How to give this old machine a new life?

[BnG]

Soo I've recently got quite an old PC for free (Intel Core2duo E6something with 2 gigs of DDR2).

The problem is however, it won't boot. It will make the very loud sound some computers make when they boot, but it gets stuck there. It keeps making the very loud startup sound and won't go any further. It doesn't turn of by holding the power button either, you literally have to pull out the PSU plug. The disc drive does make a sound as well, but doesn't open.

Does this mean the CPU and/or motherboard is faulty, or is the PSU to blame? I still have a spare PSU I think which I could try and connect .

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[smorizio]

the noise may be a bad fan or hard drive. open the case and power up check that all fan are moving and pc not full of dust. power off unplug the hard drive see if the noise stops. if it does bad hard drive. same for the cd rom drive. for boot problem take the pc down to the onboard video and ram only see if it posts. on old pc replace the cmos batery an check for leaking caps.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Nichicon_2200uF_6.3V_swollen_leaking_capacitors_Compaq_year_2001_motherboard.jpg

 

[BnG]

the noise may be a bad fan or hard drive. open the case and power up check that all fan are moving and pc not full of dust. power off unplug the hard drive see if the noise stops. if it does bad hard drive. same for the cd rom drive. for boot problem take the pc down to the onboard video and ram only see if it posts. on old pc replace the cmos batery an check for leaking caps.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Nichicon_2200uF_6.3V_swollen_leaking_capacitors_Compaq_year_2001_motherboard.jpg

The fans are running, I replaced the HDD with an SSD I had lying around . It's not full of dust, I did a CMOS reset? It does not make a posting *bleep* sound, just a lot of fan noise. Furthermore, I see 0 leaking caps.

If I want to replace the CMOS battery, do I need a specific one for the motherboard or motherboard line? I have some lying around from even older PC's, but don't think I should use those the replace the one in the PC I'm trying to fix right?

 

[smorizio]

the battery should be stamped cr203. if it is any store that sells batteries should have it. after it replaced if there no post. pull the gpu try onboard video. if there no post try another power supply. if there no post with the other power supply the mb may have failed from age.