Fans are on, but nothing else...

[AingeaL73]

Okay, I left my computer on overnight (I do that a lot...which may be why this happened..) and I sat down to use it this morning, but the monitor was acting funny. The computer was on (I can hear the fans) but the monitor's ON button has the orange light on (the one that goes on when the computer's idle). I moved the mouse back and forth so that the monitor would turn on....no luck. I shut down the computer manually (holding the button in) and turned it back on. The fans come on, but the same thing happens - the monitor acts like nothing's happening. Also, the noises that the tower usually makes when it turns on (sort of like chirping? do you know what I'm talking about?) are not being made.

This is kind of an older computer, from 2002, but it has an 80 gig hard drive, and I constantly update it with new anti-virus software, as well as running Ad-Aware and Spybot: Search and Destroy every other day.

Is my computer officially dead? If so, is there any way to retrieve the files I have on there?

EDIT: This is a Compaq Presario 7550 with Windows XP.

[GX1_Man]

From the info provided, it sounds like the power supply has issues, and that is the best place to start to trouble shoot this, as it is the least expensive replacement. Just because you have some power does not mean you have correct power.

Start by trying another monitor on that machine and that monitor on another machine with secure connections. If that is OK we can rule out the monitor as the issue.

Do you have another known good power supply you could slip in for a test? Are you planning to repair this yourself? Do you have a somewhat geeky friend who could help?

Other possibilities are malfunctioning hardware - RAM, motherboard, hard drive, etc., but let's start here.

I don't think the compuiter is dead, and certainly all the data files can easily be retrieved in a variety of ways. I don't think leaving it on overnight brought about this problem.

We'll await your response to the above.  

[AingeaL73]

Well, this morning I tried to turn it on and - SURPRISE - it's working! I didn't even do anything lol. So I guess it just needed a rest. Thank you very much for your help though!

[ale52]

Glad to hear it's working again, but... "SUPRISE"...I don't suspect your problem has 'gone away'.  GX1-Man is right.  It's cheap insurance to have another power supply around, expecially with this type of problem.

Alan <><  

[GX1_Man]

Hardware does not heal itself.