[mega]

Hey all,

So i was on my computer last night, and all the power in the house goes out..probably from the lightning/strong winds. No big deal i thought...i waited around for about an hour till the power came back.

Now everything is working except my computer..i have my speakers, my monitor, my amp, and some others all hooked up to a surge protector. Everything works except my computer..it doesn't even turn on, or power up. I tried switching all the plugs around, but to no avail. I also don't smell anything burnt inside the computer.

Anyone know exactly what the problem is? Did the entire computer get fried while the power went out from the lightning? I really hope that isn't the case..could it be the power supply? Motherboard? There is a green light on the back of my computer..im guessing its the power supply LED that blinks normally, and it's still blinking if that helps..?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Huxley]

Ask a silly question but did you check the fuze in the plug?

 

[mega]

Yeah, i checked..nothing seems to be wrong with the plugs.

 

[rogue]

If you can still see a lit LED on the back (probably from the NIC), than it's not the PSU. My guess is that you had a surge and that something got fried on the motherboard. Likely candidates are the mobo itself, the RAM, the CPU, and the video card, all of which are sensitive to overvoltage. I would try removing everything but 1 stick of RAM and the video card and beginning to test that way. Test each piece of RAM individually, and try different memory slots as well.

Of course, determining if it is something other than RAM is a lot harder, unless you have another machine running where you can swap video cards and CPU's to see if they could be the culprits. However, my guess would be that it is the motherboard itself.

 

[Carmantom]

Does not sound too good. Contrary to what most people think, my personal experience has taught me that surge protectors are almost nearly useless. I use a "Brick Wall" protector on stereo equipment. Nothing short of a direct hit on that wall is going to hurt my stereo equipment (I hope).

Good Luck!

 

[AwakenedBeing]

Try unplugging the power cord that runs from your computer to the outlet and wait 5-10 minutes and plug it back in the same outlet or a different one that you know is working. If not then you can try to clear the CMOS (just google "how to clear CMOS" for steps) to see if the mobo BIOS got messed up.

If that doesn't work then try what rogue said.

 

[Kirosia]

Yeah, surge protectors really don't help much. My PC(s) have died to massive fryage. If you can afford one, get a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). My current PC isn't a power-hungry beast so I got a low-end APC.

 

[mega]

Ok, ive tried all the suggestions posted above, and still no luck.

I have an HP Media Center computer, and the LED light for the PSU on the back of the computer is blinking fast and makes a clicking noise when it blinks. When i take the power cord out, or detach the connector from the PSU to the motherboard, the blinking gets slower. Normally, the light just stays on and doesn't blink.

Does this indicate a PSU problem? That would be the best case scenario for me..

*edit...also, if it is the PSU and i need to replace it, do i lose all my data and need to do a re-install, or does everything go back to the way it was, assuming my HD is fine?

Thanks.

 

[AwakenedBeing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mega /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok, ive tried all the suggestions posted above, and still no luck. I have an HP Media Center computer, and the LED light for the PSU on the back of the computer is blinking fast and makes a clicking noise when it blinks. When i take the power cord out, or detach the connector from the PSU to the motherboard, the blinking gets slower. Normally, the light just stays on and doesn't blink. Does this indicate a PSU problem? That would be the best case scenario for me.. *edit...also, if it is the PSU and i need to replace it, do i lose all my data and need to do a re-install, or does everything go back to the way it was, assuming my HD is fine? Thanks.

Sounds like PSU is fried. All you need to do is replace it with a similar spec'd (watts and amps on 12v rail) or better power supply. Everything should be normal after you replace it assuming that the other components are still working.

 

[Carmantom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AwakenedBeing /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sounds like PSU is fried. All you need to do is replace it with a similar spec'd (watts and amps on 12v rail) or better power supply. Everything should be normal after you replace it assuming that the other components are still working.

Better yet, maybe a small power supply tester. The last I looked they were pretty inexpensive.