Fried PC?

[Wazeek]

After plenty of PC lock ups in games, I noticed that my fan wasn't working again. probably causing overheating, then lock up. I've had problems with that fan stopping before, and usually just took a little fooling with it to make it go again.

Well, I did the same as I have before, as stupid as it may sound.. I used a small screwdriver, to try to get the fan going again while the PC was on, while being careful to only touch the plastic fan. Then.. a spark and PC shut off. Yet, It didn't shock me, so it wasnt anything I was touching with the screwdriver. Tried to turn PC back on, no luck. Turned power supply off then on, no luck. unplugged it, replugged it, nada.

So, I took it apart. And pulled a power supply out of my other PC, and put it in. Hooked it up, made sure everything was as it was before. Tried to power it up, nothing...

The question is this.. What's destroyed? motherboard? case/power switch? Everything?

[This message has been edited by Wazeek (edited 08-18-2001).]

[danleff]

Hi;

Not to be funny, but, as you may have guessed, a spark is not good. It is not a good idea to stick anything into a system when it is running, at least, not anything metal. As you guessed, the problem could be multiple now.

If you are comfortable with working in PC's, it's time to troubleshoot.

Using another power supply is a good idea, if it is capable of running the system you are trying to run.

If you get no signs of life with either power supply, it could be that the board is gone.

Also, if you were having freeze-ups and noted that the fan was not running, you could have overheated the system and fried the processor.

How old is the system? If it is 4-5 years old, it may be time to think new system. Post some system information and we can go from there.

If you are comfortable with working on the system, expect that you may need a new motherboard AND replace that fan/heatsink right away. Do not use that fan again. If you are lucky, the processor is OK and you can salvage some system components. Of course, this assumes that you will want to keep the same config. of processor etc...

Let us know what you think, if you have experience with working in PC's at all and what your pocketbook will allow!

[Wazeek]

I plugged in another power supply, and it didn't boot, or even beep. im going to go out and buy a new MB+Cpu, Power Supply, and Case (just to make it easier).

I plugged in my hard drive to my other computer, and that seems to have everything on it, and not harmed. Didn't have enough time to test my video card/sound card/dvd rom/etc individually.

What are is the possibility that when my MB fried, that it would in turn destroy all the components (vid card, sound, etc)?

[danleff]

Hi;

Live and learn, as I did. It is all in the process. If you are lucky, your other hardware should be OK. At the very least, you will have the partial components to start to build another back-up machine and fiddle around.

Just remember, if you are going to install your own components, ground yourself against static and mount that board with the plastic stand-offs!

Hopefully, the new system will start with your current hard drive configuration. As you said, the hard drive worked in another machine - back up that important data, just in case!

Good luck and let us know how you make out on this post!