Tips for getting an old computer running

I just got an old Gateway 2000 G6 233M from someone that my mom works with. (mfr. date is 1/28/1998) .It doesn%26#39;t work (nothing happens when the power button is pressed) and i%26#39;m trying to get it running again. When I plugged it into the wall it seemed like there was some type of power reaction since the lights in the house dim whenever I plug a computer in, but then nothing happend when I pressed power. The previous owner did say that it didnt work. I%26#39;m pretty sure its a PSU problem, but could it be something else? I%26#39;m moving it to another (more standard) case (instead of the propetery gateway one) because my standard PSU doesnt fit into the gateway case but I think I have to wait until at least tomorrow to get another case.I think i%26#39;ll need a fan too, since the fan was attached to the old (probably dead) PSU.The specs for the computer that I know of are:-ATX Motherboard -Intel Pentium 2/MMX (not sure of clock speed since I havent been able to check it and the specs arent listed on the case)-64MB SDRAM-Western Digital WD300 30GB IDE Hard Drive (this was added later since the mfr. date is 9/18/2001)-Mitsumi 32X CDROM drive (switching this for a same model 24X drive, only becuase the 32X one that it came with was made for the gateway case and has a curved front door)-Dedicated sound card-56k modem-Some type of Ethernet port, looks like was added on later-AGP video card (i%26#39;m guessing either a voodoo or a diamond? this was before ATI and before Nvidia was big) -Dedicated sound card (by the looks of it, this computer was probably upwards of $1500 at the time since it has a dedicated video and sound card. Not bad for an early %26#39;98 desktop PC)-Probably Windows 98 OS unless it was updated. Probably with Windows ME which if is the case, sucks. 98 > ME. However, XP > 98. Tips for getting an old computer running
It%26#39;s probably the PSU. Find a replacement and see if it works. The worst part about doing this kinda stuff is finding drivers.  Before you switch everything to a new case, just find a comatible PSU and hook it up but don%26#39;t screw it into the case. Just leave it out and make sure the fan or the vent holes aren%26#39;t blocked by anything. That way you can see if anything else is not working.Tips for getting an old computer running
It does sounds like its the PSU. But like you say it is a pretty old PC, so in theory there could be any number of things wrong with it.
It might just be the switch, try replacing the power switch with the reset switch.and make sure the main power connector is pushed all the way into the motherboard, also make sure your not forgeting the 4pin power connector if there is one. You could also be shorting out the motherboard, make sure the underneath of it is not touching the case and it%26#39;s resting on the mounts, it could also short out if you drop a screw inbetween mobo and case. BTW Old @ss computers run XP very well aslong as they have at least 256mb of ram.
It definitely sounds like a PSU problem. Just pick up a cheap old 250w ATX unit--shouldn%26#39;t be more than $9 if you can%26#39;t get one for free. Those older gateways are very well built and use standard parts. From the model name, I%26#39;m 95% sure that you%26#39;ve got a 233MHz P2--that was the first P2 released. Actually, it%26#39;s quite common that older computers have ''dedicated'' audio and video. See, back then, CPUs were obviously nowhere near as powerful as they are today. Putting audio/video duties on the chipset and letting the CPU compute video/audio operations would have slowed things way down. Integrated video would have sucked up way to much memory bandwidth; you%26#39;d have hardly any bandwidth left on a PC-66 based memory system. While some of the *really* cheap systems of that time (usually they were AMD- or Cyrix-based) did actually have chipset-integrated audio/video, they were horrendously slow. Chipset-integrated A/V didn%26#39;t become common till the vastly more powerful Pentium III and Athlon processors were introduced.Just a little history lesson for you, since all I can say about your actual problem is--get a new PSU. :)
Actually this was alot simpler than I thought it would be. The problem was the power button on the front was broken. Theres another button underneath the outside button and the outside button wasnt hitting the button underneath it. So I took the front panel off and hit the other power button and it started up no problem.Its running Windows 95 actually. 
and the actual specs of it are:-Pentium II @ 233MHz-32MB SDRAM-Nvidia RIVA TNT 128 im gonna play SimCopter on it... can%26#39;t play that one on XP without it being messed up... 
[QUOTE=''GeForce2187'']and the actual specs of it are:-Pentium II @ 233MHz-32MB SDRAM-Nvidia RIVA TNT 128 im gonna play SimCopter on it... can%26#39;t play that one on XP without it being messed up... [/QUOTE]Wow thats one $hit PC what are you going to do with it  
[QUOTE=''Random__Guy'']It might just be the switch, try replacing the power switch with the reset switch.and make sure the main power connector is pushed all the way into the motherboard, also make sure your not forgeting the 4pin power connector if there is one. You could also be shorting out the motherboard, make sure the underneath of it is not touching the case and it%26#39;s resting on the mounts, it could also short out if you drop a screw inbetween mobo and case. BTW Old @ss computers run XP very well aslong as they have at least 256mb of ram.[/QUOTE]Man 4 pin power connector is only Pentium 4 %26 up not for older computers.BTW Old @ss computers run XP very well aslong as they have at least 256mb of rami agree with this bcoz I ran a Pentium 2 300MHz CPU, 224MB RAM, 16MB SiS 300/305 VGA (AGP 2X) %26 Sony DVD ROM (16X)Samsung CD RW (52*32*52) %26 a 80GB HDD with windows XP.Runs pretty well 
Too bad you got it running. I was going to suggest doing a little Office Space recreation on that Pentium 2.
[QUOTE=''GeForce2187'']and the actual specs of it are:-Pentium II @ 233MHz-32MB SDRAM-Nvidia RIVA TNT 128 im gonna play SimCopter on it... can%26#39;t play that one on XP without it being messed up... [/QUOTE]Wow thats one $hit PC what are you going to do with it  
buy a 256 mb stick of ram... it should be like 20 bucks. install xp or win2000 and use it as an internet browsing comp. or throw a decent sized IDE hard drive in there and use it for downloading. all in all it shouldnt cost u more than 60 bucks for the ram and HD to get the thing running fine
dude y do u want to resurect that pc?  it has horrible specs.  its so bad and has so little power i bet hte original mist cant run on it.  what would u do with that pc?  serioulsy if this is ur only pc than i guess it would be a half decent internet surfer.  if u want to upgrade i have some specs.  amd athlon 3200+ ($140 a steal!) 1 gig or 512 of ram and a ati grafix card.  oh and if u want to upgrade the os from  ******* windows 98 get xp media center u can buy the oem and its $110 it might even run on those specs.  id take it but might not dump that much money in it...... now if it had a p3 than thats a diff story.  p4 is also a good upgrade option  and try replacing the power supply.  if u have another rig switch out the power supply
[QUOTE=''queenfan66'']dude y do u want to resurect that pc?  it has horrible specs.  its so bad and has so little power i bet hte original mist cant run on it.  what would u do with that pc?  serioulsy if this is ur only pc than i guess it would be a half decent internet surfer.  if u want to upgrade i have some specs.  amd athlon 3200+ ($140 a steal!) 1 gig or 512 of ram and a ati grafix card.  oh and if u want to upgrade the os from  ******* windows 98 get xp media center u can buy the oem and its $110 it might even run on those specs.  id take it but might not dump that much money in it...... now if it had a p3 than thats a diff story.  p4 is also a good upgrade option  and try replacing the power supply.  if u have another rig switch out the power supply[/QUOTE]wait is psu power supply?