Dead System?

Well, I guess I'll just jump right in with my problem...

During a storm, the electricity in my building went out for a few seconds and my computer shut off. I didn't think much of it, it turned back on afterward...but later I left the room with the computer on, and when I came back it was shut off again. I tried to turn it on, and it didn't do anything. When I turned off the switch on the power strip and turned it back on, and the LED on the front of the tower lit up and the fans turned on--but only for about two seconds, then everything shut down. It still does this.

Sometimes I try to turn it on and it works as if nothing is wrong. Other times I try to turn it on and it does nothing. A friend of mine said it could be the power supply...is this possible, and if not what could the problem be?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

I would concur with the Power Supply issue. They are fairly inexpensive and relatively easy to replace.

Did you replace the power strip? Do you have the same problem plugged directly into the main?

You could also try to reset the CMOS by temporarily removing the motherboard battery and resetting the JBAT jumpers (if necessary).

Please ask if you need more info on this procedure.

Thank you for the quick reply.

I haven't tried plugging it directly to the outlet, I'll go do that now.

And I do need more info...what's the CMOS, which thing is the motherboard battery, and where are the JBAT jumpers?

Thanks for all your help!

Just tried plugging it into the wall, same problem...

The next step would be opening up the case. If you are not comfortable in doing this than a repair shop is probably your best option.

If you want to try yourself either your manual or an online guide should show you how to open it if it is not obvious.

Most manufacturers have manuals online at their web sites.

In opening the case the most important factor is preventing static electricity as seen here:

ESD - What can I do to avoid damage

Once open you will see a disk battery like a watch or camera battery. Remove this. Look in the same vicinity for a 3 pin jumper block that will probably be labeled JBAT.

If it is there there should be a plastic sleeve covering pins 1&2. Switch this to pins 2&3 and wait a few minutes. Then return the jumper to 1&2 and replace the battery and try to reboot.

This will clear all the motherboard settings. You will need to reset the Time etc. if all goes well.

Question: doing this isn't going to do something crazy like wipe out my memory or anything, is it?

Call me paranoid, but I've got a lot of music, etc. saved that I don't want to lose.

What I suggested will have no affect on your hard drive.

Your hard drive is not even being accessed at this point.

In a worse case scenario you can move this hard drive to another computer to access your data.

The CMOS is just a possibility here. You might well have to replace your Power Supply Unit but again this is not affecting your hard drive and or data.

If you do get one of those windows where Windows boots you might want to backup your important data on the hard drive as you should anyway.

Copy to CD or another drive.

Okay, I'll try it tonight and report back tomorrow. Thanks a mil for all your help!

hi your problem could be the motherboard or the power supply

well it could be the motherboard or the power supply