Dumbob, I edited the original post, but but the Model/Manufacturer apparently didn't change. It is an eMachines T3828.

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As you have discovered, you can't edit your original post. The most common problem with emachines computers not booting we hear about is caused by the power supply failing or dying completely, but in this case the power supply works fine with another computer so that's not it, unless you or your Uncle replaced the power supply after the computer stopped working. The el-cheapo power supplies in emachines computers are often the BESTEC brand. They have a reputation of damaging the mboard when they malfunction, or especially when they fail completely. It is common for a replacement PS to not cure the problem of the computer not booting because the mboard was damaged by the BESTEC or other el-cheapo PS. ..... Rarely, some mboards in emachines systems have the bad capacitor problem. Open up your case and examine the mboard to see if you have bad capacitors, and/or other findable signs of mboard damage . This was the original bad capacitor problem - has some example pictures. History of why the exploding capacitors and which mboard makers were affected: http://members.datafast.net.au/~dft... What to look for, mboard symptoms, example pictures: http://www.badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5 Home page that site - what the problem is caused by - he says there are STILL bad capacitors on more recent mboards. http://www.badcaps.net/ Pictures of blown capacitors, other components, power supplies, Athlon cpu's, etc.: http://www.halfdone.com/Personal/Jo... ......... It is very common for people to think they have compatible ram installed when they actually do not. If any of the ram in it is NOT the same ram that was in it when it was working fine, that may be your case. Ram that works in another mboard , or any ram you buy or have lying around, may not work properly, or sometimes, not at all - even if it physically fits and is the right overall type (e.g. SDram, DDR, DDR2, etc.; PCxxxx, xxx mhz) for your mboard. In the worst cases of incompatibilty your mboard WILL NOT BOOT with it installed, and the mboard may not even beep - the ram has to be compatible with the mboard and it's chipset. See response 5 in this for some info about ram compatibilty, and some places where you can find out what will work in your mboard for sure: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... Correction to that: Mushkin www.mushkin.com If you have brand name ram, it is usually easy to look up whether it's ID string is in a list of compatible modules found by using your mboard or brandname system model number. If the ram is generic, that may be difficult or impossible. It is easy to test for incompatible ram that has caused your mboard to fail to boot. It is easy to test for whether incompatible ram has caused your mboard to fail to boot, or it's caused by another problem. Make sure you have a speaker or speakers connected to the mboard so you can hear mboard beeps (see your mboard manual). Remove the AC power to the case/power supply. Remove all the ram. Restore AC power. Try to boot. If nothing else is wrong, you will hear a pattern of beeps that indicate no ram is installed, or a ram problem. E.g. for an Award bios or a bios based on one, that's often a beep of about a half second, silence for a half second, a beep of about a half second, silence for a half second, continuously. ... A common thing that can happen with ram, even ram that worked fine previously, is the ram has, or has developed, a poor connection in it's slot(s). This usually happens a long time after the ram was installed, but it can happen with new ram, or after moving the computer case from one place to another, and I've had even new modules that needed to have their contacts cleaned. See response 2 in this - try cleaning the contacts on the ram modules, and making sure the modules are properly seated: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... If you do a ram test, do that AFTER having tried cleaning the contacts and making sure the ram is seated properly - otherwise any errors found may be FALSE. If the ram is incompatible with the chipset, it will likely FAIL a ram test - that is NOT a true indication of the ram being faulty - there is probably nothing wrong with it, and it will pass the test if installed in a mboard it is compatible with. If you want to try a memory diagnostic utility that takes a lot less time to run a full pass than memtest86 does, this one is pretty good - Microsoft's Windows Memory Diagnostic: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag... It can be toggled to do a standard or a more comprehensive set of tests - use the latter one. A few of the tests are intentionally slower. ......... There are often used mboards that were in emachines systems available on the web for a reasonable price, but if yours has bad capacitors it would not be a good idea to get the same one. I can probably determine which mboard you have if you're interested - they were often not made by the company that made the system (Trigem) - they were made by some other major mboard maker. If you're not sure whether the mboard is wired up correctly, that info would be helpful. In order for you to be able to use the original emachines software installation to re-load the hard drive, the mboard model probably has to be the same one and it probably needs to have an emachines bios version, otherwise the software will refuse to be installed. If that isn't a concern any mboard in whch the cpu will work, preferably one with the same or a similar chipset the ram will also be compatible with, will do. Usually there is nothing wrong with the cpu or the ram when a mboard fails, unless the cpu died because it overheated too much - if the cpu fan works fine connected to another system, the cpu is probably fine.

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Tubesandwires, Thanks for the detailed reply. As I said, the RAM is compatible RAM. In fact, it's the original factory RAM. I haven't been able to run MemTest on it. I could always try it in a spare computer, but I haven't done that yet, because honestly, I don't think that's the problem. I know that RAM can cause the computer not to boot, but I've never heard of it causing a computer to have zero power. Same goes for hearing the beeps from the BIOS. There are no beeps because the computer will not power on at all, aside from the green motherboard LED. However, as I mentioned, the power supply does indeed work fine in another computer. That's what has me baffled.

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Since the ram is the same as it had in it when the computer worked fine, the most likely thing is the original power supply failing fried the mboard. In similar cases with emachines computers, replacing the mboard restored the computer to working fine again - usually the ram, cpu, hard drives, and cards in slots were not damaged. As I said in my info above, the ram may or may not work properly, or at all, in another mboard - it has to be compatible with the other mboard's chipset. If it does work, that proves there is nothing wrong with the ram, but if it doesn't work in the other mboard that does not necessarily prove it's bad. .... T3828 support on the US emachines site: http://www.emachines.com/support/pr... The User Guide is merely a generic guide for the case the system is using. The drivers and specs for the mboard and system are there, but they do not tell you who actually made the mboard. .... Excellent unofficial emachines info site here: http://www.e4allupgraders.info/ Unofficial support for your exact mboard: In this case the mboard was NOT made by emachines / Trigem. It's a genuine Intel made model, D845GVSR http://www.e4allupgraders.info/dir1... There is a MANUAL for the mboard here: http://www.e4allupgraders.info/dir1... There is further info about this mboard on the Intel web sites! .... See what I said in my previous posts to determine whether you need to get a used one with an emachines bios version on it. You can search the web using e.g. : emachines D845GVSR, or T3828 motherboard, or D845GVSR motherboard, or similar It is to your (your Uncle's) advantage to get one with the emachines bios version on it. There is probably nothing wrong with the hard drive - if he hasn't already done so, he can make a single Recovery CD or a Recovery CD set by using an emachines supplied program(s) already on the hard drive, with which he can re-load the original software if he needs to in the future. The single Recovery CD will work if the data contents of the second partition are intact, and the same as it was when he first got the computer. The Recovery CD set will work if the second partitions data has been altered or is not there, or if the hard drive fails and needs to be replaced. Just make sure the info says the mboard has been TESTED, and/or is known to be working, because if it has not been tested, if it was in an emachines system it might be fried too!

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If you can't find a D845GVSR with an emachines bios version, it's likely there is nothing wrong with the bios flash chip on your Uncle's mboard. If you want the mboard to have an emachines bios version, emachines has no bios updates, and the ones on the e4all site are an Intel version, or a Gateway version - not recommended, and if you do use them SEE THE MANUAL - you may need to make sure you flash the boot block part of the bios as well as the rest of the bios. If it is in a socket like in the picture above, you can carefully remove the bios chip and install it in the replacement mboard. Much caution is required - you probably have to pry up on the chip in several places a little at a time, and there may be circuits in the middle of the socket on the surface of the mboard you need to avoid damaging, as well as not damaging components around the socket, and you need to make note of which way the printing on the chip faces before you take it out if the chip will go in the socket either way - do that on the dead mboard first to see what you're up against. There may be further info about that subject here: http://www.badflash.com If you find a D845GVSR with an emachines bios version, it probably has the same optional components present or missing on the mboard. If you don't find one with an emachines bios version, it may or may not have the optional components mentioned in the manual. If the mboard you get does not have the same optional components present or missing on the mboard, swapping the bios chips may not work, but it probably will.

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Tubesandwires, Thanks again for the awesome information!! I just wanted to clarify one thing: You said, "The most likely thing is the original power supply failing fried the mboard." The original power supply is still in the computer. I never replaced the power supply. It won't turn the computer on at all in the eMachines, but in a spare comp. I have, the eMachines power supply powered it up perfectly. If the computer had a bad motherboard, should the power supply still turn on (i.e. fan spinning) when you hit the switch, or would/can the motherboard prevent that from happening? In my original post, I also looked into jumping the motherboard to bypass the case power switch, but haven't really had any luck in that department either. Thanks again for the help!

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"The original power supply is still in the computer. I never replaced the power supply." OK, then I got this thread mixed up with another one. "If the computer had a bad motherboard, should the power supply still turn on (i.e. fan spinning) when you hit the switch, or would/can the motherboard prevent that from happening?" The mboard has to supply a "power good" signal to the power supply in order for the PS to turn fully on. If the mboard can't supply that signal to the PS, the PS will not fully turn on and boot the mboard. The switching power supplies used in computers also require at least a minimal load before they will start up - I've seen posts that suggest briefly shorting the pin for the power good signal to another pin in the main connector to get the PS to start up, but I don't think that will work without at least a minimal load on the PS. "In my original post, I also looked into jumping the motherboard to bypass the case power switch, but haven't really had any luck in that department either." It's very simple. See the info in response 1. As I said in that, power switches are extremely unlikely to fail, and the Reset switch if you have one is the same type of switch on an ATX case - you could try connecting it to the power switch pins. If you're not sure if the power switch is connected to the right pins, see the manual I pointed to in the last post. Other possible causes - if someone has possibly been fiddling with jumpers on the mboard, there is one that must be in the proper position in order for the mboard to boot - on most mboards that's called the clear cmos jumper or similar, but on Intel mboards it's called something else - see the manual - make sure all connections are correct and the wiring connectors from the PS and the ram and cards are well seated, especially the main connector from the PS - the system may have been subjected to a power spike or surge or excessive static electricity or a lightning strike on the AC power grid - that usually is most likely to damage the PS, but the mboard or anything connected to it could be damaged by that. (Never use a vacuum cleaner to clean a mboard unless it's specifically designed to be used with computers - they produce a tremendous amount of static electricity). - check the cpu fan - try moving the blade with something slender - it should move in jumps but be easy to move - if the fan will not move (is seized) or is difficult to move, the cpu has probably fried from it overheating. If the fan spins ok, remove it and try it on a fan header on another mboard to make sure it works when the computer is running - if it doesn't, the cpu is probably fried. - same goes for a fan on a video card (in a slot) chipset if it has one. You could try removing all cards installed in slots and all other devices plugged into ports if it has any, except the keyboard and monitor Some mboards will not boot if you plug the monitor into the onboard video port if there is a video card in a slot, or if you don't plug in the monitor. You could also try unplugging all the drives data cables at the mboard. You could try the no ram installed test (see above) to see if you then get a beep pqattern, to rule out the unlikely possibilty the ram is damaged. If you still can't figure out what's wrong, if the cpu fan is okay, you have the option of getting a used mboard on the web, which may come with a cpu.

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