After power surge, computer no longer functions correctly

[sqthreer]

First of all, I'm not entirely sure it was a power surge. What happened was that the power coming from a long extension cord leading from the main house (I live in an RV outside the house) stopped working. To fix it, all I had to do was flip the little switch on the power strip.

Unfortunately, after that, my computer wouldn't start correctly. It would take way longer, and it would show about two screens before it said in it's gray letters, something about connecting my boot devices and restarting.

So I cracked it open and pretty much just jiggled or re-connected some cords, and it turned on fine. But of course, after a while, one of my hard drives (I'm not sure which one) starts making little squeaking sounds, getting more frequent over time (or as memory usage goes up, or both) ultimately resulting in the computer freezing, followed by the blue screen we all love to see. I have been able to just jiggle cords and revive my computer a couple times, but this inevitably happens.

I seriously hope that little surge or whatever hasn't ruined my hard drives or anything, because one is no more than a couple years old, while the other is about three weeks old.

Is there anything I can do about this, or am I doomed?

[patio]

Over a long space power cords strain to carry the required load. I would get a heavier guage cord for your needs first...
Then borrow a known good PSU of the same or greater wattage and swap it in there...if this improves things then replace the PSU.
Many cheaper made units need only one or two power interupptions to make them go bad,
Best of Luck.

[sqthreer]

Well the cord coming from the house is one of those big orange industrial extension cords, if that's what you're talking about. The PSU actually quite old, so that probably is not helping. I don't currently have one to swap in there at the moment, but I will definitely keep that in mind.

I have some updates on the situation: I am able to consistently turn on my computer and use it semi-normally only if I disconnect the secondary hard drive. There is no squeaking or clicking or anything, but when I try to play music, it works for a few seconds, then gets jumpy and choppy.  I don't know if this adds any further technical troubleshooting assistance, but at least I have a temporary fix.

Thank you for your help, patio

[patio]

Check what actual guage that cord is rated at...

[truenorth]

sqthreer, Following up on Patio's suggestion. Remove the computer from the current location and take it into the house you are beside and try it in there and report your findings. This will assist in determining if it is a low gauge cord problem as opposed to a computer component failure (deterioration) issue. Good luck, truenorth