PC problems

[Tony G]

Hi All,
Does anyone know a good computer repairer that can have a look at my PC, or is there anyone within the society that can assist.
Went to switch the PC on this afternoon and nothing, looked inside and the motherboard still has power as the indicator light is on, but I've no way of testing the power supply unit (PSU). 

ANY IDEAS or SUGGESTIONS.

Tony G

[RobertM]

If you haven't already then you could try unplugging it from the mains and leaving it unplugged for 10-15 minutes to ensure that all the internal curcuits have discharged before trying again.   After that it becomes difficult to find out whats going on unless your motherboard has status lights that indicate boot sequence (which may give a clue to the problem).  If it doesn't beep and the drives aren't spinning up then it does look like a PSU problem, either that or the on/off button on the front is broken.

Hope that helps
Robert

[Tony G]

Tried that earlier Rob, but it still doesn't work, there is only one indicator light as well, so it only shows that there is power there,
but I was worry that its the family PC and there is a lot of information and folders that I would hate to lose.
There is no sound when I plug it in, but I also need to know if any PSU would operarate the PC, or doesit have to be a certain one?

Tony G

[Ian]

What brand is it Tony? Most desktops are the same, unless it's very old...

[Tony G]

eMachine 3220

[Mac]

You shouldn't lose any information on the pc.

Unless your Hard disk has failed.

Check the following,

Memory is correctly seated
Graphics card is correctly seated,

carryout the following,
Disconnect your CD drives and your hard disk,
power up your pc,

Your pc should still boot with the bios screen.

If you get nothing, then its either PSU, memory, or CPU.

if you do get the bios screen then one of your devices is dragging down the powersupply,
plug them in one by one and reboot the machine.

To test your power supply you will need to unplug everything,

and short out the power on (normally green) wire to a ground wire on the main motherboard plug.
this turns on the PSU, then with a multimeter check that you have all the correct voltages.

http://freespace.virgin.net/matt.waite/resource/psu/atxpsu.htm

[Ian]

I've got a couple of old PCs that have PSUs that probably fit yours.

You're welcome to one of them.

[Tony G]

Mac, does that mean opening the tower, that feels like an episode of Lord of the Rings but more challenging, the nearest I got to electronics was a power drill on site, so you are talking to a novice when it comes to the inside of a computer.

Ian, thanks for the offer as I may take you up on it.

Tony G

[Ian]

no worries mate, just give me a shout...

[Jim]

Hi Tony

I've got a multimeter, your're welcome to borrow that to check out the power supply. Or if you want pop round with the PC one evening and we'll check it out together.

[JohnP]

Tony - I'm also more than happy to take a look at it for you - I'm no expert but could measure PSU's etc. Once you are up & running again make sure you go & buy yourself one of those USB HDD - they are so cheap now & are great for backing up especially if you have valuable files etc.

Also, I think Maplin sell a PSU tester - basically you unplug the psu from the boards etc. inside the PC & plug this in & switch on...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=45500&criteria=psu%20test&doy=26m5

Probably £12 a bit much to use once & nowt you couldn't do with a DVM but thought I'd show you anyway..

Cheers,  John

[Fay]

Sorry I cannot help you Tony, but hope you get it sorted soon

[Tony G]

Just like to say that Ian has had a look and concluded that it may well be the Motherboard, as we have tested the PSU and that worked fine.
So I've ordered a new one and hopefully things will be up and running soon.

So thanks again Ian for all your help, and everyone else for the advice and offers.
One last thing Ian, you mentioned a heat resistant compound which I have forgotten the name of, could you possibly remind me again.

Tony G

[Ian]

you'll need some heatsink paste. I've got some somewhere, I'll have a root around.

the other thing I meant to mention, when you're unplugging the psu, the motherboard connections have a little clip thingy that holds them in, the rest are just a tight fit. Don't worry about remembering what goes where though, all of the plugs only go in one way...

[Tony G]

Well, the new motherboard didn't work, 
but we did find a 5 year warranty that covers the computer, that Flis took out when she bought the desktop 4 years ago,
so we shall be visiting PC World this week to get it sorted (hopefully)    as the cover says that if they can't fix it we'll get a new one.

Let you know how I get on

Tony G