No,not my nice new one,the daughters.
She rang this morning,she pressed the start up and nothing happened,is what she said.
Anyway she has a laptop so no panic,she brought it up here to me this afternoon.
I set it all up and that's exactly what happens,Nothing.
It powers and one of the fans starts but nothing else.
It's a dell 1100 of the shelf as far as I know.There are two little lights on the front.
One has a battery symbol the other a start up logo.
The battery light is lit and the other flashes.
What do you think I should do,or can do?
She'll chuck it in the bin rather than pay out.
If it's something real simple and cheap I'll do it for her.Other wise it will go.

It could be the Power Supply Unit that has failed. They are not particularly expensive and a DIY job should be possible. I replaced the PSU in one of my PCs a couple of years ago and it was quite straightforward. You could probably take the existing one out and get a local computer shop to check it out then, if necessary, provide a replacement. I'm sure there are plenty of computer shops in a "student-centric" place like Oxford.

I don't know whether this will work for you but I read of several people getting their laptop up and running again after completely draining all power from the motherboard, reconnect back up and it booted.

See here:

http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-40170-system-not-power-up-cpu-fan-is-running

Reading from the link that Anne has posted, it could be that the laptop has got 'locked' in sleep mode. Read through the posts and try the fix that worked on the PC.

1. Take the battery out and don't connect it to mains.

2. Hold the power switch in for a good 30 seconds.

3. Reconnect to battery and mains then try starting it.

Have I misinterpreted the original post? I understood that the "problem" computer was a desktop PC, but that the daughter also has a Laptop that was still functioning?

Laptop or Desktop?
Maybe confirmation is required from Malvachat?
"As it could still be either"

http://www3.dealtime.com/xPF-Dell-DELL-DIMENSION-1100-CELERON-2-53GHZ-CD-RW-80GB-256MB-WINDOWS-XP-Home-Computer-System

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/dell-inspiron-1100/4505-3121_7-21127907.html

Right here I am.
Couldn't get on yesterday for some reason.
Maybe the weather???
Yeah,it's the way I wrote it made the confusion.
It's a PC that won't start,daughter also has a lap top so she's OK for now.
Yes I think it might well be the PSU.
I priced one on Amazon £16 so it's up to the daughter now.
It looks a straight forward job and for that price it's maybe worth a try.
I'll ask her today what she wants to do.
There is a computer shop about 100 yards from my house,so I might pop in tomorrow and see what info I can get.
I doubt they'll have one in stock.
I suppose there might be a chance they have one spare from another PC.
Or as Mike says they might be able to check the unit out.
Either way if she wants it fixed the unit will have to come out.
I take it all the wires come with a new one?
I tried the 30 sec thing,never worked.

Just a point of note:
A Desktop PC and a Laptop PC are both still PC's.
Just calling a computer a PC could refer to either, but as we have now established hers' is a Desktop PC.

Although there may appear to be some activity with lights coming on on the PC it could still be the power supply.

Prices can vary from anything as low as £10 for unbranded units and also depending on the wattage, which you need to check on the old unit (350watt is about standard).

Also, new power supplies do come with all the necessary cables that you need, although there may actually be extra cables.plugs or sockets that are not needed and can usually safely be ignored.

You may also find that the main motherboard connection has a separate removable (4 pin section) unit which is not needed on older or some motherboards.
Other than that, changing one over is quite simple for most people.

Right that's that sorted then.
Unit came this afternoon.
Fitted it and up she started no bother.
I'll see what see wants to do.
There is no installation disc with the PC but I have a XP Home disc.
It has a key number on the side of the PC so I can put a fresh install in it,if she decides to sell.
My disc is SP1 so it takes a few hours to install and do all the updates
Is there a quicker way?

Be careful if trying to reinstall. There are various types of CD (Full Retail, Upgrade Retail, OEM etc) and if the Product Key on the side of the PC isn't for the type of CD you have, it won't be accepted. You could be half way through the reinstallation of Windows before discovering this, by which time you will have no operating system.

Well my disc is XP home full retail and the sticker on the side says XP home.
It might well be a factory install system.
I'll try it.I still have my XP home number anyway.
So I can always install with that.