[Royal]

I went home from vacation and since I disconnected my computer I put back in all the cords. When I turned it on it didn't. Some lights turneed on and some fans.

No I did not mess with anything hardware wise... I will provide a highly detailed description here:

Plug in the Power cord. - Light in the back turns on and stays on like normal, indicating power is entering the computer.

I press the power botton. - The little light that shows activity when the computer is functioning blinks breifly for a split-second. All fans turn a little. Approx. 60 degrees. Overall from the time the "little" power starts and end is about 1 second. Nothing pops in monitor screen since I cannot hear "the computer" noise that it makes when it is ushally booted up.
When that finishes the light in the back turns off.

Possible reason for this: I was re-plugging my computer via surge protector/supressor... I stuck the plug in backwards ( 3rd pin misplaced )
Here is a rough diagram

Most plugs have 2 pins but computers have 3
Surge portecto looks like this
:o:o:o:o:o
o= 3rd pin outlet
When your supposed to plug it in like this on accident i "forced it in" this way o: the 3rd pin going to a whole new outlet. When I repositioned myself I relized the plug plugs in the other way...
But this is the only thing I could think of that could have caused this.
Maybe because I left it without power for a week but that is highly unlikley

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'Ello,

Well I am not brilliant with hardware on computers, but I am fairly good but I don't have a really good idea of what is wrong here, but I think it would be that when you plugged your Power Supply Unit (PSU) in the incorrect way round it has blown the PSU. In which case you would need a new PSU, if you can find one some where else like off another computer you have or off a friend that doesn't mind you taking it just for a short while for testing, you could swap them round and see if the other one works, if it does make your PC work then your PSU is broken and you need a new one.

It shouldn't be dangerus swaping your PSU around, so long as you have the plug turnned off/unplugged, just don't try opening one up, that can get dangerus if you don't know what you are doing.

P.S.
If you do swap them round you may want to make sure that you know where all the power leads go if you don't know your way around the inside of a computer to well encase you forget some.

Good luck on this problem .

[El Barto]

'Ello,

Well I am not brilliant with hardware on computers, but I am fairly good but I don't have a really good idea of what is wrong here, but I think it would be that when you plugged your Power Supply Unit (PSU) in the incorrect way round it has blown the PSU. In which case you would need a new PSU, if you can find one some where else like off another computer you have or off a friend that doesn't mind you taking it just for a short while for testing, you could swap them round and see if the other one works, if it does make your PC work then your PSU is broken and you need a new one.

It shouldn't be dangerus swaping your PSU around, so long as you have the plug turnned off/unplugged, just don't try opening one up, that can get dangerus if you don't know what you are doing.

P.S.
If you do swap them round you may want to make sure that you know where all the power leads go if you don't know your way around the inside of a computer to well encase you forget some.

Good luck on this problem .

[Samm]

Certainly sounds like it may be a psu problem.
If you don't have another PSU that you can test the computer with, then you will have to test the psu itself :

1. disconnect power cord

2. disconnect EVERY internal power connection from the PSU inside the computer. (or just remove the psu entirely from the system).

3. Locate pin 14 on the 20pin ATX psu connector. Look at the holes on this connector - you will notice that one of them is square (rest are round). This will be located at one end of one of the 2 rows. Jump to the other row & count down 4 holes. This one should have a green wire going into it.

14
O O O O O O O O O O
_
|_| O O O O O O O O O

4. Get a paper clip, straighten it out then bend it into a tight U shape.

5. Reconnect the PSU power cord & switch it on.

6.To fire up the PSU, stick one end of the paper clip into the pin 14 hole of the atx connector & the other end into one of the neighbouring holes with a black wire feeding it.

7. Check the fan inside the psu to see if its turning. You will probably be able to hear it, if it is.

Let me know what happens

[Royal]

Well I checked that and it appears that there is all square and no round ones... But a couple of questions I would liked answered is that...


Is it possible any other hardware is shot like my gfx card, motherboard, ram? Percentage of likleyhood?

Any reccomended low priced power supplies over 250w?

[Samm]

Don't worry what shape the holes are, just locate the green wire & make sure it is the fourth one in from one of the ends. Then follow the rest of the instructions I gave.

As for a cheap replacement psu : Theres loads of low priced ones around but none that I would happily recommend. It's always worth getting a half decent one for a little extra money.

[Doby]

As for a cheap replacement psu : Theres loads of low priced ones around but none that I would happily recommend. It's always worth getting a half decent one for a little extra money.

Absolutely, better take that advice

[Royal]

And what do you make of my other hardware componets, ie motherboard, gfx, ram...were any of these affected?

[Samm]

Hard to say. Good quality psu's have better built in protection so they should blow before any damage is caused to the rest of the system. However, this can't be guaranteed, especially given the nature of the original problem. It is possible that your motherboard has been damaged, and small chance the CPU could be. Ram is likely to be fine.

I suggest you get another PSU & connect it to your original system & see if it boots up. That is the only way of knowing for sure.

In the meantime, you could remove the motherboard from the case & inspect it for any signs of damaged components (capacitors etc). Look for any discolouration, signs of charring, breaks in the tracks and so on). Check both sides of the motherboard but in case the mobo is still working, try not to overhandle handle it & wear a static strap if possible.