Think lighting may have hit my desk top. Have tried two receptacles and power cords, Will not turn on. No power to desk top.
Have alot work stuff need to get off if I can.
Have alot work stuff need to get off if I can.
Desk top computer problems
shooterB
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No power at all? Maybe the power supply. I recommend you reset your CMOS battery. It resets all your hardware.
Open you case and look for the watch battery, pop it out then put it back in. Make sure you have the cord removed from the tower first. Before you open the case discharge your static electricity on the case.
Open you case and look for the watch battery, pop it out then put it back in. Make sure you have the cord removed from the tower first. Before you open the case discharge your static electricity on the case.
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Better instructions.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph04375&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph04375&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en
Power Supply is bad as said above. However, and unknownpro, I'm not being a "know-it-all" by stating this, but I don't think unplugging the CMOS battery and reinserting it will solve Shooterb's computer problem. Like you said, it sounds like the power supply is the cause. The CMOS battery, or lack thereof, will not prevent the computer from powering up. It may not boot or do anything else, but it should still power up even without a CMOS battery. I really regret commenting in threads like this because I really hate for other members to get the wrong idea about me. I just want to help out.
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If it was a lightening surge and it took the Power Supply, it usually takes the mother board with it. Not always, but usually. You need the power supply and MB tested. Likely a Power supply issue, possible bad MB.
The possible good news is, that is if it did take the Power Supply and Mother board, the hard drive possibly could still be OK hopefully, and you can get your data.
The possible good news is, that is if it did take the Power Supply and Mother board, the hard drive possibly could still be OK hopefully, and you can get your data.
Start from the wall and go to the computer.
1. Try plugging a lamp into the wall outlet directly. If it works, go to step 2, if not, check to see if it's a newer outlet that has a test/reset switch, or that the breaker needs to be switched.
2. Check the power strip or surge protector, might need to be reset or changed. See if a lamp works in it. If it does, move on to step 3, if not, try a different strip or surge protector.
3. If you have an extra power cable, try changing that out. Monitors, TV's, old computers, all use the same power cord. If it computer works with a new cable, you're done, if not, try step 4.
4. Some power supplies(the box on the back of the computer plugs into) have a led light to show there is power to it, see it there is one, and that it is lit. Try pressing the power button on the computer, and see if the fan spins up. If the fan spins up, but the computer doesn't turn on, move to step 5. If not, it's likely a problem with the power supply needing to be replaced.
5. This is where it get's more complicated. If you press the power button, and you hear the cpu fan kicking on, but nothing shows up on the screen, it's likely either:
a.) fried video card. Gonna need to replace that. Especially bad if the video card is internal to the motherboard(think the skull of the computer, no, the case is not the skull, it's closer to the skin). Replacing with a PCI-e video card could fix this, but likely if your onboard video card is fried, your cpu and mobo and memory are in trouble, too.
b.) The monitor might be dead. Try a different monitor. That's the simplest problem.
c.) Motherboard is in trouble. See a.). Ick.
However, if the cpu doesn't have the sound of spinning up fans at all, see 5.c.). Again, Ick.
1. Try plugging a lamp into the wall outlet directly. If it works, go to step 2, if not, check to see if it's a newer outlet that has a test/reset switch, or that the breaker needs to be switched.
2. Check the power strip or surge protector, might need to be reset or changed. See if a lamp works in it. If it does, move on to step 3, if not, try a different strip or surge protector.
3. If you have an extra power cable, try changing that out. Monitors, TV's, old computers, all use the same power cord. If it computer works with a new cable, you're done, if not, try step 4.
4. Some power supplies(the box on the back of the computer plugs into) have a led light to show there is power to it, see it there is one, and that it is lit. Try pressing the power button on the computer, and see if the fan spins up. If the fan spins up, but the computer doesn't turn on, move to step 5. If not, it's likely a problem with the power supply needing to be replaced.
5. This is where it get's more complicated. If you press the power button, and you hear the cpu fan kicking on, but nothing shows up on the screen, it's likely either:
a.) fried video card. Gonna need to replace that. Especially bad if the video card is internal to the motherboard(think the skull of the computer, no, the case is not the skull, it's closer to the skin). Replacing with a PCI-e video card could fix this, but likely if your onboard video card is fried, your cpu and mobo and memory are in trouble, too.
b.) The monitor might be dead. Try a different monitor. That's the simplest problem.
c.) Motherboard is in trouble. See a.). Ick.
However, if the cpu doesn't have the sound of spinning up fans at all, see 5.c.). Again, Ick.
We just had a 14 year old server at my business go down a few months ago............ Power supply was at fault. If you really think it was lightning, then your motherboard could be toast as mentioned above. However, a new power supply is relatively inexpensive, so in my opinion, it wouldn't really hurt to get a new one. If you do, make sure all of the cables match your motherboard and HD connections. I replaced our power supply in our server and we are still using it...... Although, it is prehistoric. But it still works and it beat spending a ton of money on a new server............. Dave
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Look on the back of the power supply see if it has a voltage selector switch if it does move it to the other position then back. Be sure it is unplugged when this is done. It has worked for me in the past on a pc that wouldnt power up.I did end up having to replace the power supply a week or so later.
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2,953 Posts
I agree the CMOS won't prevent a computer from booting, however hardware can prevent a pc from booting, and by resetting the CMOS just forced the computer to check all hardware. Ever unplug your CPU fan? Some machines won't even boot if its not plugged in, other machines won't even turn on if the door is off. It's doubtful, but forcing hardware to do a roll call has been known to correct problems.
With that said, replacing the power supply is most likely in your near future. Or you can always just claim it on the insurance and pull your drive and install it in the next machine as extra storage.
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13,656 Posts
Chances are, if you do the above resetting and that will not fix it, the power supply is fried... If the PS is fried, I would bet money that the motherboard is too and possibly the RAM. I would bet enough that if replacing the powersupply got it to turn on, I would STILL replace the other two parts.
I have done PC support for almost 2 decades now and much of that was in FL where I dealt with lightening strikes multiple times per day so I do have a bit of experience with such things.
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Now for the good news... The hard drive is likely perfectly fine, at least for getting data from it.
That said, if the other parts above are bad, I would not trust the hard drive to be reliable either. Certainly not long term for important data.
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Now, since you said there is work stuff on this, do you work for a company with an IT department? If so it is time to get them involved but, if you have personal, non-work stuff on the computer you very well may loose that data because they 1) wont care about it and 2) it may be a violation of policy.
If instead this is your personal machine and you have work stuff on it for the company you work for OR you work for yourself, things are a bit different. I could, and would gladly offer my services to help you try to repair the machine and/or recover the data. I am sending you a PM to discuss this further.
I have done PC support for almost 2 decades now and much of that was in FL where I dealt with lightening strikes multiple times per day so I do have a bit of experience with such things.
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Now for the good news... The hard drive is likely perfectly fine, at least for getting data from it.
That said, if the other parts above are bad, I would not trust the hard drive to be reliable either. Certainly not long term for important data.
-------------
Now, since you said there is work stuff on this, do you work for a company with an IT department? If so it is time to get them involved but, if you have personal, non-work stuff on the computer you very well may loose that data because they 1) wont care about it and 2) it may be a violation of policy.
If instead this is your personal machine and you have work stuff on it for the company you work for OR you work for yourself, things are a bit different. I could, and would gladly offer my services to help you try to repair the machine and/or recover the data. I am sending you a PM to discuss this further.
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1,647 Posts
No power at all is usually either power supply or motherboard. Unplug from power, open the case, unhook the power running to the harddisk, dvd/cd. Plug back into power and try to boot. If it boots one of those is toast and needs to be replaced.
The power button on the case is just a soft switch, the actual power on/off is built into the mother boards now. If you're not getting any lights at all when you plug in the power supply and try to turn it on, cpu/cooling fans don't spin, etc, then it's either the power supply or the motherboard. If it's a clone you can get a powersupply for $50 or so usually. HP/Dell/IBM and the like they can get pricey, so you'll have to decide if you want to sink cash into it to test, or just get a new one. If it was me I'd check ebay for a power supply for your model and try that first if it wasn't too expensive.
If you're not comfortable working on your computer, take it to a shop, most places only charge $50-75 to diagnose the problem and usually credit that toward a repair.
If you decide not to sink any money into it, then the simplest way of getting your data off is via one of these..
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Startech-...Startech-USB-to-SATA-IDE-Hard-Drive-Docking-Station-for-2.5-or-3.5-HDD/14291559
There's plenty of people who make one, you can get a little cheaper if you just get either usb to ide, or usb to sata depending on what type of connector your harddisk has.. or just get that one and it'll do anything.
Plug your old disk into it, plug it up to your new computer, and copy your data off the old disk.
The power button on the case is just a soft switch, the actual power on/off is built into the mother boards now. If you're not getting any lights at all when you plug in the power supply and try to turn it on, cpu/cooling fans don't spin, etc, then it's either the power supply or the motherboard. If it's a clone you can get a powersupply for $50 or so usually. HP/Dell/IBM and the like they can get pricey, so you'll have to decide if you want to sink cash into it to test, or just get a new one. If it was me I'd check ebay for a power supply for your model and try that first if it wasn't too expensive.
If you're not comfortable working on your computer, take it to a shop, most places only charge $50-75 to diagnose the problem and usually credit that toward a repair.
If you decide not to sink any money into it, then the simplest way of getting your data off is via one of these..
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Startech-...Startech-USB-to-SATA-IDE-Hard-Drive-Docking-Station-for-2.5-or-3.5-HDD/14291559
There's plenty of people who make one, you can get a little cheaper if you just get either usb to ide, or usb to sata depending on what type of connector your harddisk has.. or just get that one and it'll do anything.
Plug your old disk into it, plug it up to your new computer, and copy your data off the old disk.
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