But it does seem that the first thing to do is see if the old box can still get things going prior to kicking the operating system into gear....
Okay. And it would have to be an ATX or newer system for the power button trick to work too. But I have seen a lot of FTBs on Win2K and WinXP that were actually failure to shut down - so the comp. would just hang in a sort of suspended state with just a black screen no matter how many times it was turned off and on, because the normal power button cycle doesn’t really shut off the computer, Windows does. A long hold on the power button would bypass the Windows shutdown and force a cold boot. An older AT wouldn’t be subject to that problem since it doesn’t have the PM support, and a normal power button cycle always forces a cold boot.
The learning curve on this thread has tuckered me out more than the stress of wrastling the computer. All the impressive replies spin the head of an ordinary surfer, still haven’t finished reading it and probably won’t till tomorrow when I tackle the box again with everyone’s suggestions.