9 replies to this topic

[Ezekiel]

Ok, my sister moved back into our house, again, and her computer worked fine before she moved, now it wont even start up. I checked the wiring inside the computer it's all fine. But when I hit the power button nothing happens, no fans turn on, no hard drive spinning, nothing. I'm thinking it's the power supplie, but I can't be sure till I go out tomarrow and buy a voltage tester. And I'm really hoping the processor didn't burn out.

Any help or ideas at this point would be helpful.

Edited by Ezekiel, 29 December 2005 - 10:21 PM.

[Frag0holic]

That happened to one of my computers too when hadn't used it for 6 months.. I suspect someone left it on and the supply thingy eventually croaked. Sounds like you have a quite similar situation.

[anadate]

unplugging and replugging in all the power connections might help especially if it was in storage sometimes thatll clean the plug pins.. only idea i got ..

[NC Derek]

could be something really simple such as the outlet on your wall. does a swtich need to turn that on or is that a dead outlet, i have a problem with that in my room, one wall outlet requires some special sh*t done with the circuit breaker for it was wired wrong by the damn mexicans. anyways probably your power supply i would try different plugs.

[Ezekiel]

The outlet is fine, she has her tv on the same power strip, and yes, we tried unplugging everything but the PC, and tried other slots. So it's definately something in the PC. We tried the power cable from my mom's comp (They're both the same, cept harddrives.), and it still didn't work

I tried unplugging everything and replugging it in, but the thing wasn't ever in storage. She used it at her old apartment, and moved back here, the thing sat maybe 3-4 days at most.

The power supply wasn't on, because it's a Dell. And the power supply has no switch, the whole PC has a button on the front. So unless the button was held down the whole 4 days, then I doubt that's the problem.



Update: I barrowed a friends multimeter and it seems the thing is distributing as much power as my little pinky (Yes, I was bored and tested it.) So I'm positive the power supply is out, now I just have to hope nothing else is wrong with the piece of sh*t. Speaking of which, because it's a dell, a compatible power supply will cost $70-80. Since the power supply that Dell uses doesnt have a power switch on it, mean a power supply with a power switch on it wont fit into the tower without some metal cutting that I don't want to be stuck doing.

[anadate]

could be something really simple such as the outlet on your wall. does a swtich need to turn that on or is that a dead outlet, i have a problem with that in my room, one wall outlet requires some special sh*t done with the circuit breaker for it was wired wrong by the damn mexicans. anyways probably your power supply i would try different plugs.

some of us electricians call that switched recepticles.. it should be controlled by a switch in your room not by a breaker .. anyway if its a big problem describe it to me and what exactly it does and shouldn't do i can probably tell you how to fix it.

but yes it was a good suggestion the computer will not turn on without power

[Frag0holic]

Speaking of which, because it's a dell, a compatible power supply will cost $70-80.

Gotta love those bastards at Dell... one more reason to build your own computers

[bv_xracer]

One more thing to check, the motherboard battery. When you leave your computer unplugged it holds your bios memory. If the battery dies, your motherboard doesn't send the required signal to the power supply. Could still be the power supply, but a 2 dollar battery is good insurance.

[Ezekiel]

I'll get a replacement battery tomarrow, and try that. Thanks xracer.

[bv_xracer]

Just a side note. If the battery isn't the problem, you can always try using a different power supply outside your case. No reason it has to be inside, except of course the leads have to reach the components. When I build systems, I almost always test and burn them in, outside of any case. This gives you more options than buying a new power supply from Dell. And you could also buy a new case/power supply and transfer everything to it. (for less than $45, it will still cost less than a new power supply from Dell)

I'm still betting on the battery though.