Lookin for ideas folks!

My 'old' machine decided to switch itself off at some point over night (it's normally on 24/7, and all it does is fold)

Went to switch it back on, and nothing!

I've checked the plug etc and that's ok

I've made sure it is plugged in!

I've made sure the on/off switch is on on the back of the case

Can't really think what else it could be, unless the PSU has died.... before I go and buy a new one, could it be something else??

:confused:

sounds like psu to me. might be worth getting a 400 or 500w one (assuming you had a 350 or similar in it before?)

yeah think the original is a 350.... might get an uprated one, put it in THIS pc, and put the one outta here into the old pc..... as this is the one that gets more of a hammering, and the PSU in here is only 6 months old anyway.... !

Thanks Jason - just wanted someone to confirm my suspicions

Don't JUST take my word for it.... [allo allo] Whadda mistaka da maker! [/allo allo]

well, what I'm prolly gonna do is take the PSU outta this one and put it in the other one first, see if it makes a difference.... and if it does, then I know!

Was just lookin for opinion first tho before I start takin PCs to pieces....

folding's gone down the pan :(

well' date=' what I'm prolly gonna do is take the PSU outta this one and put it in the other one first, see if it makes a difference.... and if it does, then I know!

Was just lookin for opinion first tho before I start takin PCs to pieces....

folding's gone down the pan :([/quote']

I would say definite PSU failure there. As you have another psu its well worth plugging that one into it and seeing what happens. Keep your fingers crossed that it wasnt an electrical spike thats taken out other parts of the machine too.

I will keep mine crossed for you too.

Yup PSU failure.

Sounds like the PSU alright. But open the case and take a look at the motherboard. Most motherboards have a little LED on them telling you that there's power going into it - See if its there, then you'll know whether its the PSU or not.

A quick check could be done on the cable, quite rare for them to go but swap the monitor and tower power cables, should highlight if you have either a cable or even a wall socket problem quite quickly. Used to be first port of call when I did tech support as its such a quick and easy check.

yup, tried swappin cables over - no change

the thing that made me think that it was the psu is the fact that there is no light on the motherboard... and there usually is.... thank heavens for clear panels in the case that allow me to see these things

anyway - Dunk's been up in the loft and found an old PSU.... gonna try that (even tho it's only a 230W one :eek: ) and see if it helps... at least if it doesn't then this PC will still be usable so I can come back looking for other ideas

Cheers for your help so far chaps!!

ok, it's deffo the psu..... so I'm going to replace it, prolly with a 500W one or better!

can anyone recommend any good makes - looking to spend no more than 50-60 quid, and preferably one I'll be able to find somewhere near Warrington on a Sunday?

I'd use Ebuyer myself, if you can wait a coiuple of days.

ok' date=' it's deffo the psu..... so I'm going to replace it, prolly with a 500W one or better!

can anyone recommend any good makes - looking to spend no more than 50-60 quid, and preferably one I'll be able to find somewhere near Warrington on a Sunday? [/quote']

Microdirect and aria are both open on a sunday.. bit of a trek but hey ho..

Enermax, tagan, silverstone are good makes..

ive got a enermax liberty 600w for around 65quid which is powering my big-rig

It's not the MAX power that matters in the case of PSUs. Get a branded one like say Antec, Enermax to name but a few.

I've used several other brands too but avoid the no-namer ones, as they tend to be 500W (peak, peak) with a 250W max continuous use at 25 degrees max temp. Guess what - the temp tends to be higher than that and the power is even lower then :eek:

I tend to spend at least 50 quid on a good PSU, especially if it's driving an expensive CPU/board/HDD combo. A bad PSU can kill all that in seconds, and I've had that happen twice now so that's why I spend the extra.

Hmm buying it on a Sunday - depends if there are any PCWorlds etc, they may sell one if you're lucky?

PCWorld have a 500w one for £49.99, or buy online with collect at store option and its cheaper at £43.99

Microdirect and aria are both open on a sunday.. bit of a trek but hey ho..

Enermax' date=' tagan, silverstone are good makes..

ive got a enermax liberty 600w for around 65quid which is powering my big-rig [/quote']

Seconded. I have an enermax liberty too. Lovely things. Well worth buying. Never buy a cheap *** psu.

tagan and silverstone are also good.

PCWorld have a 500w one for

I have just had my first major PC failure in 19 years of PC ownership. My 17 month old Evesham powered down of its own accord while I was using it. When I tried to restart it I had a flashing light next to the power button, the PSU fan was working, and the CPU and motherboard fans were starting then stopping, ie clicking around rather than spinning. I spent 15 minutes on the phone with Evesham Support trying a variety things to diagnose what was wrong but without success. The PC is being picked up on Tuesday for return to Evesham and I can expect to be without it for 7 - 10 working days. :(

Possible causes include PSU, memory, motherboard and CPU!

the PC world one is by Jeantech.... whoever they are

had a look and decided to 'just' get a 400w one from PCWorld for the old pc - doesn't get used for anything but folding!

In a few weeks time, I'll be getting a new psu for the pc I'm on now - even tho I don't NEED it - and I'll be going for a better, branded one....

Oh - and we worked out why the old psu fried itself - the fan had jammed :eek: Hoping not to get the same problem again - Nice thing is, the new one's got 2 fans on it!!

well, we've got the new PSU installed... and the PC now switches on

only problem - I think it's fried something else too! won't boot up... says it's missing hal.dll

Looks like I'm re-installing Windows cos it won't let me do anything :( Means I'm gonna lose a big WU it was folding for me - was due to finish today, PC had been working on it for over a week!

well' date=' we've got the new PSU installed... and the PC now switches on

only problem - I think it's fried something else too! won't boot up... says it's missing hal.dll

Looks like I'm re-installing Windows cos it won't let me do anything :( Means I'm gonna lose a big WU it was folding for me - was due to finish today, PC had been working on it for over a week! [/quote']

Do you Dual Boot? I've heard of that error on dual boot machines. A re-install of xp is usually required although you can modify the boot.ini file to correct it in some cases. Obviously in your case you would need to put the hard drive into another machine just to access the boot.ini file.

it's not a dual boot machine.... never needed to, all it's got on it is XP, Norton and Folding!

Re-installed XP now..... had to wipe the hard disk cos it wouldn't even let me do a repair!

Oh well, back to 0% on the folding......

Caz, try this.

You will need a copy of XP Home or Pro, a bootable version and most likely not any manufacturer recovery disk.

1) Boot off the CD as if you are going to install XP,

2) when prompted if you want to repair an existing install press R to repair using the recovery console.

3) when prompted for the windows install to repair enter 1 and press return.

4) if required enter the administrator account password (most likely just press return)

5) at the c:\windows prompt enter CHKDSK. If this says that the volume appears to be clean, ignore it and enter the command displayed to carry out chkdsk anyway.

6) hopefully you will see some messages like "performing additional checks or recovery"

7) type exit return

8) remove CD as pc restarts, XP should now load.