Toyota Repair: 92 Corolla Engine Quit and Wont Start, control switches, coralla

Question
While I was driving my 1992 Coralla (4AFE engine), the engine quit running.  When I try to restart the engine it cranks but will not start.  (Intersting side note:  When I initially started my car that evening, the climate control fan did not immediately start when I turned the AC on; after playing with the climate control switches/levers for a bit, the fan and AC system did begin to work and continued for the next ten minutes or so until the engine died.)  The battery is good and there is plenty of gas in the tank.  The engine has about 130K miles on it.

My neighbor, who does alot of car rebuilding, after checking the ignition coil with an ohmmetter (resistance was OK) and checking for a spark across the plug (there was none), concluded it was either the igniter or the engine computer/ECU that was bad.  (He said that the ECUs had a history of failing after about 10 years.)  Based on reading some of your other answers, it seems like the timing belt could cause a similar problem with regard to not being able to start the car; however, I heard no noise and had no other sensory indication of anything wrong when the engine suddenly quit.  It has been about 5 years and around 60K since I had the timing belt replaced.

Any ideas based on your experience?

If it is the engine computer/ECU, how easy is that to replace by oneself? (i.e., where is it located and how do I get to it?)  Any tests I can do to check it myself to see if it is bad?

If it is the igniter, do I need to, or should I) buy a whole new distributor since the igniter is located inside it? Any tests I can do to check it myself to see if it is bad?

Are there any tests I can do to determine if it is the timing belt?  Based on reading the procedure for the timing belt, I won't even consider replacing it myself.

Thank you.

Answer
The computer is normally the last thing to be concerned about, a problem with the igniter/distributor is much more common.
There is no test procedure for checking the computer.
I suggest that you remove the distributor cap and the rotor, remove the coil cover and look for any cracks or burned spots on the coil, these coils are known to burn and arc through, especially on the bottom, look for any cracks on the epoxy filled area, while you have the cap off, crank the engine over, if the distributor center shaft rotates the timing belt may be ok but it may have jumped, if the shaft doesn't move the timing belt is broken.
Let me know if I can help you more.