STARTING MY COMPUTER, A YELLOW LIGHT STARTED FLASHING INSTEAD OF THE GREEN LIGHT COMING ON

My house was struck with a power failure while my computer was turned on.   When I turned the  computer back on, a yellow light started flashing instead of the green light that usually accompanies with the startup of the computer and my computer will not start up.  Could someone please tell me what I should do to get  my  computer to start?  Thank you, Allan

deartag 

When asking a technical question, it helps to include the computer model and version of windows in the post. 

If you have a desktop, try pushing the power button in and holding it there, for 20/25 seconds, then restart the system.

Bev.

Thank you for your reply Trish, I replaced my PSU and all was fixed.  deartag

Bev,  thank you for replying to my need of help.  I replaced the PSU FOR $50 and everything works now.  I was told to replace my old surge protecter because they deteriate over time like mine did.  Thanks again, deartag

deartag

Pleased to hear that the problem is resolved.

Bev.

My dell desktop tries to start. The yellow and green lights flashes once and sometimes the cd drives flash once and the computer sounds like it wants to start but goes dark and will not start up. could this be the power supply too?

JASRON5

What is the computer model and the version of windows being used?

Bev.

Dell Dimension 3000 with XP

JASRON5

Is the power button LED, solid green, blinking green, solid amber, blinking amber, or off?

Check the sequence of the four Diagnosic Lights on the back panel of the case.

The Dimension 3000 Troubleshooter and Diagnostic Guide is HERE

Are there any error messages, or 'Beeps'?

Bev.

When you press the start button on the front, the amber light blinks once and sometimes the green light blinks once with the cd drives' light blinking once and then it goes out. the fans start but only for 1 second and shut down. the lights on the back panel do not do anything when you attempt to start the computer.

JASRON5

Does the power supply fan work, when the system is power on?

If you are comfortable working around computers, you could try the following:

Note: The only 100% method of testing a PSU, is to install a know working power supply.

Unplug the cord from the power supply, hold the power button in for about 15/20 seconds, open the case, unplug the 20-pin power connector from the motherboard and jump the Green wire to one of the Black wires, reconnect the power cord and power the system, if power supply's fan and the hard drive runs, then the PSU should be good.

Note: Do not remove any wires from the plug, use a small piece of wire or a paper clip as a jumper.

Power supply checks out and the system still does not work, again remove the power cord, hold the power button in for several seconds to discharge the residue power, reconnect the 20-pin connector to the motherboard.

Remove all the PCI cards, the video card [if applicable], memory, all peripherals, disconnect the data and power cables to all the drives, check that the front panel cable is connected to motherboard, with nothing else connected to the system, reconnect the power cable and power the system on.

If you do not get any beep codes and/or there is no change in the diagnostic lights, then it would appear that the motherboard has died.

Bev.

When I connected the green to the black, the fan on the power supply started up when I connected the power but the hard drive did not start up. The yellow light on the power button on the front panel did the same as before(blinked once and went out). The only difference is the power supply fan did not go off.

I will try that this evening when I get home. However, I do know that the green light on the motherboard is on.

JASRON5

When you 'Jumped' the Green wire to the Black, did the hard drive work?

The light on the motherboard is the 'Stand By Power Light' [aka Flea Power] and only indicates that there is power reaching the motherboard, not that the power supply is working correctly.

Bev.

Nothing happened with the harddrive. Only the fan on the power supply. I noticed when I have it correctly connected and you press the power button, it acts like the power comes on for 1 second and then is used up. Almost like there is not enough coming through. Don't know if that is accurate as I am not a computer repair genius. lol.