Hello there. I've just tried to put my old (working) motherboard into my girlfriend's computer box. The power cables are all hooked up correctly (as far as I can tell), the PSU is fully functional, (or at least it was before I put in the motherboard) the RAM is in correctly, the Hard drives are all hooked up to power and the IDE slots, and as far as I could tell, the reset switch, power switch and HD LED are in the right places (those little leads and the markings NEVER make much sense!) Yet when I turn on the power and press the power switch, a low hum comes from the PSU, the PSU fan turns, and that's it... nothing else! Am I missing a step here, because ALL components were fully functional (albeit in different computers) previously, but now that I've combined them, nothing happens except the PSU fan coming on! Please help!!

You should always benchtest a board before installing in a case...now you have no idea if the board is bad or if something you installed is causing the problem. Is this a Fujitsu Siemens board? Are you 100% sure the PSU is good & it's compatible with the board? Disconnect all the drives & remove any unnecessary cards except for video. Remove all RAM except one stick. Unplug the mouse & any other external devices except for the keyboard. Now see if you can get a display & access the BIOS. If not, pull the board from the case & benchtest it...this will rule out any possibilty of it shorting out on the chassis.

You'll also need to do a Repair of XP since you changed all the hardware. Life is more painless for those who are brainless.

Hi there, Thanks for the suggestions, I'm not sure what a benchtest actually is, but I guess I'll Google it.

It's testing the motherboard outside the box on a bench or a table or the floor or wherever (as long as it's not a conductor). Do yourself a favor BACKUP! Sorry, I do not check for private messages

do any of the fans spin up or are there any beeps? for future reference, to make sense of the connectors if you turn them around, you'll see a small arrow on the plastic. This ALWAYS is positioned nearest pin1 on the pin row. Pin1 will always be labeled. Knowing this, check your setup again and verify you didnt put them on backwards