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The Electrical Company Destroyed My Computer...

S

Spades45

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 19, 2011
Messages
139
So we have this big power box thing in my front yard, and I woke up to find a huge crane in the street and some guys working on it. It turns out the power company was replacing that big box. I have no idea what the box is or does but I can take a picture of it. Anyway they cut the power out for about 4 hours with no warning by working on it today. The computer downstairs is left on/sleeping 24/7 and that’s the one I’m using right now, it’s working fine. However the one in my room was turned off (but still plugged into the surge protector and the outlet) and it doesn’t work. The surge protector shows no signs of being blown (the light is still on). I tried turning it on and the rear fan spins really slowly, and the LEDs in front are on but very dull and blinking instead of steady and super bright like normal. At least some of the major components of the computer (or their fans) are not turning on because what used to be a jet-loud PC is now super quiet. The monitor says no signal. There were no problems when I turned it off last night. I only power down the computer, I do not shut off the power supply switch in back. I have done that now and unplugged it to avoid further damage but I’m wondering what my next step should be. What kind of damage can I expect here and what sort of troubleshooting can I do? Just cutting off the power wouldn't do this, but if there was a surge wouldn't my surge protector show signs of being blown? I'm still unsure of what exactly happened but it was definitely because of what they were doing out there. The only other power supply I have to test it with is the one in this working computer, and I don’t want to cause even more damage. Oh yeah and I tried it in a different electrical socket and the same thing happened so it’s definitely not the outlet. The computer I am using now is this one, I’m not even sure if the power supply is strong enough for my computer.

edit: tried turning it on again, and it's dead as a doornail.

Basically, I don't know where to go from here. But I am now without a decent PC :(
 
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That big box sound like a junction box. We have something similar sitting behind our apartment, and it's where the main line from the street comes in.

The surge protector will protect you if a large enough spike hits, however it does nothing against dips in power (such as 'brownouts'). Looking at that Gateway you have, a 300w power supply strikes me as weak for a computer running an Athlon 64 4200+. This is pure speculation, but if the existing power supply was already flaky, it's entirely possible the cutting of the current could have caused it to fail. Mind you, this is without me being there to diagnose the issue.

Testing the system with a known good power supply is the first troubleshooting step I take with issues like yours and, as the Gateway's power supply is of questionable wattage to begin with, you'd likely want to replace it regardless. There's a good deal listed for on OCZ model in the HotDeals forum (http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1629867), or you could keep an eye out for a decent brand locally (such as Antec or Corsair). 450w should be more than enough, as I don't see a graphics card listed, or up to 600w or so if you plan on upgrading down the line. More wattage than you'll need, but it's better than not to have the wiggle room.
 
Post the specs of your desktop that is out of commission. Hopefully it's just a blown power supply. Blinking LEDs make me think your power supply is putting out variable voltages. I'm not sure if that would hurt the computer or not considering it won't power on, but I'm going to recommend against attempting to power on the computer with that original power supply until someone with more experience weighs in.

Once you post the specs of your desktop we'll have an idea of the power requirements of your system. You MIGHT be able to use the Gateway PSU to power on your system (possibly removing parts to lessen the power draw) but the more likely scenario involves you going to a Microcenter/Frys/Best Buy and purchasing a power supply for the purposes of testing the system (return policies are your friend here.) Alternatively you could try to borrow a friend's power supply.

I don't know if you'll be able to get the power company to pay for any of this as I don't know how you'd prove it was a result of their actions and not just a coincidence, but IANAL.
 
went to best buy and picked up a thermaltake 600w power supply

the computer POSTs but i get "disk boot failure insert system disk and press enter"

both hard drives are appearing in the BIOS

thanks for the help so far guys
 
Losing power shouldn't have killed the computer unless it was already on it's last leg. The power company wouldn't be at fault, as you could have tripped over the power cord or had a thunderstorm and the same thing would have happened. Hell, could have happened the next time you turned it off and back on.

And it sound like they were changing out a pad mounted transformer. . High voltage feeds in, and 120/240 then runs to the houses via underground cable.
 
remove floppys and CDs from drives.
Did you move the drive cables to a different port?
Move em back if so.

Many motherboards will not post unless they get a signal that the cpu fan is turning.
I am willing to bet that was the original problem.
Moving it around replacing the power supply freed it up enough to spin but it wont last long.
 
the computer POSTs but i get "disk boot failure insert system disk and press enter"

both hard drives are appearing in the BIOS
Click to expand...
Sounds like some kinda HD/OS failure.

Whatever it is, the power company repairs had nothing to do with it.

Your HDs being seen by the BIOS is a good sign but the OS drive is probably failing.

Go to the Manfgs site of your OS drive and get their DOS test disc program for your drive.

Download the program, burn the disc and test the drive.
 
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