I've recently inherited a not-so-old thin client computer (200Mhz Cyrix processor, 64MB RAM chip). I'd like to make it join my small home network, but probably the reason I inherited it may not permit this: it boots up only very intermittently. Seems like with sufficient "rest" (2 or 3 months?) it will boot and run for a time - anywhere from a few minutes to an hour - from the CD distribution it was made to run. In other words, it loads its OS from the CD drive, and opens application from there as well, as needed: it has no HD. I suspect the BIOS is the problem: when it won't boot, the CD drive just sits there with its light on, not even spinning up. When it will boot up, the CD spins normally and the OS loads. The toughest computer troubleshooting situations I've encountered are of this sort - i.e., where the computer makes almost no response (beyond lights lighting up and processor fan spinning). At this point, I can only guess wildly, and the fact that it doesn't e! ven get to the boot screen says to me that perhaps the BIOS chip has some problem. Yet I realize this is really just a guess - like when a car's engine won't turn over and you guess that it needs a new battery (could be a loose wire somewhere, bad alternator or short somewhere). Based on listmembers' experience in troubleshooting PC's, what do you think the chances are that the BIOS chip is bad and needs to be replaced? I did read some information on the web about a "PnP halt error" that at least some BIOSes by this manufacturer suffered from and which they needed to issue a patch for. I have no idea what a "PnP halt error" is though, and thus whether the BIOS I have may be suffering from it. Any ideas on troubleshooting this problem, or further insight into the "PnP halt error" and what it means?
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