Are there two of them? I "think" it makes your computer turn on when you hit the power button. (I don't know!) If there are two of them (for the power button and the reset button) It makes sense.

Last time we tried to turn it on (Mid December of 2006) went through the process of running and right after the windows came up as long as it does, it imediately shut down.

I don't know what has been done this far to try to fix the problem because the tower isn't here. If you can answer my question it would be great. (So he can narrow the scenarios down.

Thank you.

Hi there,
My son would know about such things but he's away, so can't really help you except to suggest trying the troubleshooting features from the manufacturer. I've never heard the term soft cell used except in regard to a carrying case for a laptop, so I'm not much use. Hopefully someone else will be able to give some more ideas about your problem. If computer was switching off after having been on for a little while, I'd suggest it's overheating, but I gather it's not even getting going at all really. There was also some virus that was capable of shutting the computer down.

Try the troubleshoot. Here's one for windows...
http://search.microsoft.com/results....-US&FORM=QBME1

good luck. I'm sure someone else will have some suggestions for you and I hope you can fix the problem soon.

I and mentioned my theories.... I wonder if it is right... Thank you for responding. (I'm just trying to make my cusin's job easier.)

My tower has the on/off button, the reset button and at the back is also a switch - you might check for that.
or a switch might be stuck half way?

after a software crash or conflict mine will blue screen and pop up a message- but it keeps running until I do the restart

sometimes mine goes to the BIOS {internal system/motherboard program/settings} and then will do a reset/restart

but since yours totally shut off - it makes me think of a possible hardware problem - hardrive, memory, CPU, fan/power box??
- but usually some sort of message will come up -
unless the Power box has a problem- any odd noises- power box malfunction no power to run computer?

Do you have win XP? or what operating system do you have?

I have this old Dell OptiPlex running 98SE with 256 and it is coasting on a 'wing and a prayer'. I boot up every am when I get to work, and about 1 time out of 4 it will go thru the boot-up routine and before it gets to the screen that asks me for my passsword, it turns off. Just shurt down and all the power lights turn off. Its as if I had shut it down. Then I re-boot and it boots in safe mode. I never hit F-8 or requested safe mode, but it just goes there.
Then I hit the resart button and it boots up in normal mode (most of the time). I dunno why, it just does. Its not worth taking into my fixit guys caus I know they'll tell me that for ten dollars more than fixing it, I could get a rebuilt one with XP and more RAM. but it still works and does what I need it to do (mostly). Medical bills and other expenses haver put a new CPU (that's all I really need) down low on the priority list.

AFIAK, It woun't go to the blue start screen, it goes through the process but once it gets to the point just before the welcome screen comes up, it shuts down.
(Sidenote. My reset button on the tower will not react to tring to use it. Incase that means anything, this got me to thinking that maybe the soft celll is dead that the reset button operates from wich got me thinking that there are two "soft cells" operating the power button and reset button. (We replaced the soft cell for the power button probably a little over a year ago... at the most.

Office (XP?) 2002.(?) I really don't remember now. It hasn't been here to be used in over a month.

I guess I am out of ideas- I hope your cousin can find a simple fix for it.

sometimes you just have to open them up and poke around a bit.

nide44 - can you just leave yours running during the week?
Or you might be able to set it to "sleep" or "hibernate" and as soon as you move the mouse or hit a key it will wake up.
some people leave theirs on all the time - unless power might go out or have surges due to storms.

hi there, the problem could be many folds, but perhaps we can narrow it down.

first of all, it is always easier when we know what kind of computer it is, how old it is, and finally, the operating system(meaning, Win98, WinME, WinXP, etc.,) it makes trouble shooting easier

if you've replaced the soft cell(which I think is the RTC battery) about an year ago, it should be fine.

try this first:

take off your power cord. Press the start button and keep your finger pressed on it and count to 30 very slowly.

Replug and start...

this is a might solve your problems. If NOT...

try this:

as soon as you turn on your computer, tap F8 key repeatedly...it should take you to a black screen eventually(this is if you are running WinXP) and then you can boot to safe mode.

If it'll let you boot to safe mode, your problems could be software/malware/virus/driver issues

if it won't let you, then it could be other issues

(I would suggest booting from a DOS diskette/CD rom/Hard drive, but we are not sure of a few things...your computer type, your OS system, the age, what kind of booting roms you've got, etc., but perhaps someone with expert know how can try it and trouble shoot to see if it is hardware problems)

then try this:

did the computer come with a restore disk? If so, put the CD rom in and restore it from there(once again, different OS will do it differently, for example, older computers with older OS system will require you to hold the C key to boot from the CD, while XP should boot from the CD(not always the case but usually) Don't do the R in the first screen, agree to the licensing stuff and then make sure you select the right partitions. Follow the protocols and try to repair.

if that fails, then we can narrow it down to the following:

if your computer is more than 5 years old, these could be the problems:

1)the capacitor's aging and have dried out. IF this is the case, then swap in a whopper power supply might do the trick and will be the cheapest

2) could be motherboard(then you'll have to take it in to someone who is professional)

3) open your tower, unplug all external hardware such as CD/DVD drives, diskette drives, unplug all usb cords(except for mouse and keyboard if you connect this way) (if your computer boots fine, then you should start looking at the issues this way)

4)if the above fails and you are sure you don't have any viruses and all your updates are good, your device manager is fine, and everything else runs...

take out a gun, point it at the computer, shoot it and take it out of its misery
(but say a prayer for it and bow your head and mourn, ya know? )

hope that helps

(it could also be something that is very simple that an expert can trouble shoot and would only take a push of a button!)

Good luck!

Anyway, the person who has our tower reinstalled windows (how, don't know) so he "thinks" he has it taken care of. I thought about that when I posted the first post here. We won't know until Sunday (or if no one can help re-connect things right.... I don't know.)

Thanks for the help. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed.) My cousin will be able to get it straightened out. (He's very technically gifted. I guess he has had a lot to do this past month and a half.)

Thanks again everybody!

The problem was not fixed. I don't know what else was done. the person who has it is crediting it to old age. Looks like a new tower is in my future. At least it's only the tower, we had the monitor, mouse, and keyboard upgraded within two recent years.

At least we have a lap top that was a planned Christmas present for my family.