Hey Kid! Help Computer!

RCagent

This is some Background Information, if you want to cut the bullshit and get to my problem, scroll down:
Now, I've had this Pre-Built piece of shit HP computer for some time now. I've been saving most of my money and my knowledge to learn how to build a computer out of custom parts. This HP Computer is being mainly used for School and some games (it doesn't have the greatest specs, but its not entirely shitty either.) til I get to college. Well, my newbie self in the computer repair business, I have hit a brick wall.

Before, I've been able to fix many problems the computers in my family have come across. One instance, a computer of ours seemed to have spyware trouble, being very young I was able to fix this with the right software.

Recently, the computer got blue screen'd and refused to boot up, I used Knoppix to recover our files and then reinstalled Windows.

But, just right now, I have experienced a mind blowing problem that I don't think I can solve without knowledge more than my own, so I seek help from you all at Penny-Arcade Forums.

THE PROBLEM:
I've hit a major roadblock on my light computer repairing abilities, as this seems to be a hardware problem. This more than likely is a hardware problem, but I'm hoping its just something minor that can be fixed, even though deep down inside I know its a hardware problem. It goes like this.

I walked into my house after returning from doing a AP Biology Lab after school. Coming home, I wasn't relaly in the greatest mood, this mood soon went worse after this incident. I walked into my room, talked to my mom who was in the living room and turned on the computer. I logged in into my account and walked off to take a piss in the bathroom down the hall. Walking back into my room after this quick piss and something is obviously amiss. The Computer, it's shut down. "What the fuck?"

It appears the computer just seemed to have died. I was no where near it at the time it did that, so I'm not sure if it displayed any error messages, as this would be much easier to determine the problem. After this, I tried turning it back on, as I've been in situations where the computer just shut off due to a overheated video card or something, but alas, this computer didn't turn on. I tried switching the voltage, th e surge protector, the cord, everything basically.

So, my computer is basically dead weight. I have full hope that the harddrive is still intact, but I have a itching in my back that the Power Supply failed for some reason.

Anyone willing to offer some advice or help?

noobert

Try booting with no ram installed.
If it won't power up with no ram, try a different PSU.
If that doesn't work, we normally assume its a motherboard problem then change that out. But that may be too hard/expensive for you to try at home.

Oh, make sure you disconnect the hard drive while you are screwing around.

Uncle Long

Plug that hard drive into another computer and see if you can pull your files off. Don't risk fucking over your HDD until you either have a backup or are sure that you can't get your files.

PhilthePill

noobert wrote: »

Try booting with no ram installed.
If it won't power up with no ram, try a different PSU.
If that doesn't work, we normally assume its a motherboard problem then change that out. But that may be too hard/expensive for you to try at home.

Oh, make sure you disconnect the hard drive while you are screwing around.

Do this. Probably just your PSU dying, for some bizarre reason.

Arch Guru XX

Sounds like a dead PSU, which is not the end of the world. Take the above advice, though, and see if you can hook you HDD up to another computer and pull off your files. Always good to have a backup. If you need to get another PSU don't lowball it - cheaper ones definitely die faster. Under the circumstances I would recommend going to Best Buy or some other retail outlet that would have PSUs for purchase, so you can get it asap and fix your PC, but I'm sure you can get one cheaper online if you're willing to wait.

RCagent

Thanks for the advice guys, since the computer is so old, we just figured to buy a new computer as this computer was about 6 years old. We just kinda figured its time had came. Despite that, I figure the Harddrive would give out sometime soon even if I replaced the PSU, so I just slave drived the harddrive to recover most of our files and our new pc should be coming soon. For the mean time, I'll just have to endure the old jebidiah of a computer I have here.