I replaced the power supply on my desktop and now Windows XP keeps rebooting

this is my first post so I apologize if I'm in the wrong forum....but I think this is a windows issue.

Background: I have a dell Dimension 9100 desktop running windows xp. I know that windows xp is old, but it works for me. My computer had been running fine until I started having intermittent power issues. Once day I want to turn the Pc on and it wouldn't power up. I honestly didn't know what the problem was so I decided to take the opportunity to buy a new pc. I took the hard drives, dvd/rw drive, RAM, Video card, and firewire card out thinking that I wanted them in my new pc or at least that I didn't want to throw those things away. Well, I went to the Tigerdirect store to see what they had and I ended up talking to one to the employees there and I told him what my computer had done. The first thing he asked me was "Did you replace the power supply?" I said no. He sent me him with a new power supply and told me to try it before I give up on the PC.

Current Problem: I got home and started to install my new power supply. I had to reinstall all of the things I had pulled out. I got everything back in there....and when I hit the power button it came to life. I saw the Dell screen come up....then the "Windows XP" screen.....it all looked good, and then the PC rebooted....did the whole thing again.....and then rebooted...and again, and again. It just keep cycling.


What I've tried: I made sure that I correctly reinstalled all of the components and made sure the connectors are snug. I pulled out the battery on the mother board to reset bios. I've tried to start in safe mode.....it just cycles or stops and tells me that it can't start in Safe Mode.

I'm really drawing a blank because the Pc was working fine before the power supply went bad.

I would greatly appreciate any help or direction anyone could offer me.

Thanks,

 

A faulty RAM stick could most likely be issue here.If you all ready replaced the PSU then this could be all so be a problem.

Remember a faulty RAM stick could either reboot system multiple times with out warning.A faulty Ram stick is like all most having no ram in the computer at all.Be cause a computer with no ram will not even start.

Remove all the Ram sticks and put one in at a time.And reboot system this will help locate the bad stick.If there is one.

 

It is possible that while you had the faulty power supply in there, that it could have caused damage to components on the Motherboard. The best thing to do, is get one of these http://www.amazon.com/Motherboard-A...1378096086&sr=8-1&keywords=motherboard+tester or http://www.amazon.com/Gino-Computer-Board-Diagnostic-Analyzer/dp/B005EJMO56/ref=pd_bxgy_pc_img_z and use it to determine what is going on.

If you have an extra hard drive, try that or a Linux Live DVD, like Linux Mint or Ubuntu to try and see if it will boot up on the DVD, and allow you to get past the reboot issue. That will rule out if the hard drive is the culprit.

The problem with that machine being eight years old, it is better to just replace, then keep putting more money into it, since it is going to probably come down, that the motherboard is at fault. With systems now under $350 for decent 64bit laptops or even desktops, you may be better to toss that old Dell, and get a newer unit.

 

Thank you for the replies. I went ahead and stripped the system down to the bare minimum. I just had my one HD, 1 stick of ram, and my video card in there. Still had the problem. I tried rebooting replacing each stick of ram and still no go. Then I took a look at the MB looking to see if I can find anything out of the ordinary and saw this:

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa458/Maro_Ruben/MB_zps3dada351.jpg

I don't know what you call them, but he MB has a bunch of this little resistor type things that look like batteries, well the two closest to where the power supply to the MB is look like they may have popped....or are oozing something. They're the two on the top left. Could this be the culprit? I just don't understand why it's sorta starting up but reboots. I mean....if things are messed up on the motherboard wouldn't it just not do anything?

 

Yep, those Capacitors are toast. The 9100 along with a couple of other Dell series desktops had issues with bad Capacitors. All you can do is either look for another Dell 9100 motherboard, one that is close enough to fit into that case, or shop around.

There are plenty of those motherboards available on ebay http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...dimension+9100+motherboard&_sacat=0&_from=R40 but it will be a hit or miss if you get a good one or not.

 

Wow i have never seen Capacitors that are popped yes your mother board is toast might want to either get a new mother board or just buy a newer desktop.

 

You should see what happens when the big ones blow. You get oil everywhere, and possibly a fire if electric continues to flow. Not pretty.

Even your outside unit for your Air Conditioner or Heat pump has one about the size of a Soda Can, and they are always the first thing to go, which causes it to not run. Again, not pretty if those suckers blow, since they have a lot of oil in them.

 

Yeah, I guess it's time for it to be put down. Just an FYI.....I found my windows xp disk and reinstalled windows. It actually loaded and booted up just fine. Obvioiusly, a bunch of my drivers were gone....but Windows was working...my mouse was working....I could navigate through windows. I couldn't go online bc I don't have access where the computer is at...but I thought it was fixed. Then I went ahead and installed my 2nd drive...and when I went to start it up again....it went into the reboot cycle. Very strange. Before I installed the second hard drive I was able to successfully reboot the system at least 10 times, but installing the second HD messed it up again. I went ahead and removed the 2nd HD and tried to reboot, but it's stuck in the cycle. Very strange. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and try to put Windows 7 on it and see what happens.

 

It is going to keep doing that, until the "Magic Smoke" is let loose from those Capacitors, once they blow. When they do, you will lose a lot more than a motherboard, you can lose your hard drives, and any RAM, etc..