First post, by Andrew T.
- Rank
- Newbie
Hello! I own a Pentium III-based Compaq Deskpro EN system from 2000 running Windows 95. In the nearly two decades it's been in my possession, I've had the chance to experience the practical life of its components firsthand. The CRT monitor (actually from 1998) was the first to go: The electron gun failed in 2016, and I bit the bullet and switched to an LCD display. Next was the original hard drive: It seized up in 2019, and I switched to a slightly-newer replacement.
What's slated to be the next component to break? Seems it's the PSU. Earlier this week, I left the computer running overnight. When I woke up the next morning, I found that the system had turned off by itself. Not thinking anything of it (we occasionally get power surges and outages, after all), I turned it on the following evening and left it running again. Once again, it didn't make it through the night.
My next thought: "Perhaps dust has built up in the power supply, and it'll run more reliably if I clean it out." So I purchased two cans of compressed air, opened up the power supply, and sprayed away. Ick, ick! Oh, it was dusty, all right...and one minute later, so was the entire room! After an hour of wiping down and vacuuming the vicinity, I put everything back together and turned the (clean) computer on.
Except, now it won't start. The motherboard is receiving power: There's a green LED on the board that glows when it's plugged in. But I'll press the switch, hear a pop on the speaker, see the fans on both the power supply and case wiggle for a split-second...and, nothing. Either the dust killed it, or the de-dusting killed it, or the PSU components were on their last legs after 21 years and were going to die anyway. Checking and reseating the cables made no difference.
So: What should I do? My first instinct was to go online and look for a new ATX power supply...then I realized that the standard connectors have changed over the last 21 years. Then I found this thread here on Vogons referencing a nearly-identical computer, an exactly-identical power supply...and an inability to use a standard PSU as a replacement. 😠 Is it possible to revive the existing PSU?
Is it time to give up on this machine altogether? I ceased using it as my primary system half a decade ago, and the only things I still really relied on it for were running DOS games, running Paintbrush (my favourite NT-incompatible program), and recording music from the radio (since it's the only computer I have with a legit LINE IN connector). It's a proprietary form factor, so it's not my ideal vintage computer. But even so, I'll miss not having it around.