what is needed for a computer to switch on

Ive basically got to computers that im forming into one in a old case that is big enough to contain everything i need only problem is that i dont know were to place the PS-ON POWER LED and HD.D LED wires can anyone tell me where abouts they are usally located?

 

Put the mobo in front of you w/agp-pci away from you, about 1-2 inches from left edge 1-4 inches from closest edge to you, look like little brass/copper pins sticking straight up, 8-12(maybe 16) in the cluster, no idea which ones you would use, but sometimes you can read it right off the board.

 

You need the manual for the motherboard that you are using. It will show you a picture of the pins that the wires have to be connected to.

If you don't have the manual for the motherboard you are using, you can usually get it from the manufacturer's website.

 

Well basically I went back and got the switch from the computers old case and it works ok .... so when I plug in the power supply and i push the on button basically the motherboard switches on but the processor fan and everything else is not working at all the only things that come on are the LED light on the motherboard, DVDRW and the Hard drive I have the processor in and I have got 512mb of ram in i also have the VGA from computer to monitor plugged can you tell me how I can make at least the screen that boots from the bios come up so I can start adding more parts in.

 

If the FSB fan and MoBo fan ain't spinning then there is something not seated properly, or your powersupply is n/g. I would re-seat the ram first, then CPU, if you have a multimeter check the output power from your PS.

 

The pins on the procsseor were bent and 2 of them came off do you think this could be the problem ?

 

yeah, no cpu no brain....sorry

 

oh so 2 pins can make that much difference oh well lukly it was only a celeron I still got a P4 should fit in can someone tell me how I can take the processor out of a Dell Dimension 3000 seems to be a small heat sink of somekind over it.

Sorry for the Double post.

 

Ok basically my P4 processor runs fine in the motherboard that i placed it in now.. I plug the power in everything hooked up all that happenes is cooling fan spins on Processor,Dvd drive is active and hard drive is being read. This is a pakard bell motherboard and while all this is happening i get nothing on screen not even the packard bell start up please note the HD is formatted but I placed a Windows Xp cd in the drive and was expecting a automatic boot up also I connected the VGA through the on board connector then I put a 128mb Graphics card in and and tryed it via that and still nothing can anyone help ?

 

do you get a POST code, i.e., beeps upon boot? The beeps let you know where or if there's a hardware problem.

 

I get no beeps at all the motherboard prosessor,hdd,dvd rw just come on.

 

Hate to ask you this, but, you do have a speaker atached to mobo correct?

 

ok I thought it may have been a problem with the bios so I took off the cmos battery for 20-30mins still nothing and yes it has a onboard soundcard.

 

There is no way for the system to use the on board sound card if the system can't boot. There should be a connection on mobo for a little speaker, that's the speaker the bios would use to indicate alls-well or a fail of some sort. Have you re-seated your ram? and pulling the battery is not enough to clear cmos, there is a jumper to clear it, once it's stored it's semi-permanent.

edit: Typo