Has my computer blown up?

I left my computer for a few minutes and when I got back it was dead. I could not turn it back on. I changed the fuse in the power lead still no luck and I checked the power lead was OK by using it to boil a kettle and fire up this spare computer.

I did hear a bang about that time but put it down to something falling in the kitchen which is right next to my workstation and there was no smell.

As I have limited mobility in my hands due to chronic skin disease I prefer not to open the case but would like to know what it could possibly be. Is it the internal fuse or could it be the PSU has gone? The machine is three years old and used often. If the latter then I will take it to my local friendly small computer shop.

Certainly sounds like a failed power supply to me. If you don't have tools like a power supply tester and a digital multimeter to check the power supply, and the desire to use them, then you certainly need to pack it off to the shop.

I had the exact same thing happen to me, I was in a parts cabinet and heard a loud bang, and there was no smoke, but my computer was dead. It was an Antec 450 watt, and no longer under warranty. Sorry to hear about the hands, MorseLady. I wish I lived a bit closer, I'd be happy to help.

Thank you for the replies. I do have a digital multimeter by Radio Shack which my late husband bought for me in 1993 and which I know how to use as I am a radio ham. What do I test for please and do I have to open the case? I should know without asking but personal bereavement 18 months ago and my subsequent near nervous breakdown has had the effect of wiping out things I used to know! I am ashamed of myself for having to ask for advice :sad: but so grateful for my Windrivers Forums friends :thumbs2:

By the way the computer is four years old not three as I said. The Warranty expired a year ago and I have had a lot of trouble with that machine and was about to replace it with a new Vista machine and was waiting for a spindle of DVDs from Amazon to do a big backup job including some new photos not yet backed up. This computer I am using now is similar but with a slightly lower spec and belonged to my husband. However it seems to work better than my main machine.

The question do you need to open case to test? yes :)

OK please tell me what to do and I will try because the computer is a very big and heavy Evesham and I cannot carry it to my car and I have no one to help me and I cannot park my car near the shop even though I have a blue disabled parking badge because it's in a pedestrian only area of the town so if I cannot do it myself I will have to pay them to collect it.

Please remember I am a little confused and have trouble understanding things these days when telling me how to test the machine so pretend I am a novice, thanks.

OMGmissinglink if you read my post and replies again you will see that I already did that ie eliminated the power lead etc and am in fact using the same power cord to run this computer. BTW I do not consider a four year old top spec at the time XP Pro computer "old" and I have three far older ones still in good running order. Thanks for your input anyway.

Please could someone now tell me in easy to understand steps how to go about testing the power supply in the computer as it really is to heavy to take to the shop or even carry to my car. The case is bigger than usual and I am a 67 year old woman just under five foot three with a bad back so I must try and repair it myself and if that means replacing the PSU myself I will try. The only thing is that despite being a radio ham I am scared of electricity.

I will phone the shop later and see if they will do an on site repair for me or collect and return the machine.

Morse lady you need to remove the side cover.
Usually the left side when you are facing the front.
Unplug one of the molex connecters (small white plastic plug to harddrives and cdroms) and then using the multimeter hook it up accordinly to test the rails .
There is a yellow and a red power rail and the black is of course ground
Specific information is here
http://www.duxcw.com/dcforum/DCForumID3/447.html
And here
http://www.duxcw.com/faq/ps/ps4.htm
And here
http://www.informit.com/articles/art...1105&seqNum=12
If it should be nessecary to replace it go here.
http://lifehacker.com/software/repai...ply-228626.php

I had already got the cover off, been up since 5.30am our time fiddling about and was up till 1am.

It is an easy access no tools machine and I had the side cover off in seconds. I watched the tech when he came to repair the machine under Warranty early last year as I said it's had lots of hardware and other problems. The case is very large and you can see everything but I am dead scared of testing anything connected to live mains. The PSU is a 430v Targan.

OMG thank you and I checked again and nothing lights and nothing whirrs it's dead. Even though the original power lead is powering up this computer I still tried another one and checked the switch is in the correct position. I am now certain the machine is dead :sad: and I am concerned someone said it might be my MBd gone. Does that mean the HD could have blown too? Please no :eek2:

Having said that I was going to buy a new machine anyway but I need a large amount of data on thr HD which I was about to back up as soon as my 50 spindle DVDs arrive from Amazon.

NEW QUESTION if I were to swap the HD into this almost identical machine same MB but lower spec cards and processor how do I stand with my OS, XP Pro SP2, because surely it will detect all new hardware and refuse to run? Do I phone M$ and tell them what I want to do?

FERRIT I have looked at the links you gave me and thanks but I must heed the warnings and declare myself unqualified to do this.

I really am scared now just thinking about testing with live mains so I will phone the shop later and take it from there.

Thanks everyone, I got answers to what I asked which was is my PSU blown and it is now obvious it is or worse.

I have phoned the shop and arranged to take it in today. They say I can park at the back of the shop where deliveries are made and ring the bell and they will carry it in for me and this end I have an offer to carry from my bungalow to the car in the drive.

The shop say they will put a 550w power supply in the machine and with £15 labour charge it will be just under £50 so I am happy.

Best resolution you could have Angie.

As for your question about shifting the hard drive to another machine - yes this can be done, but you usually have to do a repair install to get XP to update the hardware properly.

Also, it might just be the power switch if the power molex in Ferrits' post were good. If you unplug the machine, try checking the power switch with the continuity portion of your multimeter. They usually buzz when the circuit is complete.

I have just come back from taking the computer to the shop and they will check it out and see what is wrong and yes I thought about the power switch but as I said before I am too scared to test anything on live mains and I had not thought about doing the continuity test Guts3d suggested.

The shop will do it today and phone me when it is ready and I will let you know what was wrong.

Thanks again for the advice :D

The shop phoned me just now and said that the PSU had gone but that also the switch has gone and it is fiddly to repair and would not last so I have agreed to a new case, total for job, parts and VAT about £90. I almost told them to take the thing to the tip but there is stuff on there I had not got round to backing up.

I am not surprised the switch has gone because I had to use it to wake the computer from hibernation because there is no sleep or wake button on my keyboard. As I am power saving concious I had it set to hibernate after ten minutes not using it.

All sorted then. Glad to hear it. As for the problem, it might just have been a router not working right somewhere between here and the USA.

Really the power supply is a breeze to change.
Just unplug the old one and plug in the new one,
anything that doesn't get plugged in just wont work but it wont be damaged.
the chances of loosening stuff off the harddrive are very very slim.
In any case glad you got it fixed without much problem

If your old case has a reset switch you could ask the shop to use that for the power switch and just buy a power supply.

It is too late for me to do anything myself now, as I said earlier I took it to the shop and it's going or maybe already gone in a new case. It did not have a reset switch.

I am a bit annoyed about having to have a new case to be honest because the old one is really big and stood on the floor and was big enough and high enough to put my phone and router on. I will lose my front USB connectors too because the design of the new case is different. As I said if it did not have photos on it that I had not backed up (been too tired and depressed recently to do much) I would have taken the blasted machine to the local tip!

Anyway I am having a new Vista machine soon, so why worry!

Site working OK here now Noo could have been a number of things.