If indeed your computer is an eMachine then you might well consider what Zep says and replace the power supply. Open the left side of the case and see if the P/S is made by Bestec, if so get it out of there sudden like before it takes your motherboard with it. Even a cheaper P/S will be better than the power supply by them. You can easily replace this yourself. Give us a model number for the computer please.

The machine, I would guess, is 8+years old, I haven't done anything with the cmos battery yet, except make sure it is secure. Blowing out the inside of the pc and checking for loose connections was one of the first things I did. I tried hooking up a different monitor. The screen came up normally up to loading the w2k OS in the color screen. It stalled at half way, and the graphics were not perfect: half of the pic behind the "Windows 2000" was missing. I rebooted a few times more, getting the same result, but loading a larger fraction of the OS each time, until nearly completely (99%ish), at which time all froze, and the screen was a mix of the normal w2k loading screen and color bars similar to the above pic. Meanwhile I put the WinMe pc with the suspect monitor, and I find that both monitors work. In fact I am using the suspect monitor right now. Thanks for the info with the HDs, randy. Obviously, I didn't know. Owbist, maybe my pc isn't that old after all. The ribbion cable will only attach one way. I don't have any speakers hooked up, but I now realize the beeping regarding the BIOS would not be from them. No, there has been no beeps the whole time with the Gateway. Until a most recent attempt of booting, did bring two beepsand brought up a screen monitor that said my memory had changed to 448mb, and to press F1 to continue, which I did. But it went no further booting up. When I shut it down, I made sure the memory sticks were firmly in place. Started it up and got 3 long beeps, no screen. That's where I am now. So I have a few leads to follow up on too. You guys are so great! iThe pc is configured to not need any passwords. If the BIOS is reset, then I would need my administrative password, right? I do have that. And the way I would reset the BIOS (since there is no screen) is to remove the cmos battery for - 10 minutes? before puting it back? My brother probably has an extra video card to try too.

Thank you for responding. Power supply make: Dell (celetronix?) model: cx305n-00 USB plug-ins w/o own electric - keyboard, mouse, occasional camera and ipod USB plug-ins w/ an electric plug: printer, external hard drive, speakers. Monitor has own power obviously. Other stuff w/o own power- 1 card reader, 2 dvd drives, video card, 2 memory cards, fan, sound card, 2 hard drives. The error message regarding the power supply only appeared 2 times about a week apart before this all happened. If I do a restart, there is no error message any more. I did not reformat! At one point, I was not able to start windows and they wanted me to reformat. But really, the memory card just wasn't in right from all my unplugging and replugging. Fortunately, I always hang up when they want to reformat! Lol! In the meantime, I had them help me disable the RAID to save things that weren't backed up. I have since backed up. Phew! Also whether this is of note or not, the two USB plugs in front of the computer are unusable as both stripped the USB cables of their pins. They are stuck in there and I can't use them. If I try, the system could reboot but mostly just doesn't see what I plugged in. I told Dell of this and they said that they are attached to the motherboard and that to replace them, I would have to replace the motherboard so I left it. It has been that way about a year. Next time it goes down, I might try to remove them with some needle nose pliers. I have tried two different brands of batteries with the same result. I have tried to reuse the batteries and they do seem to be drained. This has to take place while the computer is off for a period of time. I can do a restart once the computer is on. Batteries were in single or double packs. I didn't notice any corrosion. Everything is shiny. But really, I might need to get glasses or a magnifying glass to see something like that. The battery is CR2032 - 3 volts. I have been reinstalling the battery immediately as I read somewhere that there could be a memory problem with the bios if I left it out for a period of time so I never tried 30 minutes. That I would only do with Dell on the phone because of my warranty. Maybe they will try that next? All components, including the raid system, came with the computer. It is still under warranty for a couple more years. Dell had me take off one item at a time and restart with each item unplugged. They also had me plug into the wall which makes it sometimes work when other things fail. I have replaced the surge protector but I still have to plug the CPU into the wall, at least when it first jump starts. It has been getting progressively worse as far as how many items need to be unplugged before it comes back. Replacing the battery was my idea and it works. I have been leaving the computer on all the time and want to finish some year end bookkeeping stuff before I risk turning off again. But soon I will have to call Dell back and I don't want to go through the dance again, only to be down again and maybe next time not be able to get back up at all. Nor do I feel 100% comfortable playing with all the wires while the computer is plugged in. Though I'm careful, I've seen a couple of sparks already and some plug-ins are cramped. But after that long winded post, what would cause the cmos battery to lose power while the computer is off, if that is what is happening? It has to be some kind of power leak?

An electric shock from the power supply is not the only potential hazard one must be aware of. That is readily avoided by unplugging the system. An equally serious potential concern is static electricity and frying the motherboard. This threat can be overcome in several methods but the easiest is the use of an inexpensive anti-static wrist strap. You also have to watch for sharp interior metal edges too. Since you didn't provide a model number this could be any Presario product; desktop or laptop. However, I lean to desktop as you refer to the 'box". A simple Google using the keywords "change cmos battery" (sans quotes) revealed many links to the general process including some with pictures. Have you cheked there? DA