Need a geek, or guru, or something. . .

[Miss Critter]

My desktop computer's hard drive finally had enough, it seems. Turned it off Saturday night, and couldn't get it to turn back on Sunday morning.

Any suggestions on whom to call to try to salvage what I can from it? Thanks in advance.

 

[NightAngel]

Sounds like it could be your power supply, I have had them go out over the years on several computers, the last time the computer was just 3 months old. I just got a new one, pulled the old one out and put in the new one and that was that.
It is not powering up at all?

 

[Miss Critter]

It powered up once briefly, just long enough to get the black/white screen. The light above the power button glowed yellow the next couple of times I tried to power it up; I got the hum of it being powered, but nothing on the screen. Now no light at all.

Is replacing the power supply faily easy? Not for me to do myself, of course, but to have done?

Thanks for your post, by the way.

 

[NightAngel]

It is fairly easy to do. The box at the back of your computer where the fan is, is the power supply. I just open up the computer, take out the screws and mark where I unplug with little pieces of tape and then put in the new one and replug in the same places and that is it.
Do you hear your fan running when you try to turn it on or is it silent? Hell, if it gets too crazy for you, I could come by and look see if you want.

 

[jamie]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but my laptop locks up every now and then. The mouse will just stop moving and the only way to get things going again is to restart.

Any ideas?

 

[Parker Pruett]

Word to the wise, like with everything else, you get what you pay for. Do not buy the cheapest power supply on the shelf. I spent a frustrating week with the same problem, replaced power supply, then video card, then memory, then motherboard only to learn that the "replacement" power supply I had bought was a useless piece of junk.

Lesson learned? the $30 power supply I thought was a good deal ended up costing about $250.

 

[Miss Critter]

I've read that that problem is sometimes caused by overheating. You can reduce it by placing your laptop on a surface allowing more air circulation.

 

[Miss Critter]

Word to the wise, like with everything else, you get what you pay for. Do not buy the cheapest power supply on the shelf. I spent a frustrating week with the same problem, replaced power supply, then video card, then memory, then motherboard only to learn that the "replacement" power supply I had bought was a useless piece of junk.

Lesson learned? the $30 power supply I thought was a good deal ended up costing about $250.

Thanks, there is a fairly wide discrepancy in price. I was wondering about that. Fortunately, newegg.com offers ratings posted by actual users, which I find useful.

 

[Hop]

use it as a plant coaster and go buy a mac...

 

[Miss Critter]

I've been thinking more of going to Mac especially since XP is being replaced by Vista, which I've not heard great things about.