[buchanan]

hi,

my pc is now completely dead it seems,

my brother woke me up 2 weeks ago, telling me that he couldn't start it, i didn't think much at the time because i had re-installed windows the night before and hadn't installed any drivers for it yet (graphics card, motherboard or anything,, just installed windows, shut down and gone to sleep) and i thought he was just confused.

on inspection though it really was not starting, the LED's on the front were on at this point (i think) but soon after they were dead too, the fans are dead. there is no response at all.

i disconnected all the hardware i could one at a time with no joy and ordered a new power supply which i got this morning.
i fitted the power supply to the best of my ability (taking out the old connections one at a time and replacing them as i went) and, you guessed it-no difference.

i've been searching for help online for two weeks now, tried everything i can think of or see to try, does anyone have any ideas?

thanks

[Wolfeymole]

Crazy reply I know mate but have you checked the fuse in the plug to the wall, or if it's pugged into a surge protector made sure it's on?

[alex]

The fact you're stating the initial power up means it more than likely has nothing to do with the reinstall of windows.

The psu is a good place to start so well done for that, shame it hasn't worked though.

It could be motherboard related but we'll do down that route in a bit. Checked plugs/fuses etc?

My first comment (and suggestion) is regarding the led's.

Are you abolutely sure you've connected the power cable to the power button on the case to the correct pin on the motherboard AND connected it the right way around?

[buchanan]

yeah, tried it in 3 different plugs, all of which i tested were working with a lamp

[buchanan]

Originally Posted by alex The fact you're stating the initial power up means it more than likely has nothing to do with the reinstall of windows. The psu is a good place to start so well done for that, shame it hasn't worked though. It could be motherboard related but we'll do down that route in a bit. Checked plugs/fuses etc? My first comment (and suggestion) is regarding the led's. Are you abolutely sure you've connected the power cable to the power button on the case to the correct pin on the motherboard AND connected it the right way around?

well, i have played around with that today for the first time (i think thats what it was anyway) but before that i have never touched it so i'm sure it has to be right (i didn't build the computer myself, i have had it about 18 months and it's been ok)

[alex]

Okey doke, time to troubleshoot. Be warned this may be a long process.

Have you checked the plug/fuse? Have you also tried replacing the main power cable?

[Wolfeymole]

You say you bought a new psu, have you bench tested that in it's own right?

[buchanan]

Originally Posted by alex Okey doke, time to troubleshoot. Be warned this may be a long process. Have you checked the plug/fuse? Have you also tried replacing the main power cable?

yeah, done both of those.

one thing i was unsure about:
when i changed the power supply i followed some guides online, on my motherboard, i have a main 24 pin adapter and a 4 pin adapter but nowhere for the 6 pin plug. like i said i changed them as i went so i don't think i made a mistake but is it right for some boards to not have a place for the 6 pin plug (sorry if i am explaining badly)

[Dave Hybrid]

Next step after all that is to unplug all internal power cables from the PSU to things like hard drives and CD-Roms leaving just the main plugs from the PSU to the motherboard then unplug all the hard drives, CD-Roms data cables and add-on cards from the motherboard.

Obviously keep the fans plugged in.

If it's still dead it's probably a faulty motherboard.

[buchanan]

Originally Posted by Wolfeymole You say you bought a new psu, have you bench tested that in it's own right?

no i just put it in straight away

[Dave Hybrid]

You only need the main big plug and the 4pin if your board supports it, thats it.

[buchanan]

Originally Posted by Dave Hybrid You only need the main big plug and the 4pin if your board supports it, thats it.

thanks

[Wolfeymole]

If that don't work test the cpu as stand alone pulling all the connectors off the board and hardware.
If it's fan don't spin it's goosed.

[buchanan]

one other thing

when i fresh installed i didn't install the raid drivers from floppy (normally i have to do this to get it to install windows but this time some how it successfully installed without)

i did this and let it continue to install without when it did because i don't have a raid (only 1 hard drive) just a raid controller which came with the pc so i thought it would be ok.

as a side note i could not identify any raid controller inside my pc, i don't know what it looks like,

windows installed fine and completely so i assumed it made no difference but the next day this happened so could this have affected the pc?

[alex]

The 6-pin plug is the pci-e power plug for a pci-express graphics card.

I'm typing a full troubleshooter for you, might take me 20 mins or so but if you can bear with me and then try it it might/should save you a lot of hassle having to continually post.