Sounds most likely to be the power supply, as Damon and Erik have suggested. Here's some added thoughts/suggestions:
- I'm assuming that when you hit the power button, there is absolutely no effect? - Power supplies (PS's) can go flaky or die fairly regularly, in my experience. If you buy a replacement, don't cheap out and buy a cheesy no-name brand PS. If it's a fairly high-end system, I'd recommend getting a 400W PS - good ones will probably run you $70 or more. - On most modern PC's, the motherboard (MB) governs turning on the power supply, so a dead motherboard could possibly look like a bad PS. Unfortunately, this makes it tricky to directly test the power supply - After trying Erik's idea to reseat all the power plugs, if that doesn't help, try unplugging all the power connectors to the drives and case fans and stuff, except for the power to the MB. This will help eliminate the fans/drives/etc from the list of potential causes. NB: don't unplug the heatsink fan on the processor! Also, try unplugging all the PCI boards in your system - even the video card. You can't boot like that, but you'll be able to tell if the power comes on or not. Afterwards, make sure you reseat all the PCI cards securely. - By connecting the right pins on the power cable to the MB, you can power up a PS without needing the MB (which would eliminate that possibility of a bad MB), but it's probably not worth the effort. - It's not that hard to remove a PS from the case. If the PS in your old PC isn't too much less wattage than the "dead" PS, you can connect your old PS to the new PC and see if you can then power up. (You wouldn't even need to remove the dead PS from the case to do this). This would be the easiest, most direct means of verifying that your PS is in fact dead. - From what I've read, surge protectors over time gradually lose their ability to protect (at least some types do) (Sorry I don't remember the exact details (but can probably do some digging if you want)). Anyway, if your surge prot is very old, it might be worth replacing. good luck! -bryon "J.D. Giorgis" wrote: > This morning, I turned on my computer to check my > e-mail. I was simply sitting, typing away, when my > computer mysteriously powered down. > > Upon inspection, I noticed (ack!) that a side panel to > the computer case had come a bit loose. > Additionally, my friend noted that the back of the > computer was unusually warm (which is odd, since I > bought an extra fan for the case - as I knew I would > leave it on a lot in a non-air-conditioned apartment.) > > > At this point I went to work, but when I came home, > the computer still will simply not turn on. I > plugged in my old computer using the same cord to the > same surge protector and same plug - and clearly, my > old computer is working just fine from that plug. > > So, any ideas as to what happened and how it could be > corrected? _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
