Checking the capacitors is really hard to tell if they are bulged. They appear to be fine only the slightest possibility of bulge on one or two but they could also be dirty.
It could potentially be an improperly cooled CPU (clear all the dust out of the system just in case, it's always good practice) or it could be a dodgy power supply, or even problems with the hard drive. Can you try running the PC with another power supply or hard drive and see if you can replicate the problems? (Note, if it's someone else's Windows drive it probably won't boot windows due to chipset incompatibilities)
Tried running a different power supply didn't change anything and I don't have a spare hard drive compatabile with the computer. Any other suggestions.
Three medium size caps look slightly bulged (one has a bit of tan color showing around the silver). So if it is bad caps what do I do about it.
the 1 with the tan stuff means the cap is leaking like a battery does. get a new board or replace those caps.
Thats great now what is the cheapest option I can go without having to get a new system with vista. I'm not even sure where or who can do caps.
Options: 1. Get identical capacitors and solder them in yourself 2. Get a PC repair shop or electronic technician to do it 3. Buy a replacement motherboard of the same type. 4. Replace the CPU, Mobo and RAM and consider it an upgrade. If not 1, 2 but only if it's cheap. If it'll cost a lot, go straight to 3. If you can't do 3, then 4.
i can replace the caps but doubt you live in ontario, canada. take the board or computer to a tv/radio repair place as they can replace the caps. talk to them 1st tho before doing it.