Another Computer Death Thread

[Akhlut]

So, last night, I was playing Crusader Kings and had Firefox running (needed to keep some windows open for my wife who is taking online classes) and everything was going fine. My mom dropped by for a while, so we hung out with her, then I went to bed and my wife attempted to use the computer, but, in the intervening time period, the computer had shut itself off and simply will not restart. There are no burnt smells coming from it or anything, but it just simply won't turn on.

The computer's motherboard died about 9 months ago and was replaced, but it has been working fine ever since it was replaced. The main problems I can think of are that the computer was left shut off for a good number of months and then was turned on and left on for long periods of time.

So, what are possible culprits? I'm hoping it is just the power supply, but what is the likelihood of it being something more integral to the computer?

[generator_g1]

Do you here any beeping sounds when you restart the PC? There are BIOS beep codes that can give you an indication on what's the problem.

http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml

[Akhlut]

I press on the power button and nothing happens. The computer just lies there, inert. The fans don't kick on, the LED power button remains unlit, etc. It's as if I don't have it plugged in (and, yes, it is plugged in).

[generator_g1]

Do you know how to take apart the casing? If you do, you can check the power cables running off the PSU if any of them are loose or damaged. You can check also if there are any problems with the power button itself (loose wires, maybe?)

[Akhlut]

That'll have to wait until I get off work. I was going to try and swap power supplies with my mom's computer to see if that fixed things. I don't think it's loose wires, though, as the computer's on the floor so nothing should have jostled anything loose.

[Ryan Thunder]

There may be a switch on the back that cuts off the power. I haven't seen them on newer computers, though.

[Akhlut]

It's an older computer; it's an eMachine I got back in late 2004.

The thing's been surprisingly hearty prior to this, though. Went on for four years with only the occasional freakout due to software and the only hardware issue was the motherboard finally crapping out last year.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Do you have a spare power supply? Maybe that gave out.

[Akhlut]

Sadly, no; I'll have to swap it with my mom's, see if it works, and if it does, go to Best Buy and shell out my hard earned cash for one.

[Xon]

A UPS can greatly help the longevity of your computer, as can swapping out and binning any harddrives which are reporting bad sectors.

[Jaepheth]

It's an E-Machines.

Your PSU is likely dead and you'd better pray it didn't take the motherboard with it.

I've had multiple E-machines come in with this problem; usually right after an electrical storm. The stock PSUs are crap.

[Sea Skimmer]

There may be a switch on the back that cuts off the power. I haven't seen them on newer computers, though.

That’s because almost all computers you can buy from a major company have the cheapest possible power supply, good power supplies still have that switch, which is actually kind of important because turning it off discharges the all those big capacitors inside the PSU. Today manufactures just figure everything should be okay if that isn’t done, but they also deliberately engineer the computers for about a three year lifespan.

[Ma Deuce]

That’s because almost all computers you can buy from a major company have the cheapest possible power supply, good power supplies still have that switch, which is actually kind of important because turning it off discharges the all those big capacitors inside the PSU. Today manufactures just figure everything should be okay if that isn’t done, but they also deliberately engineer the computers for about a three year lifespan.

I remember my previous hard drive had the bad habit of somehow switching the computer back on after I shut down Windows, so I pretty much had to flip that switch off immediately after the computer powered down if I wanted it to stay off. I know it was the hard drive and not the OS or the PSU, because the problem persisted after I nuked that drive when I upgraded to XP, and it continued to persist after I replaced the computer's original PSU when it suddenly burned out (very lucky it didn't damage any other hardware in it's death throes). However, after upgrading to a bigger hard drive when a bout of the Conficker worm forced me to euthanize my initial install of XP, the problem immediately went away.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I remember my previous hard drive had the bad habit of somehow switching the computer back on after I shut down Windows, so I pretty much had to flip that switch off immediately after the computer powered down if I wanted it to stay off. I know it was the hard drive and not the OS or the PSU, because the problem persisted after I nuked that drive when I upgraded to XP, and it continued to persist after I replaced the computer's original PSU when it suddenly burned out (very lucky it didn't damage any other hardware in it's death throes). However, after upgrading to a bigger hard drive when a bout of the Conficker worm forced me to euthanize my initial install of XP, the problem immediately went away.

That's.. a rather unusual problem. How is it that the hard drive can send signals to the motherboard to switch on the computer?

[The Yosemite Bear]

It's an E-Machines.

Your PSU is likely dead and you'd better pray it didn't take the motherboard with it.

I've had multiple E-machines come in with this problem; usually right after an electrical storm. The stock PSUs are crap.

yeah, as a former E-machines owner, it's the powersupply, and most likely the motherboard as well.

[charlemagne]

That’s because almost all computers you can buy from a major company have the cheapest possible power supply, good power supplies still have that switch, which is actually kind of important because turning it off discharges the all those big capacitors inside the PSU. Today manufactures just figure everything should be okay if that isn’t done, but they also deliberately engineer the computers for about a three year lifespan.

Yeah, this is also quite annoying because at least with my PSU, devices like my USB wifi stick still have power after the computer presumeably powered down (I know this because it continues to emit a green glow). That's why my computer is plugged into a multiple socket outlet with an off switch so I can shut it all down properly, which IMO saves some energy and also should be better for lifespans.

[Akhlut]

yeah, as a former E-machines owner, it's the powersupply, and most likely the motherboard as well.

I have a 'new' motherboard in it that's only been in there since May, so, hopefully, that is still functional.

And, after talking with my brother, he suspects the power supply to be it, though it might also be the motherboard.

[Tolya]

That's.. a rather unusual problem. How is it that the hard drive can send signals to the motherboard to switch on the computer?

I've never heard of anything like it but I guess it is possible. After all, when you turn off your computer it doesn't power down everything, it goes to the soft off state (also called G2) and keeps some parts powered so it can wake up to some specific signal. For example you can set your computer to power up by pressing a set sequence of keys on the keyboard (very cool thing). It can also be woken up by the internal clock (powered by an MB internal battery) or a modem (there is even a possibility to set up a remote Wake-on-LAN so your computer boots up after receiving a signal from the network).

I don't know which part of the HDD would remain powered and generate a wake signal to turn on the computer.

[The Yosemite Bear]

no the Emachines power supplies are notorius for killing the MOBO everytime they die. It's like they have a scuicide switch on them.