I have a Compaq Evo D500 2.4GHz desktop machine and i am experiencing a intermittent bootup problem. Sometimes i can power on the machine without any problem however at times i press the power button and can hear the hard drive whirr a little and the fan start briefly and then go off again. A red light below the power button seems to flash when this happens. If i leave the machine for a little while and try again it seems to be ok. I have changed the CPU fan but it has not helped. Can anybody help?

Have you checked the Compaq web site/forums or googled for similar problems? Is the power supply good? I'm sure it is underpowered (they all are). Have you added any new components lately? What happened before all of this - did it fall over, visit New Orleans? Any clues at all? There is a note on this page about power supply problems with this model. It is all proprietary, so if that IS it, you will have to buy from Compaq. ($$$$) http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,10384,00.asp You can avoid many of these Windows problems with Linux. Linspire eases the transition for new users

The power button on the case might be sticking, which would make it start up and then shut down with in 8 seconds, or the PS might be failing. You should be able to just replace the PS. <===Lefty=== AMD 64 3200+ 200 GB WD Geforce 5500FX 256 MB 512 MB Ram Needs more. Windows XP

Check this link: http://www.odin.lmit.com/GSFC/qsofdetails/HardwareManuals/PCManuals/Desktop/HPD530/HPD500illustratedpartsmap.pdf or http://tinyurl.com/dt59t Chuck