Heard a popping sound, now my computer doesn't work. Help?

Praetorian Mage

So, yeah, pretty self-explanatory. I was at my computer testing some Skyrim mods when I suddenly heard a popping sound and everything shut off. At first I was afraid I'd somehow overloaded my system and broken the hardware, but the monitor won't turn on either, and I'm pretty sure that it would still work even if the PC was trashed.

I checked around some more and found that my TV isn't working either. Now I'm thinking that it might be a problem with my electricity. The lights in my house are still working, so I'm guessing it's a problem with a socket that the TV and computer are both plugged into (I'm not totally sure they share a socket, because I set everything up a long time ago and my setup has gotten a lot more chaotic since).

So I need some advice on what to do. I know pretty much nothing about electrical systems or home repair and electricity is obviously a pretty dangerous thing to blindly stumble around with.

There's only one other unusual thing that only people who mod Skyrim a lot will understand, but I'll ask it anyway just in case. At the time, I was running the game while simultaneously loading up TESVEdit. I wanted to quickly test something in game and then check something in TESVEdit and thought I could save some time by doing both at once. Is this actually a terribly dangerous thing that I had no idea about? I'd assumed that the worst that could happen is that the game would crash. I see no reason why it could destroy my hardware.

Cryogen

You almost certainly just blew a fuse in your house since the tv also isn't working. If your lucky it's just a circuit breaker in the main box you can flip, then you are back in business. If your house is old it could be an actual fuse you will need to replace. It is pretty unlikely you damaged the actual socket or wiring.

You MIGHT have also blown the power supply on your pc, mine made a popping sound when I did it, but check the fuse/breaker first as that is an easier, cheaper and much more likely fix.

Edit: oh and you're right, electricity isn't to be fucked with. If you really are clueless about it, call a friend or relative to help with this.

knitdan

Check the fuse box.

Unplug everything from the socket before you flip the breaker back on, otherwise you run the risk of overloading again if that is what happened.

Try not to run too many things off one breaker, they are only built to hold so much.

Do something to make your setup less chaotic.

Giggles_Funsworth

Was there any factory installed smoke?

Praetorian Mage

Okay, I've had someone check out the circuit breaker and fix it. After he did that, everything worked except the computer. The monitor and speakers are both fine, but the computer won't turn on. Is there any other possibility besides a broken power supply? Is there any danger to my other components?

Jam Warrior

Your computer went bang and the breaker served its safety function by detecting the surge and breaking the circuit. First call in my mind is the fuses as in Europe we have one in the plug of each individual device. I know America is different but I don't know where you keep them (if at all).

If it's not a blown fuse then it sounds like a fried power unit at least, as for what else it took with it, only replacing the power supply and trying to turn it on will tell!

Also it would be sensible to learn how to flip your own circuit breakers, they're a fairly basic function of modern living. As long as you don't do something utterly retarded like deliberately jamming one on because it keeps flipping then this isn't really something you can do wrong.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Can you take the cover off the case and have a look at the internal components? It sounds like your PSU is probably dead, but I'm wondering if anything else caught an arse-whooping as it went out. Look for discolouration on circuit boards, swollen or split capacitors/resistors/diodes etc...

Movitz

I had the same happen to me twice. My PSU died and blowed a fuse in the house. After replacing the fuse the computer was still dead but everything else in the room was dandy.

Like suggested before, check if anything looks burned out inside the case. Sniff a little, you can almost always smell burned components. If nothing looks dangerously dead, find anouther PSU and hook it in to the necessary things. If you're careful you can just leave the borrowed PSU on the ground next to the computer. In one case I didn't even have to remove the PSU from the computer I borrowed it from, the cables were long enough to just open both cases and rig it up. If your computer works with a borrowed PSU you can just buy a new one. If it's dead or starts making beeping noises it means something else died in the process. In my two instances of this happening I was lucky enough to not have the PSU take anything down with it but you never know.

If you're not too experienced around such things, maybe you should ask a friend to help out though. As said before, electricity is fairly nasy and should be respected.

Bowen

chrishallett83 wrote: »

Can you take the cover off the case and have a look at the internal components? It sounds like your PSU is probably dead, but I'm wondering if anything else caught an arse-whooping as it went out. Look for discolouration on circuit boards, swollen or split capacitors/resistors/diodes etc...

Yeah it's either the motherboard or PSU at this point. You can usually tell if a PSU goes, it's a lot more smoke.

MrDelish

When my PSU died it took the hard drive with it, so it's possible that other components may have been fried.