I'm having a problem with my PC... I've been fighting with it for weeks now so I'll tell you the whole sorted story and you can let me know what you think...
Windows ME Started locking up a few months ago. Some commands on it have always run slow (because it was a preconfigured PC with a bunch of programs no one would ever use) but it was stable for the most part. When ME would lock up The reset button and the Power button wouldn't work. The LED stayed on red after the reset button was pushed... Also... The computer wouldn't wake up from sleep mode. The Only Solution would be to turn if off from the back and restart it.

After a while, that stopped working. The computer wouldn't power on all the time... The Fans would come on, even the one attached directly to the Motherboard... But it wouldn't boot up, the monitor and the keyboard would briefly show signs of life... but for the most part... they didn't work.

So it was obviously a power problem and a PM problem right... Wrong. I Changed the Power Supply, went from a 250watt to a 300 watt (I'm not running anything extra) after getting it to boot... went into the bios and disabled Sleep Mode (blah blah blah). Restarted the computer... worked fine... for about a day. Son was playing a video game (little fighters) and it locked up... So he restarted the computer with the restart button...

It went blank... and back into the dead state... with the CPU Fans running but nothing else. It took me two days to get the thing to power up. I went in and cleaned all the dust out with an air can but still... it no worky. Though my cleaning focused on the main board and everything around it.

Anyway... When I turn it off and on from the back... it automatically turns the fans on... without me even pushing the buttons, but it doesn't boot. So recently I've figured out that if I bang on the keyboard like a mad man within 3 seconds of me turning on the PC, there's a 1 in 10 Chance it will power up.

Well... I just knew that WINMe Was the Problem so I was going to upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional. I backed up all my files... repartitioned the Hard Drive prior to install (it was 30 gig) and then I installed 2000... or at least tried too. It wouldn't take because my PC, which was bought at a discount price, wouldn't let me. Some File was missing that kept crashing the installation. So... I ended up using my rescue disc. I was prepared to have all the crap that was on there prviously but to my surprise... It wasn't. It was a Clean Install without all the crap and the PC ran like a champ... Until I shut it down and tried to restart it a few minutes later. ARGGHHHHHHHHHH!

That's where I was at yesterday.

I finally got smart and went to the Systemax Website (PC Manufacturer) as well as typed in my Motherboard Number (MS-6340) in Google and found people with similar problems... The Solution? Reset the DIMM Memory and if that doesn't work... update the bios. I was usuing version 1.0 and they had updates up to 5.0. Well... I was excited. I was sure THIS was going to fix my problems.

So I started reading all about BIOS and updating (which I actually learned in school but I needed a refresher) and started getting scared. They all warned to only install a BIOS update from the manufacturer. After some searching I actually found one. So I downloaded it... followed the instructions... Went home, set up a restore point (which I found out isn't what I wanted to do... I needed a back up of the bios.) And I upgraded the Bios.

I'll be damn... it powered up and worked great. Powered down. Hit Power. It powered up... Hot damn! I was excited. I went and checked the System INfo and checked the Bios version... and it said 6.0. I thought I was installing 4.51. Oh well right.

I went to get on the internet... surfing away... 10 minutes later I lost my dial up connection (don't laugh at the 56K baby) for some unknown reason. That's cool. I needed to work on my resume. Typing away on Word... Computer freezes up. I was able to End the Task using the task manager. No biggie. Got to clean up the room anyway... I'll listen to a CD. 2 minutes into the song... system locks up. Can't CtrlAltDel so I hit the reset button...

And it didn't restart... the fans were on...no boot up. Banged on the Keyboard for about an hour and it finally did wake up. Reset some of the CMOS settings and had to test the shutdown again. Same problems.

I know I'm close to solving it... I got it to work briefly. I downloaded the whole article about how to run ME effeciently... But I can't get the Darn thing on to actually put some of those suggestions to work.

To further clarify the problem, When I hit the Power Button... The computer doesn't come on. The Fans come on... But I noticed in my CMOS the fans are set to ON in Suspend mode... Which can only mean... My Computer is stuck in Suspend mode (or, I guess it could mean it's time for a new PC.) I've disabled all the Power Control features and all that good stuff in the CMOS... But how do I turn off Suspend mode.

Again, the only way I can get it to come on is by hitting the key like a mad man until it takes.

So... to be even more specific... I can't get the computer to POWER ON to make any changes, do any diagnostics... nothing. The last few times I had it on the computer kept locking up on me. I got the computer in December of 2000 if you're wondering.

Deth

It's been a while since I've done this, but I believe you have to turn off suspend mode in windows. Under power management in the control panel. I would try to download windows ME updates the next time your computer decides to work again. Try starting up your computer in Safe Mode. When you hit the power button and it begins to start. Before it goes into windows hit the F2 or F1 or F7 or the delete key. It's different with all the different manufacturers. Borrow someone else's computer to get online and go to your Computer manufacturer's website and go to support and try and find some info as to which key to hit to get into the safe mode. Once in safe mode. Uninstall any software or programs that may have been installed on your computer up to the point where it started acting up. If you can remember when that was. I think you are in dire need of some updates. You don't have a clean install unless you use a windows me start up disk. You use fdisk to delete the partition. Then create a partion. set it to active. Restart your computer with the start up floppy still in the floppy drive go back into fdisk and type FORMAT C: /s. that will format your hard drive, and reinstall some system files to your hard drive then navigate to D: by typing that. put your windows me disk into you CD ROM and type SETUP. It should begin installing your operating system. Hope this helps some. Maybe someone else will have some other ideas.

Aside: I enjoyed your post-you have a knack for writing!

I occasionally had similar prob in WIN98 (DOS based like ME)where 98 would go into a deep hibernation mode, so that I couldn't get it to "wake up" and had to reboot; I had everything turned off in Display Properties, hibernate, screensavers, everything - and still it would do it. Finally, after several weeks of this madness, comes a system generated message: "It seems as if your computer has trouble coming out of suspend mode. Would you like to stop suspend mode?" I hit Yes and no more problems, until the next time I fresh-installed 98.
Never did find out what the heck was going on.

I have a deep, dark suspicion that you have the same problem, except worse! Please keep us posted as to the outcome. Repost if necessary, because this forum won't bump to the top (I don't know why).
Sorry guy, I know your pain. Wish I had the answer.