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Question

What could be wrong with Dell Dimention 2380

May 11, 2014 6:59PM PDT

Hi all
Please help me as I'm not sure what my farther course of action should be. My friend has at his shop old Dell desktop, he uses it mainly for ebay and some other simple stuff, it's old Dell Dimention 2380 (if I get the picture of it right:)). It's based on Celeron chip, and the desktop is really old. Now the problem he asked me to help him with is that he's able to switch on the comp, it's logging to Win XP but it will run maybe for 5min and then it switches off by itself and you have to wait for ab hour, 30 min to be able to switch the comp on again as before that time you can push power button as much as you want and it won't do anything.
Please help me as I just don't know what I should be looking for. Is it somehow fried motherboard? Is it some software defect? Is it PSU not giving enough power to the motherboard? I just don't know where to start.

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Quick check
May 13, 2014 1:33AM PDT

Make sure the PSU fan is running. If its that old, it wouldn't surprise me the fan quit and that can result in the PSU acting as you posted as well. Replace fan with similar if that's the cause. -----Willy Happy

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Answer
Re: dimension 2380
May 11, 2014 7:31PM PDT

I can't find a dimension 2380. The nearest I come is 2300: http://www.cnet.com/products/dell-dimension-2300-p4-2-4-ghz-256-mb-40-gb-crt-17/specs/

Even if your friends one has double RAM (512 MB) and double hard disk (80 GB) and Ethernet the current value is so low, that any part you buy new is more expensive than that PC. Moreover, using Windows XP when connected to Internet is not recommended anymore.
So I would dump this PC and get a more recent one without XP.

Kees

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Answer
bad caps for sure
May 11, 2014 11:46PM PDT
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Answer
waiting
May 12, 2014 12:43AM PDT
" you have to wait for ab hour, 30 min to be able to switch the comp on again as before that time you can push power button as much as you want and it won't do anything."

That's usually the safety shutoff in the PSU, but it indicates either the PSU is failing or more likely there's a short on the motherboard, it's parts, (RAM, CPU), or peripherals. You can unplug everything including mouse and keyboard and see if it will boot. You then start plugging keyboard, then mouse, then..... until you find what is causing the problem. If instead it does the same thing with everything removed, then obviously the problem is internal. It could be hard drive short but doesn't sound like it. At that point you'd pull cables from the drives inside and boot again, see if it will POST and hold. If not, salvage what you can and toss the rest.
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Answer
Look into...
May 12, 2014 11:13AM PDT

Whatever the Dell model#, it does suggest an old PC. I do mean, old. So, if nothing has been done to it, its about time to clean out the dust bunnies. Then carefully inspect the innards for "bad caps" damage. See, the link I provide for examples.

http://www.badcaps.net

The bad caps can be anywhere in the PC and it needn't be super bad, just one bad cap can ruin the PC for stable operation as suspect your experiencing now. Further, w/o any further inspection just replace the PSU with a similar one that matches or greater wattage for that model# Dell. It should be generic in sizing, but CHECK IT. Use the service tag# to goto Dell support to find out what it is for sure. Of course, if you find real h/w damage, is it worth the cost to repair? Just having another used PC of better and later date will do fine even if XP based again.

tada -----Willy Happy