My Computer Is Broken.. Please Advise....

[Liquidcool]

Hi, my pc seems to have broken... it wont even power on.. I have changed the 13amp fuse in tne power lead, but it wont start up at all??

I have opened up the the case to look inside, everything seems to be clipped tightly, I dont know anything about the insides of a PC.. its a Hewlett Packard Pavillion 7880.

I am now thinking of just binning it!! But how do I remove the hard drive before I throw it away? as I have loads of business accounts and files that are secure files. I want to keep that so it cant be reused. But where is it? I can only see the DVD drive and CD writer drive... (shall i keep those as well?)

Anyways... just after some helpful advice please, unless you think its an easy fix? Is this power thing something easy to fix?

Thanks.

 

[edde]

The cable which goes to the cd drive will have a plug where the hard drive is plugged into if not trace the wire back to the boad and find another identical cable which should be plugged in and trace that to the hard drive.

Depends whats wrong with it regards getting rid to be honest.

 

[Liquidcool]

Thanks edde! I remeber someone at work showing me a hard drive, and it was like lots on mini-disks on top of one another.. maybe I'm not sure what to look for.. but I'll have another look later.. I just put the casing back on for now.

 

[Chris1.4RT]

New PSU's are cheap. Get one off ebuyer for about £12 with delivery.

Hard drive should be ok even if you have to put it in someone else's pc to recover data.

 

[Liquidcool]

Thanks Chris.. so it could easily just be the switch that needs changing.. theres like a metal from inside that stops me from getting to the back of the power switch or seeing it.. I just checked the wires that run from the back of the power switch to a plug/board and that seems secure. I might try and get a new power switch.. but prob wont be able to fit it..

 

[ViolentJ]

the PSU (power supply unit) is like a metal box. You see where the wires come out the back of the box well that is the actual back of the box and does not come off!

To remove the PSU, look at the back of the case. It will be held in with 4 screws. All you do is disconnect the power connector from the motherboard and remove the 4 screws. You then take the PSU out via the inside of the case.

 

[biojo]

right first of all u need to find out if its a AT or ATX, when u shut down yer pc does it auto switch off, or does it hand on the "please switch off no"

when u press the power does it beep, or is there any lights on, unplug the grafix card and put it back in,

 

[Liquidcool]

Simon.. I think that sounds ok.. I should be able to do that ok by the sounds of it.. I'll have a look a bit later.. thanks.

 

[Liquidcool]

biojo... It doesnt bleep... only when windows starts to run. You cant switch off the PC at the switch.. only by going to... start/turn off PC on the desktop.. and it doesnt say 'please switch off now' it just turns off.

 

[Griff]

PSU's died.. If you want it to happen again buy a cheap £12 PSU or if you care about your PC buy a decent brand - Seasonic, Antec, Enermax.

Would you stick £20 remoulds on your new car?

 

[Liquidcool]

Griff. sounds its deffinitly that then? cool.. if thats all it is, I'll repair it.. how much are the quality PSU's? I'll try and find a decent one from eBay later on.. thanks. This power thing happened the other day... and I tried the power button a few times and it worked! But now its dead as can be.

 

[Liquidcool]

are they all compatable...or are there different sizes? (soz.. I am crap at this stuff)

 

[biojo]

ATX psu then , jhust get any there all cheap u shouldnt need owt too expensive, like said earlier under 20 quid

basically theres 4 screws holdin the current one in, then there`l be molex conections on cd drives and hd`s , floppy has a sligtly different one, then 1 conection to main board , in newer pcs theres some times another cable

all simple to do , no matter what experience , they can all only be plugged in one way

 

[ViolentJ]

Just googled your machine and it's an ATX one.

So you want an ATX PSU.

Something like this: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=35882

 

[ViolentJ]

ATX psu then , jhust get any there all cheap u shouldnt need owt too expensive, like said earlier under 20 quid

basically theres 4 screws holdin the current one in, then there`l be molex conections on cd drives and hd`s , floppy has a sligtly different one, then 1 conection to main board , in newer pcs theres some times another cable

all simple to do , no matter what experience , they can all only be plugged in one way

Like griff says if you buy a cheap one then don't expect it to last long. Maybe a year at the most.

Buy a decent one and it will last for many years.

 

[Liquidcool]

Thats really helpful guys.. thanks loads. I'll find a reasonably priced one.. not cheap but not megga expensive.

It sounds like this is fairly common fault once a PC is a few yeras old then.. I should be able to do that myself by the sounds of it.. I hope! lol.

 

[ViolentJ]

yeah it's just one of those things, and very, very easy to replace - even my Mrs can do it

 

[biojo]

providing he buys a 300watt one and spends 20 quid it should be fine for at least 2 years , get one with dual fans,

main thing that mess`s up in them it they get clogged up and over heat, also with ppl add more drives then they over load em.

ive had 20 quids ones last for 3 years, n i never turn my pcs off.

admitedly i bought a expensive one for this pc as it has 4 cd drives, and 4 hard drives.

but my htpc has a 20 quid on init and thats been running for year n half no probs

 

[Liquidcool]

That explaines it then... the inside of the PC cover was full of heavy dust... the room gathers dust really fast as its a loft room.. but its a proper room.. but still gathers dust like no tomorrow.. but yes...it was quite clogged inside..

 

[Liquidcool]

I'll look for a 300 watt version!

 

[Griff]

Like I said earlier not all PSU's are the same.

A generic 300w PSU will "in the real" world produce a measily 180w'ish while drawing 400w+ from the mains (efficiency) and the power it distributes across the various rails will fluctuate wildly (PFC efficiency)

You don't have to spend a fortune but for the sake of the extra money a decent £40 300w PSU will last a long time and ensure you don't suffer further power related problems.

I'm in no way saying that a £20 PSU will make your PC blow up but there's a very good reason that PSU's providing the same wattage vary from £10 to £80. Ultimatly you could run your car on budget remoulds but how many people prefer the extra cost and confidence of choosing Michelins, Goodyears etc...

 

[Chris1.4RT]

I've got a 550W PSU off ebuyer and it only cost £15.

I run Athlon3000 ,1gb ram, dvdrw, cd, 2x80gb HD in Raid, 9800pro with arctic cooler, soundcard, tv card, 3 system fans, 2 gay neons.

All that from a generic PSU. Been running fine for two years.

You can now get 600W for cheaper still

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=61302

The 13 5* review ratings speak for themselves.

True it won't be a constant 600W but it'll more than cope with your pc.