Olympus c740 installed new batteries powered on and camera shows dead batteries

SOURCE: camera batteries drain quickly

Open the battery door and check the contact between the camera and the batteries. Most often then not there is just a bad contact and it's ruinning your baterry life.
Make sure that the contact are well placed and that there is no rust or dirt build up around there.

SOURCE: Olympus Stylus 730 Digital - Won't work 60 days old

I'm having the exact same problem. I was in the middle of zooming on a shot and it froze, so I turned the camera off and on, and now I get the 5-chimes+Zoom Error screen. This is nuts, I've only had the thing for six months, and it was $250 (got the Stylus 730). I *think* I got a replacement plan so that's good. But still... I hope circuit city lets me get a different brand b/c I'm not happy with this now. The only problem I had before was the HORRID shutter delay. I want a model that doesn't have that problem .

SOURCE: Olympus Camedia C-5060 will not power on

Could be the mode dial as well.....give it a shot!
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c-wz/c5060-dial.html

SOURCE: Olympus FE170 digital camera shows

on rechargeable batteries, check the mAh on the side, you would need to be about 2300 or more. also the shelf life on some rechargeables may be less than desireable... try lithium digital

SOURCE: Camera not staying on.

Well, not sure if I have a solution. What I did has worked so far. It seemed to me the problem had to be a battery connector because my camera did this when the batteries got low. Then it got to doing it all the time. So I removed the back of the camera, cleaned it and took off and re-installed the battery door. First remove the batteries and the card. There are 8 screws, two on each side. The side with the card, you will have to open the card door to get to those two screws. Be sure to keep the screws separate because they are different sizes. Once the screws are removed, you can take off the back. Be care because there is a ribbon and a wire going from the camera board to the LCD on the back. Mine came off rather easily. I also removed the battery door. We stopped tearing apart at this time because I don't have the correct tools and really don't know what I was doing. We took a can of pressurized air and cleaned out the inside behind the board and around the battery connections. We put the camera back together. I haven't had any problems since and it has been about a week and I have been checking the working operation since. I think it has more to do with the battery door than the actual cleaning of the inside. While you have it open, you might as well clean it.