A power outage killed my PC...

Brainiac 8

Ok, my computer is being stupid.

We had a big storm last night, and so I was working on getting the computer powered down before the power went out...well I took too long and we had an outage.

Later in the evening when the storm passed I turned on my computer to find that it went to the screen asking if I wanted to start the computer normally or do a repair something or other.

So if I say start normally, it loads forever and never stops. If I say repair, it goes to a blue screen telling me that there may be some malfunction on the computer and tells me to do a virus check or a check disk.

So I can't seem to get the computer to do anything, heck it won't even load Safe Mode so I can check disk or anything. Any suggestions for those of you who may have experienced this?

I don't really have the money to get it repaired so I'm hoping I can figure out a way to fix this.

Thanks in advance.

Seattle Thread

Do you remember what the error code listed on the BSOD was? Chances are it's the mobo, but the code could narrow it down specifically.

If you've got some extra compatible RAM lying around, you could try changing that as a possible solution. Might be worth a shot.

Brainiac 8

Once I get home tonight I'll write the error code down, I'm not sure what it was. No extra RAM lying around though.

I'm hoping I can avoid a full on wipe out and restore too, as there are things on my computer I don't want to lose.

Improvolone

I'd be a bit surprised if it took your HDD.

Ruckus

It's usually not the loss of power that fucks up hardware, but rather a brief voltage spike when power resumes (even on a "surge protector"). I'd start with trying a spare power supply on it, and if the motherboard has can-type capacitors (as opposed to the newer solid state type) I'd inspect them for doming or burst lids and leaking. It could also be your video card, especially if it's got it's own power supply connectors.

During electrical storms, or if power goes out suddenly, I always physically unplug my powerbars from the wall. The only equipment I trust to protect computer equipment is a fully functional good-quality UPS, but there is one power strip: Tripp Lite IsoBars.

ronya

It might not be the motherboard, but as Makershot says, we need the error code.

(seriously, I've no idea why anyone ever thinks computer problems can be solved without, y'know, writing down the error codes. They're there for a reason! Just tell us what the code is!)

Also, it would be good if you told us what you were doing when the power cut. Busy waiting at the Windows Is Shutting Down stage?