Apologies if this is a real novice question but...I was using my PC last night when there was a clcick and the system turned itself off, never to return again. When I attempt to turn it back on the following things occur: a) the fan sounds a bit odd, b)the system does not boot at all (no usual clicking and grinding noises from within,) c) no beep comes from the computer, d) the green 'on' light is lit and the red 'processing light' (sorry for the non-technical language!) is lit and remains lit, e) the monitor is receiving power but only in a kind of 'standby' mode. Any suggestions at what I am looking at here?

Stephen,

We'll see what older and wiser heads think, but it sounds to me like your power supply has failed, particularly if by "the fan" you mean the power supply fan at the back (as opposed to the CPU fan). How long have you had your computer? A few years? If so, that'll make a power supply failure more likely. Those are not too expensive and not very difficult to replace.

Geoff

Yup, sounds like the PS to me as well. It could be something else too; did you recently change any hardware in the machine by any chance?

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

Sorry, no hardware changed recently (hence the deserved novice title!)

Yeah, then it's probably the power supply. Have a look at what Charles has to say on the subject. You can follow the links to get the info that you need.
http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/comp/power_PSDead.htm

Aside from the generally amazing helpfulness and attention to detail that all of Charles' stuff has, I can vouch for this personally. Diagnosed and swapped a dead power supply myself not two months ago with this bit of the website. It's a totally straightforward operation. I completely suck at DIY and I had no problems. But, being an ex-novice myself, I can understand if you'd want to have a shop do it. The PSU itself shouldn't be more than about 25-30 quid, and then whatever charge they have to install it for you.

Geoff

Thanks very much for both of the replies to this - I guess I know how I'll be spening Saturday morning now!

Whatever the outcome, I owe you both a (virtual) beer!

Stephen

Just a final update to this one - a friend came over and looked at the PC over the weekend and the problem was this - both the power supply and the hard drive had gone (we presume the power supply failure caused the catastrophic failure of the hard drive).

So, it became the ideal opportunity for me to loose me PC virginity and get stuck into replacing the hard drive and all that that entails.

Once again, however, many thanks for all the help from this forum.