Help: Computer wont turn on!

[NateDizzle]

well i just bought a emachines refurbished computer system, booted it up a couple times, checked out the harddrive, everything seemed fine
i went to start the computer up again a few hours later, and it wont turn on at all
i press the on button and nothing, no sounds of anything booting, no lights, no nothing

could it be the power supply just went?
or did the harddrive just go?
or did the motherboard get fried some how?
or maybe the processor died, or the ram went bad

lol could be a number of things but im not computer geek i dont know much about this stuff

it just wont turn on at all. checked the powerbars, connections, everything

just wont turn on

[chupacabra]

Are you sure the cable is still connected? Try a different power jack.
Maybe it's a short circuit. If you put it together yourself it could be a bolt or something.

Since you say that nothing happens when you press the power button. It can't be your hard drive, processor or RAM. It's something on a lower level.

[Video Head]

Does the power supply have a switch on the back of the computer? Try a different power cord and outlet. If it does absolutely nothing you are not getting power.

[NateDizzle]

i will try a different power cable, i tried diff outlets and that didnt solve anything
if its a short circut is that bad? does that mean the whole thing is fried?

can i just swap in a new power supply if that is the problem?

[Nelson37]

A refurbished E-machine? And your not technical? What, you just enjoy pain?

E-machines are cheap crap. You bought somebody else's cheap crap that was already broken once. No surprise it broke again.

Most likely power supply. The fun part now is that virtually no standard power supplies fit in the friggin case, at least for most models. They are too large.

Remove the old PS. Try to match it at your local supplier.

Don't spend a lot on repairing the POS, it's not worth much. Get someone who knows what they are doing or you could cause yourself more loss.

[NateDizzle]

i just got it for my other house for msn and the internet, and mp3s and digial photos
thats it..

i have some PS's laying around
can i try one of those

are u sure that is the problem?
how can a power supply just Go like that?

[powerpc123]

Sounds like your power supply went kaput, mine (el'cheapo model 2792) did the same a while back. standard P4 power supply. $15 and 15 minutes later all was well.

[Video Head]

If you have spare PS's laying around then try the swap, it will probably solve the problem. That's how power supplies go...you don't know there is anything wrong until you try to boot the system. Sometimes they start having voltage problems on a rail and start to drop the 12V or 5V. Yours sounds like it blew the main link, may be an indication of something else amiss in the case.

[NateDizzle]

well i guess ill check my other PS's layin around and swap one in..
i hope thats the only problem....

really what else could it be??
it was running good 1 minute. next minute i turned it off, came back, tried to turn it back on and nothing...

it was running fine, booted up fine b4 hand, didnt notice anything wrong with the power at all...

[chupacabra]

Could it be that you hustled it a bit while turning it off. Than a loose bolt moved somewhere else in the case and causes a short circuit. Good fairy tale, isn't it? But that happened to me once.

Try to shake the case and check if there is anything moving around like a loose bolt. If so remove those things. If not try with a new power supply.

[Nelson37]

Wondering how it happened is a complete waste of time, and without an electron microscope you would most likely never know, anyway.

What else could it be? How much time you got?

No indication of power. Replace power supply first. If that doesn't fix it, there are two possibilities. 1. Power supply is OK and something else is broke, or 2. The power supply AND something else is broke.

While I have never seen a bolt in a PC, there are lots of screws. On a refurb, this is a legitimate possibility, rotate the case and listen for rattles is a good way to find one.

Not "bolt", but screw. Not "hustled", but jostled, or bumped.

I couldn't come anywhere near that close in Hungarian.

[Video Head]

While you've got the case cover off to install the PS have a look around...does the ram and any expansion cards look like they are properly seated? Are the fans plugged in? Are there loose wires dangling everywhere? Does the motherboard have proper and a sufficient number of standoffs...does it look like the bottom of the motherboard could be touching the case? Most of those problems would still allow the machine to start a post and give you beeps. The motherboard touching the case can cause a short that renders the system dead...if you just purchased the machine you may be able to get it replaced or repaired where you bought it.

[Heywould3]

if it just died. it could have3 over heated. the psu could have over heated and blew. when computers go they just go. some will be fine and next time wont turn on. some will be working sitting idle and will just turn off. dont bother worrying about why it happend.. there is notthing you could have done to prevent it. just trouble shoot it.. before you get into buying lots of stuff.. if the power supply you have laying around works then great. but if not. get a tester from a computer store or bb or cc or what ever. if pushing the button does absolutly nothing then its one of two things. either the power supply. or the mobo. PS easy mobo SOL.