PC not booting up

[Hoida]

Hi, I have a Dell Dimension 9100 and am getting a blinking amber light when I switch the power on. The PC is not booting up at all. Ocassionally if I leave the power of overnight or for a long time, it will boot up properly...however if I leave it unattended for about 30 mins it will just go off again and fail to boot up...

Any ideas? Thanks..

[Bobinovich]

When it does eventually start up does it shut down or urn off after a while? If so it could indicate an overheating / fan problem - it may be turning on when cold, overheating after a while and then switching off.

It could also possibly be an intermittent power supply problem so trying a different Power Supply Unit (PSU) would test that.

The going off after half an hour unattended may not be related - it could simply be that it's going into hibernation and then refusing to come out of it. I personally can't be bothered with the hibernation feature and turn it off in preference of standby mode.

[Hoida]

Thanks for the reply, however the system is not going into hibernate mode as I switched that off as soon as I could get back on again...however the same thing happened. There is a green light showing on the motherboard, and I also tried replacing the battery, but this didn't work either.

I will try replacing the power supply although I think it might prove a bit complicated. But thanks again.

[dx100uk]

this is a known fault with that type
you can check [ i think] the service tag on the dell website
there are known faulty capacitors in the power supply unit.

dell were [should] be doing a replacement FOC still.

els purchase one yourself from them, easy swap out too.

dx

[Hoida]

Thanks for that I will get on to the Dell website and check it out. Seems likely that would be the cause. Thanks