off topic computer question

[tbushnel]

My desktop computer was working fine yesterday, and now today it won't even turn on. Power connected and all that. I happen to download several trial programs to record streaming audio and video which I played with some yesterday. I got to thinking that perhaps I have a virus or something.

Anyone know if a virus could cause your computer to not even turn on? Forgive my ignorance, and no flames please.
Cheers,
Ted. :banana:

[Proxy]

don't think it's a virus - when you say it will not turn on, do you mean its dead, no beeps or anything on the screen or anything? you did not say the brand, but if it a dell on the back there is a series of 4 diag led's and depending of there formation and color it could steer you towards the issue, of course if you cannot surf you can't find the instructions to help you - you could also just call dell. you might want to start with another power cord and disconnect any usb device.

[tbushnel]

Yeah, its dead. It is a Dell (8200, kinda gettin old) but I don't see that there aer any LEDs on the back. I opened it up for the fun of it and when I plug it in there is a faint "power" noise and a small green LED that lights up.

everything is disconnected except the power cord, but still dead. I have my laptop so I can do some surfing. I suppose I could try the Dell site. Any other site suggestions?
Cheers,
Ted.

[CNY rider]

Not sure if you can do this on a PC, but in terms of salvaging your hard drive, with Macs you can connect the desktop to the laptop, then power up the desktop and if the HD is alive it will appear as a drive on the functioning computer.

[weiwentg]

My desktop computer was working fine yesterday, and now today it won't even turn on. Power connected and all that. I happen to download several trial programs to record streaming audio and video which I played with some yesterday. I got to thinking that perhaps I have a virus or something.

Anyone know if a virus could cause your computer to not even turn on? Forgive my ignorance, and no flames please.
Cheers,
Ted. :banana:

wow ... sounds bad. some viruses can do hardware damage, but most will not. if you got those programs from download.com or some other established site, that shouldn't be the problem. it's possible something critical just died of old age.

if there's a light on the mainboard, your power supply is probably not dead. your best bet is to call Dell, which you didn't need the peanut gallery to tell you. you could also make sure your RAM is seated properly in the slots, make sure no capacitors are blown, make sure all the cables are connected - there should be a cable from the power supply to the mainboard, but you did say there was a light on the mainboard.

should worse come to worst, you can simply get a new computer, pull the hard drive from the old one, and plug it in to the new one. you could get an external drive bay (not too expensive) or just use the free hard drive connector on the new one (free). you could pay a local computer store to transfer your data as well.

[Grant McLean]

My boss's Dell dropped dead like that, it was the powersupply.
No warning or other symptoms, just wouldn't turn on one day.
With a new one installed, everything was peachy.
Call Dell.

-G

[rePhil]

My son just had one do the same thing. It was the Power Supply.

My computer is dying a slow death. I am having one built locally and I hope this one lasts until then.It sometimes won't boot up. I have run Spybot and adaware.It seems to be clean. I am the only user so I know where it's been.I have shut the power off, and rebooted and I am up and running.
To top it off my internet connection was very intermittant. With my computer issues I wondered if it was my card or the modem or comcast. It seems fine now, but last night and early this morn I was outtta service. The joy of computers.

Does everyone shut theirs down at the end of the day or let em run?

[weiwentg]

My boss's Dell dropped dead like that, it was the powersupply.
No warning or other symptoms, just wouldn't turn on one day.
With a new one installed, everything was peachy.
Call Dell.

-G

well, power supplies aren't expensive, so tbushnell could try getting a new one and plugging it in. should be pretty easy.

[ergott]

A power supply is about $65-70 for an Antec. I just rebuilt my computer and ended going with them. They are high quality. I ended up getting a new case because it was only $15 more The swap is a little involved so if you are weary about cracking open the computer, you might want to take it to a Best Buy or similar. I don't know what their labor prices are. My new case is nice because all of the drives are behind a door for a clean look and my son can't get to the power switch! The only thing in the front is two USB ports which is nice if you hate digging into the back of the computer for plug in your camera and such.

[tbushnel]

I actually bought this computer from their "refurbished" site 3 years ago and didn't spend any money on the parts & repair coverage. I figured I would use it until it just quit working. I ended up going to the Dell website and they have this neat chat room with repair people that is free. You wait in line and when your turn is up, you have a one-on-one chat with a repair person. They talked me through a diagnostic work-up and we determined that the LAN card was bad. As soon as I pulled it out, it turned on. Should be a $20 fix (knock on wood),

Thanks for all the advice. I actually wasn't thinking about going to the Dell site until it was mentioned here. I guess I tend to be rather pessimistic about computers and their repair. This has been an empowering experience (sort of).

Happy weekend all.
Cheers,
Ted,