New Techie

Hello, if anyone could help me with this problem I'd appreciate it. I recieved 8 computers free from a lady. None of them seem to completely work. This one in particular has a amptron logo on the motherboard and socket T462 and AMD Anthon is processor.

I've had a lot of book knowledge but very little hands on so I do apologize for the lack of more information about the computer.

The problem: It will intermittently boot and only after I test it. Mean take the motherboard out of it's case and plug a working powe supply to is and touch the pins with screw driver. When I put the motherboard back in case it won't come on at all. Well it did once and never did again. Oh i should mention that the system will not boot to a cd as well. I change the boot sequence and still I won't recognize it. The cd-rom is good. The OS is Novell.

Question: Is there software out there that can test the motherboard that is free. Mainly one t hat will boot to dos on a cd because sometimes I can get it to boot to dos. I tried looking up this manufacture and they don't have a website anymore. It seems as though the motherboard could be bad but when I opened it up parts were missing so it could also be that a wire could be in wrong place. Or is there a cheap cheap machine out there that can test a desktop pc's motherboard without the machine coming on to know if it's good or bad. I've tested the power supply so i know it' s good. Any help would be helpful. I got laid off and i'm trying to start my own biz.