Tony Palmer
From:
St Augustine,FL
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Posted 15 Sep 2007 12:23 pm |
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I wasn't home when it happened, but my wife said the computer was on and suddenly started smoking(!!!) and making a noise and shut off.
Don't ask if she's been backing up..... 
Anyway, I assume the hard drive is gone?
My question is: is this in fact the symptom of a fried hard drive or could it be an electrical power supply problem?
I've unplugged everything and then tried to power it up and nothing happens.
Any (gulp) ideas? |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 15 Sep 2007 12:42 pm
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Take it to a computer repair shop and have them find out what has fried. It might be the power supply, the motherboard, a disk drive, or an add-on card. If the power light doesn't come on and there is no sign of activity when you push the power button, unplug it from the AC line, disconnect any cables plugged into it and have it serviced. If you want to nose around yourself, unplug the power cord, open the right side plate, get a strong light and look inside for signs of burned wires or components. If nothing looks burned on the motherboard, check the hard drive. Take it out and smell it. If it doesn't smell like it's burned unplug all of the power connectors from the drives and motherboard, then remove the power supply and open it up and look and smell inside.
Chances are fairly good that something will be obviously burnt somewhere, since your wife said it emitted a puff of smoke. If it is the power supply you could replace it with one of similar capacity and physical dimensions, then pray that it wasn't a failed component in the computer that took out the other PSU. I think taking it to a shop makes more sense, especially when it comes to trying replacement parts.
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