Computer nerds.....assemble!

Capt_Cully

Capt_Cully

Active member
I know this is the dumbest thing you've ever heard, but short of unplugging it and taking it to Best Buy, I'm at a loss.

Our desktop has stopped working. It's about 3 years old. Runs Vista. Was working on minute, next minute......not. Can't turn it on.

Any algorithm I might follow to trouble shoot it. Or is this a harbinger?

I know it's vague, but any little tips will help. I'm a moron when it comes to this, and many, many, many, other things.
 
Cully nothing boots up? No sound, no beeps, nothing? Like no power?

If so you could of lost your power supply unit. They aren't that bad to replace at all.

But let us know if you get any power? If so then we'll move on to the next step.
 
Definitely sounds like a power supply. Sometimes you'll even get a bit of a burnt plastic smell when they go.

They aren't that bad to replace. Probably a 30 minute job, max. If your case is large enough, you might be able to unplug everything and then remove it. If the case is tight, you may need remove the motherboard or some components to make room to take it out of there.

They can hold a pretty strong residual charge after they're unplugged, so be sure to avoid sticking a fork in the old one, or showering with it.
 
When I power up the entire powerstrip, monitor comes on, printer comes on, tower...NUTHIN!

Where the power cord plugs into the tower, on the back, there is a little green light on. If I unplug it, that light goes off after about 15-30 seconds. That's the only sign of life coming through. No hard drive spinning, no fans whirring, nuthin, nathin, nada.
 
I agree, sounds like a power supply. I can't remember which two wires in the main connector that plug into the motherboard to check for 12v and 5v, but Hopefully someone can chime in that knows. The good thing is, it's a relatively inexpensive fix!
 
Maybe it's a hard drive failure. If you happen to have another hard drive then plug it in to see if it spins. If it does, your power supply could be good still. Then just replace hard drive, reinstall everything.

Use a multimeter to measure the little round battery on the motherboard. It should be around 3.0V, if not replace it

Reseat the RAM's

Remove your graphic card if you have one and use the the built-in VGA port instead (just to check if you have output)

After you done all of the above and you still don't see anything happens, then your motherboard is dead.

Hope it helps
 
Capt_Cully said:
I know it's vague, but any little tips will help. I'm a moron when it comes to this, and many, many, many, other things.
Click to expand...
little tip #1: NEVER admit this to anyone... ESPECIALLY the lady of the house

None of us is perfect. Hell, I still don't know how to work my TV remote controller.
 
Does it help if I say that it has done this intermittently for the past 2 months or do? It was dead as a door nail for weeks, then I came home one day and my wife was using it. I was like, "what the hell???". She said she just turned it on. It worked. 2 weeks later....dead again.
 
I would concur with the power supply diagnosis. How comfortable are you with opening up the case? What brand of computer is it?
 
I would defiantly say its the power supply... I have a HP that did the exact same thing. It was weird, as long as it never got turned off, it would stay on for days, but as soon as it was turned off it took days to get it back on again!
Replaced the power supply, which took 10 minutes, and bingo! Been running strong ever since!
 
jpjr said:
I agree, sounds like a power supply. I can't remember which two wires in the main connector that plug into the motherboard to check for 12v and 5v, but Hopefully someone can chime in that knows. The good thing is, it's a relatively inexpensive fix!
Click to expand...

Cully, got a multimeter?
color.gif



First thing I would suspect would be the power supply. Call Best Buy (or your favorite local PC repair shop) and see if they will test the old one for you.

If you're not in a hurry, you can buy your own tester for pretty cheap.
http://www.amazon.com/eForCity-24-p...354410752&sr=8-2&keywords=power+supply+tester
 
dattong said:
Maybe it's a hard drive failure. If you happen to have another hard drive then plug it in to see if it spins. If it does, your power supply could be good still. Then just replace hard drive, reinstall everything.

Use a multimeter to measure the little round battery on the motherboard. It should be around 3.0V, if not replace it

Reseat the RAM's

Remove your graphic card if you have one and use the the built-in VGA port instead (just to check if you have output)

After you done all of the above and you still don't see anything happens, then your motherboard is dead.

Hope it helps
Click to expand...

He would still be able to POST and he should get a BIOS message if it were the hard drive. If it was the RAM, the computer should beep like crazy when he hits the power button. Same thing with the graphics card. It's possible the battery or MB is dead, but my money is on the power supply.
 
Ok, I'll have to tear it open and have you guys walk me through it. FWIW, its an HP. I'm game for dicking with it, as right now, its of no use.
 
Also viting for the power supply, had a few machines do that before but if its anything other than the power supply there will be something else lighting up somewhere via inside ot on the monitor so. depending on the size you need I have a few spares. Ill have to run up into the attic to check tho, the attic of no return:hammer:
 
NirvanaFan said:
He would still be able to POST and he should get a BIOS message if it were the hard drive. If it was the RAM, the computer should beep like crazy when he hits the power button. Same thing with the graphics card. It's possible the battery or MB is dead, but my money is on the power supply.
Click to expand...

I'd try out the easiest diagnosis first, replace the bios battery. Then go from there. RAM failure does not always beep. It only beeps when the motherboard doesn't recognize the RAM's. If the motherboard has a built in VGA out, it will never beep when the graphic card is removed. Anyway those tips just for him to try out different things.
 
hp service class taught me this. (BTW 6+ yrs as IT network tech @ seneca allegany casino)

With the power cord disconnected , press the power button on the front of the computer and wait for ten seconds

With the power cord removed, flip the red voltage selector switch to the opposite position. Wait about five seconds, and then switch the red voltage selector switch back to its original location. Ensure that the voltage selector switch is on the correct setting.

this will ensure that the next step is the issue..

With the power cord disconnected, press the power button on the front of the PC. The button should release easily and not stick in the socket.
If the button sticks, it should be replaced or serviced.

if the green light is solid green there is a motherboard issue if it is blinking it is the PS.
If it solid green then you can check the power outputs on the PS connectors if you want to make sure it is definitely the PS, otherwise i would call the time of death for your compac/hp
 
Bios battery death would only make his pc revert back to the original CMOS settings and time, It would not cause the pc to not boot up
 
factory HP PS's usually are pretty reliable on the led as far as taking a crap. They seem to fail with consistant led codes and are usually not faulty. if the led is faulty when the PS dies you probably want to replace the whole pc anyway.
 
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