sound like power supply

[reed1117]

moved my pc from upstairs to down, now when i plug the power cord in it just starts up- the on-off switch won't shut it off or turn it on- but also- i have no video output, no power to the keyboard and no power to the mouse when its running- any suggestions? power supply?

[reed1117]

it's a gateway, about a year old-pentium 4

[Budfred]

It sounds like you either have a short or a bad power source. Are you using a surge protector (or better yet, an Uninterruptible Power Supply)?? Try it in a different plug and see if it works. If still no joy, it may be a short and you will probably need to open the case to check for that. If the computer is under warranty, make sure that you don't void the warranty by opening it before you start. If you open it, look for any metal on metal connections. Try reating all power cables and try again. Let us know what you find....

And Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

[gwallen4]

Sounds like you jiggled something loose or shorted something in the move.

You're going to have to open 'er up and look around. Let us know what you see and also what your level of expertise is.

Is it still under warranty?

[reed1117]

Thanks for the advice guys i'm gonna check it shortly- my level of expitise ( for those who've asked) - done some basic troubleshooting and upgrades but not much more than that- also my 1 year warranty ran out on 8/19/03- do you think gateway would be flexible with this?

[Budfred]

I doubt they would, but I also doubt this is anything covered by the warranty. If the computer was working fine until you moved it, it is probably something about the move that messed it up. The reason I was concerned about the warranty is in case you have problems in the future, but if I is expired, open 'er up and see what you can find. It may be as simple as a loose cable....

[reed1117]

i opened up the case and re-made all power connections- my power supply has a test switch, and a green led next to it- anyone know what this is/means- the green light is on - also this is a 250w power supply, isn't this a bit small for a p4w

[gwallen4]

Good, you've checked the power connections. Now go through the case and reseat all the other cables - IDE, floppy, power to the motherboard. Take the memory stick(s) out and put the back in. Reseat all of the PCI cards, and try to jiggle the cpu (it should be solidly attached).

If you have a volt meter, you can check the output of your power supply. On the hard drive power cable red is 5 volts, yellow is 12 volts, black is ground.

While you are looking around in the case be on the lookout for loose wires and screws. If you shake the case a little something may come loose or fall out.

I think the green light means the PSU is connected to power. Don't know about test button. 250 watts is a little low but apparently it was big enough to do the job.

[Budfred]

The brand names tend to use the least power they can get by with, even if that means you are really limited for expansion and more prone to failure. It costs them less, so that is what you get.

You can probably check the power output in the BIOS even if you don't have a volt meter.