Hardware
I'm not a hardware guy at all.
My MIL's PC is dead, no power when you flip the switch, no telltale beeps, no fan... nada.
BUT, some lights come up on the motherboard.
Anyone have any tips on what I should try to change first?
by locrian_lyric Accepted solution
by robo_dev Accepted solution
I've guessed wrong either way many times.
I would borrow somebody's power supply and give it a try.
However, if I had to make a bet, I would put my money on bad MOBO.
But it's easier to test for a bad PSU, so I'd try that first.
by john Accepted solution
Most likely it is a bad motherboard.
You can get a Power Supply tester pretty cheap online or at a local Computer Store (Bestbuy, CompUSA, etc.). All you do is plug the Motherboard power connector into it and cut it on and they usually have the "idiot lights" that say good or bad.
I strongly suggest not testing the PSU in any other PC as a bad PSU can fry everything in a PC.
by oh smeg Accepted solution
I've had a couple of cases where the Idiot Lights on the testers tell me that the PS is Good but it's not producing enough current to start the system running. For some strange reason this has always only happened with Antec PS's but as a result I always just grab a [b]Known Good[/b] Power Supply and plug it onto the M'Board and hit the On Button to see what happens.
Generally the unit will spring to life and then you can plug in the extra things like the some little unimportant bits like HDD's. :D
I don't even unscrew the old PS just sit one on top or some place handy and test the M'Board, CPU and so on before doing any thing else. It's fast and cheap and saves so much time messing around that I can not afford not to test this way.
Col
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