Old 486 not working

[Ema]

I have an old 486 computer that has been in storage since the year 2000. It's about 12 years old and I think it has Windows 95 on and was fully functional at the time. But today I switched it on after so many years and nothing happened. The screen stays blank but i can hear the fan spinning. The CD tray ejects when pressed and the power/reset leds are working. I have checked inside the case to make sure all the cables are connected. What could be wrong?

The only other thing i can think of is perhaps the BIOS has malfunctioned or the motherboard battery (although i couldnt locate one) needs replacing etc? If anyone can offer any suggestions that would be great.

thanks

[Arnold]

I know this might be a daft question but what do you want to do with it?

The battery will almost certainly need replacing but it should still display something.

If you just want to get files off it then there are other ways...

[Jenifer]

Could try re-seating the memory and removing any additional expansion cards. Thing is if its been in storage for a while it may well have been encrusted with dust which can easily short out a motherboard or other components.

[Annete]

Any "beeps" as the PC tries to start up?

Are you sure that the monitor is ok?

[George]

Oh i probably just wanted to load it up for nostalgic purposes. A visit to the late 90s .

There are no beeps when its switched on. The monitor is working because i tried it with another computer. There are two expansion cards - a hard drive controller card and a sound card. And of course the video card. Not too dusty inside. I have not been able to locate a battery on the motherboard.

[Bundy]

I would open her up and disconnect everything except the video card, Pull out the disk controller disconnect the hard driive and floppy drive and pull out the keyboard.
With only motherboard and video card, memory and speaker connected you should get something on the monitor or some beeps.
If this fails pull the video card as well (after disconnecting the power) , the motherboard should beep to tell you that it can't find a display.
If this fails and you have a multimeter check out the voltages on the power connector.
Best to start with a hard disk power connector.

[Ema]

Perhaps try removing the soundcard and HDD card for experiments sake. If any of the add-on cards are faulty it can prevent the machine from booting. Same with the RAM sticks. If you were to remove all that you should still at least get a POST screen. I wouldn't stress too much about the battery as even if its depleted, the board will have reset to its default settings (inc date/time) meaning you should still be able to boot.

Also are any of the capacitors on the motherboard blown? Ie. is the top of any of them raised with maybe slight bit of stuff leaking out of it? If you remove the RAM and add-on cards is there any dust around the slots or on the connectors? It may not look much but dust can play havoc if it lands in a bad place.

[Arnold]

C'mon 'fess up. You just want to play Wolfenstein 3D and Spear of Destiny again.