I just done something daft

Scott Salisbury · 1 Jun 2006 at 19:08

I'm busy fixing 3 machines at the same time and I needed to swap a CD drive in my brand new system. I power down the machine that I want to swap the drive and remove the old drive. I then, for some unknown reason power the machine up (with no drive).

I go away for 10 mins and I come back and begin plugging in the IDE and the power cables, but hold on... nope it's too late... I've already plugged the cables in (while the PC was on) and I just clean forgot, whoops.

I didn't notice the fans spinning because the system is pushed in the corner as the wires are tight so I just squashed my arm in and because I've got other machines running I didn't hear it on (it runs quiet anyways).

When I half-plugged in the power cable, the whole system juddered for a second as if I just turned the power off but windows was still on and it seems ok.

I just want to know if I could have damaged anything (the mobo or the power etc) by accidently attempting to plug in hardware while the PC is still on. I am planning on leaving this PC on 24/7 as a download box and I don't like the thought of the power supply packing in because I've been an idiot.

Has anyone done this before? Does it cause any damage?

Thanks in advance,
Scott.

Global_Inferno · 1 Jun 2006 at 19:11

More likely you've done the IDE devices damage than anything (did you plug in any HDD's?? :eek:

) The PSU should be fine.. as it's just like plugging in a SATA drive wen running..

Scott Salisbury · 1 Jun 2006 at 19:16

Ah right, there are just 2 SATA hard drives plugged in at the time I done it. The only IDE device is the one I was plugging in, and it appears to be working ok. Its a brand new and not too cheap DVDRW Combo, so I hope it still copies stuff :rolleyes:

Nix · 1 Jun 2006 at 19:19

Scott Salisbury said:
Ah right, there are just 2 SATA hard drives plugged in at the time I done it. The only IDE device is the one I was plugging in, and it appears to be working ok. Its a brand new and not too cheap DVDRW Combo, so I hope it still copies stuff

Hopefully you wont have damaged anything then. Just keep a close eye on it.

trojan698 · 1 Jun 2006 at 19:22

Test it and see.

poltergeist666 · 2 Jun 2006 at 04:27

Good thing is - you didn't electrocute yourself!!!

kmistry · 2 Jun 2006 at 08:55

Lol, good point, but just test everything to make sure!

hp7909 · 2 Jun 2006 at 09:03

poltergeist666 said:
Good thing is - you didn't electrocute yourself!!!

Also, CHKDSK /F (or /R - takes awhile though) the HD. Could have left some errors hopefully nothing permanent

The $6m Dan · 2 Jun 2006 at 09:24

I made the same mistake a few years ago with a hard drive. The nice blue spark reminded me that I'd not powered down. I lost both hard drives

Scott Salisbury · 3 Jun 2006 at 00:43

The $6m Dan said:
I made the same mistake a few years ago with a hard drive. The nice blue spark reminded me that I'd not powered down. I lost both hard drives

Aww

that sucks.

Yeah I didn't see any sparks, nor electricute myself. pretty lucky I think. I'm surprised the PC even stayed on and didn't restart or crash.

I'll do some tests on it later.

poltergeist666 · 3 Jun 2006 at 14:53

The $6m Dan said:
I made the same mistake a few years ago with a hard drive. The nice blue spark reminded me that I'd not powered down. I lost both hard drives

Perhaps you were the inspiration for all the blue case neons that peeps mod up with .....

MuSsEr · 3 Jun 2006 at 15:08

speaking of sparks....ever rammed a screwdriver into the back of a power supply coz the fan was being noisy? I did, one HELL of a big spark out the back of that, thort I was gona electrocute myself or sumin, lol

poltergeist666 · 3 Jun 2006 at 15:27

MuSsEr said:
speaking of sparks....ever rammed a screwdriver into the back of a power supply coz the fan was being noisy? I did, one HELL of a big spark out the back of that, thort I was gona electrocute myself or sumin, lol

Darwin awards spring to mind visualising this ......

kona ryan · 3 Jun 2006 at 16:29

poltergeist666 said:
Good thing is - you didn't electrocute yourself!!!

what would have he electrocuted himself on? you didnt have the psu apart aswell did you?

MuSsEr · 3 Jun 2006 at 17:06

nope but it was plugged in and the comp was turned on....fortunately the rubber handle of the screwdriver insulated me from the huge spark which shot out the back

kona ryan · 3 Jun 2006 at 17:17

wasnt talking about you squire, you appeared after the comment in question was made.

MuSsEr · 3 Jun 2006 at 17:24

ah ye i see, lol n/m

poltergeist666 · 3 Jun 2006 at 18:49

kona ryan said:
what would have he electrocuted himself on? you didnt have the psu apart aswell did you?

So its good practice to go delving into a PC when it's all powered up is it?

You wanna test your electrical immunity - be my guest! :rolleyes:

ob1 · 4 Jun 2006 at 01:55

If the psu is good it should be fine. I had a molex lose on a hdd earlier, pretty sure it was powering on and off a couple times before I noticed, no problem with it

locutus12 · 4 Jun 2006 at 02:18

Scott Salisbury said:
I'm busy fixing 3 machines at the same time and I needed to swap a CD drive in my brand new system. I power down the machine that I want to swap the drive and remove the old drive. I then, for some unknown reason power the machine up (with no drive).

I go away for 10 mins and I come back and begin plugging in the IDE and the power cables, but hold on... nope it's too late... I've already plugged the cables in (while the PC was on) and I just clean forgot, whoops.

I didn't notice the fans spinning because the system is pushed in the corner as the wires are tight so I just squashed my arm in and because I've got other machines running I didn't hear it on (it runs quiet anyways).

When I half-plugged in the power cable, the whole system juddered for a second as if I just turned the power off but windows was still on and it seems ok.

I just want to know if I could have damaged anything (the mobo or the power etc) by accidently attempting to plug in hardware while the PC is still on. I am planning on leaving this PC on 24/7 as a download box and I don't like the thought of the power supply packing in because I've been an idiot.

Has anyone done this before? Does it cause any damage?

Thanks in advance,
Scott.

Ten years of building pc`s, ive done this myself a couple of times... just keep building it, run it for 24 hours and use it as best you can but i would be willing to put money on it being fine. there pretty tough

hell i had a faulty hard drive once and the only thing i could do to wake it up was unplug its power and plug it back in while the system was live lol, never had a problem with the system over all

(although i really dont advise that method...)