setting up workstations and PCs for a booth demo. Usually get a few that were DOA, marketing folks would panic, then we would go over and wave the magic wand and make them work again.

 

Alright thanks guys.. I actually did open it up last night and tried to reset a few cables and nothing worked.. but I will take awhile on it tonight and try to get everything.. thanks again.. hope its not the motherboard..

 

I agree with 4Crawler, the problem is probably a card or a cable that is unseated. Second would be a "static charge" damaging a component or the shock to the hard drive.

 

Now it's talking at night and saying "They are coming"

Any trouble-shooting guides for that?

 

last dell desktop that had the power switch turn amber, the power supply was deader than disco...