About to return my PC..

TurnipHead

TurnipHead

TurnipHead

Soldato
Joined
13 Mar 2007
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UK
Had some problems with my PC, my power supply exploded and nothing is working.

I want to return everything, but how do I find out what is busted.

Where do I look to check if

Motherboard
RAM
CPU
Harddrive
CD-Drive
Videocard

are broken?
 
Well when it exploded I replaced it and only one of the two fans came on, also the hard-drive no longer had a OS on it so...

I could try, does it matter what power supply I try?
 
If your system is fairly new the power supply would need to have the 24pin supply and the extra 4 pin to plug in by the CPU.

Rob
 
I dont think the power supply would wipe the OS from the hard drive. The hard drive would probably just not work, the stuff should be still on it but it is probably dead.

Test each individual component in another pc. The motherboard and cpu will work if the computer actually boots to BIOS.
 
If your trying to test the sytem you will need the correct power supply so all parts of the board and cpu have power.

Other wise you could be producing a cpu fault or memory fault due to lack of power.


Edit: What was your spec.
 
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you are talking about returning the PC? Is it a new home build or was it an all in one purchased from a store? If it's a fully built purchase and is still under warranty, take it to them.

If the PSU blew due to a defect, it's up to them to repair it, not you. By fiddling around with it, you may well void your warranty...
 
I built the machine a year ago, and my brother said their was only one power supply running in the first place and it turns on after it heats up.

Should I try installing windows on it and see what happens?

Is it okay that only one fan in the fan is spinning?
 
I don't see how it would have wiped the hard-disk. Do you mean there is only 1 fan running in the PSU and the other one comes on after it heats up?
What PSU is it you are using?

Seriously need to test each component individually I think.
 
Turniphead, I think you need to clarify a few points as it is very difficult to help as your posts are a bit confusing.
1)What happens when you turn your machine on? if nothing then it is possible that one or more of a number of components could have failed as a result of the psu going. The only way to identify the faulty component(s) is as suggested above by individually testing them in another machine.
2) If it powers on does it pass POST and are you able to enter the BIOS? If it does POST ok that is a fair indication that your memory, cpu, mobo and GPU are OK. If it fails then you will generally get beep codes indicating where the problem lies.
3) If it POST's ok but doesnt load your operating system it could be that the Hard drive is dead (but you can check to see if its recognised in the BIOS) or when the PSU went your operating system got corrupted in such a way it wont load, if this is the case then a reinstal of the OS may work.

I wouldnt advise returning everything as they will test the items and if found to be working they will return them to you and charge you for their time in testing them.
 
UPDATE:

I put in another hard-drive, and instead of saying disk boot failure, it moves on to the next screen. After a few seconds a blue screen pops up. It's so fast I couldn't read any of it or pause break it. I tried several times, it just keeps restarting over and over.
 
The reason why it is blue screening then restarting now is more than likely that the new hard drive has an install of windows on it which was used in a computer with differant specs which windows xp does not like.
 
TurnipHead said:
UPDATE:

I put in another hard-drive, and instead of saying disk boot failure, it moves on to the next screen. After a few seconds a blue screen pops up. It's so fast I couldn't read any of it or pause break it. I tried several times, it just keeps restarting over and over.
Click to expand...

First off please list all your specs exactly (makes, models, amounts etc). At the moment you're being very general meaning we can't be specific in our responses.

Have you put a fresh installation of XP on the other HDD you've tested? If you're using an existing installation from another PC then it will fail as it won't be configured correctly.

I'm not 100% clear, is your old PSU actually dead? You say something about it working after it heats up?

It could be that your CMOS has been wiped and the default settings (e.g. boot order) aren't correct for your current setup. This would also explain why not all the fans speed up straight away (by default the speed of the fan may be dictated by temperature).

TurnipHead said:
Hmm...

So, put it in the working computer... re-install windows xp, do nothing to it. Take out hard-drive and put it back in the broken PC?
Click to expand...

No, do it from your "broken" PC.
 
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Oh i think i understandnow what you mean, Do you mean you tried the hard drive from the faulty computer in a working computer and the hard drive worked fine?

If so all this means is the hard drive is working but it won't boot into windows on that machine, If you want the data from it then slave it on the working computer.
 
I'm just reading these off all the boxes:

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+ Socket 939 - I think it's 2.0ghz

GFX Card
PCI Express - GeForce 7600 GT OC BFG 256MB

Mobo
Asus A8N-E Socket 939 Nvidia NForce 4 Ultra Motherboard

Memory
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit

HDD
Western Digital Caviar RE 160GB 1600YS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM

Case and PSU
Antec SLK3800BUK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case - 400W SmartPower PSU


Story
I had the above computer for a year, I went down to have my dinner, I had been playing counterstrike online for a while. I left the computer running (like I usually do) while I had my dinner, 20-30 mins maybe. I came back up and the room smelt of the smoke and the computer was off.

I looked inside (with a torch) the powersupply and could see some er, goop? I sent it back along with the case, and when it was returned I started it up, to find that only one fan was working. Now my brother says that their was only one fan running anyway when I first put it together, but I don't remember, and then 'DISK BOOT FAILURE'. About a week before this explosion - I had actually wiped the hard-drive and started over. Erm, anything else?

Oh i think i understandnow what you mean, Do you mean you tried the hard drive from the faulty computer in a working computer and the hard drive worked fine?
Click to expand...
No, my broken computer has a SATA harddirve, working one has a IDE.
 
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I'd be inclined to just reinstall XP on the offending HD and run tests on it. If it comes back clean then great, if not then it's time for a new HD.

Don't know why you'd want to send the lot back though, it's not like you'll get a refund.
 
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