no reboot

[captmac]

Not sure where to go w/ this problem...recent storm knocked power out for a short time & my Dell optiplex gx150 w/ bios ver.a09(surge-protected) shut down as it had before w/ power interuption, but now won't reboot. Logo screen comes up then goes to blank w/ message: press f1 to try again...f2 for setup utility. That is as far as I can get. It has Win 2000 NT operating sys. I have tried disconnecting power but don't want to jeopardize losing any data I haven't backed up. I don't know if it is a hardware problem and don't want to try too much on my own w/o some input. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
captmac

[Niclo Iste]

Just a guess without more details but it sounds like the motherboard may be suffering damage from too many electrical spikes from being shut off do to storms. Chances are you have a faulty board in general or the capacitors are bulging from this happening to you too often. If you are lucky you can unplug the unit for an hour or so and then may be able to use it but you're on borrowed time at that point.

[Guts3d]

How old is your surge protector? I replace mine every 3 years ( Less, if we have a stormy season and I suspect that they might be failing ) and I use a U.P.S. on my important computers and equipment. Surge protectors wear out in time. If you know someone who is comfortable in the BIOS, I suggest also after trying Niclo's suggestion to have him or her check to ensure that the hard drive is in the boot devices list. Good luck!

[CCT]

IF you have important data on the hard drive, get it copied.

Then you could try a Repair Install - > http://www.windows2000.windowsreinstall.com/Repair/

[Matridom]

Try draining Flea power.

Yank the power cord, hold the power button down for 30 seconds.
once done, plug back in and try

[slgrieb]

The periods of low voltage that may occur when the power is being restored can be just as destructive to power supplies and other hardware as a spike. If you aren't able to start the computer after going through a couple of the suggestions already posted, you need to verify whether or not your power supply is good.

If you have access to a compatible power supply that is known good, plug it into the board and see if the computer will boot. As an alternative, you can get some inexpensive power supply testers that will give you a digital readout on the power supply's voltages and generally both audio and visual indicators of problems. For the $20-$30 these cost, it's a really handy tool. If your power supply tests OK, or a known good PSU wont boot the machine, then you are almost certainly looking at a bad motherboard.

[captmac]

Thanks Niclo,
I have it unplugged now so I guess I'll wait and see. Do you think I would be able to remove the harddrive and re-install it to retrieve my data as my final resort if it never re-boots? What would I require to accomplish this? A Dell computer w/ Win 2000?

[MobilePCPhysician]

slave the drive in another computer, or use an enclosure. Then run a chkdsk on the drive, and have it fix errors. At that time, you may want to copy needed data off the drive. Then install it back in the target machine and boot.

[Niclo Iste]

MobilePC pretty much said what I was gonna suggest. Just make sure you slave and backup the data before putting too much use out of the drive

[captmac]

Thanks to all
I have exhausted all suggestions and even split the case and used canned air to clear dust from fan blades/ports/circuit bds. pulled plug in conn. and sprayed w/ elec. contact cleaner, blew dry and repowered...same results...would the unit power up and try to reboot if the motherboard was fried? Does it sound like hardware or software prob. or combo?