My desktop will not turn on.

[jbarnett]

My computer was on this morning. I walked outside, came back in and the computer was off. When I push the power button nothing happens. The surge protector the computer is plugged into is working properly because everything else that is plugged into the surge protector has power. I have even tried plugging the computer directly into the wall socket. Still no lights no power. Can any one tell what to check next? My computer is a PC club computer running windows XP with norton security

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Welcome to the Forums!

What were you doing when you left the room?

[jbarnett]

my wife was on the internet

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

If she was on the computer, does she have any idea what might of happened to the computer? Or exactly what happened? (error messages, sounds, ect...)

Does your computer have any history of shutting down unexpectedly?

Can you give us information on your machine.
RAM
Hard Drive Capacity
Hard Drive Free Space
Processor Speed

[jbarnett]

Neither of us have any idea as to what happened. I am sorry to say that i can not provide you with the info requested. I do know that about half the computers memory was being used. It has shut down before but then restarted. This has only happend once that i know of but it was not that long ago.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Can you give us any specs on the computer (from memory)?

RAM
Hard Drive Capacity
Hard Drive Free Space
Processor Speed

When you press the power button, exactly what happens? (on the monitor and in the computer <-- sounds)

If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask. That's what we're here for.

[Annon]

Is there an orange light on the back of the tower towards the top or on the front?

As carbon said we need more information as to what happens when you try to switch the computer on.

[jbarnett]

Nothing happens when i try to turn it on. I am using my work laptop right now. There is no light in the back of the computer either.

[xavier]

Check all power connections first even the wall plug. If all connections are secure and you dont get anything to turn on fans ect i would think it is the power supply.

[drmsucks]

Neither of us have any idea as to what happened.

Your wife was on the internet and, presumably everything was working fine; something happened - monitor went blank, a 'screech' sounded, the computer displayed a blue screen - what?

[jbarnett]

We dont know what happend we walked outside came back in and it was like someone turned the computer off. But now it will not come back on at all no boot up screen no lights no nothin. I have checked the chord no breaks or anything. Is there an inverter or converter on the inside of the tower?

[xavier]

Can you get hold of another power supply to make a test?

[drmsucks]

Sorry, didn't realize that your wife went outside with you

No, there is no "inverter or converter" inside the case. There is, however, a video adapter. (Below)

Were there any "burnt electrical" smells when you noticed the computer was off?

Are you positive that the wall outlet works? Plug in a lamp to verify.

Check your monitor - (okay, stay calm!) is it plugged in and turned on? Can you swap the monitor for another, including a different data cable? Or plug your monitor into your laptop to see if it displays.

Do you know if you have a "discrete" (separate) video card or does the system use on board memory? One way to tell may be to see how many blue VGA adapters there are.

Are there any sounds when you press the power switch - fans starting, clicks, beeps? Is there a power switch on the back of the computer near the power cord? Is there a green light illuminated on the motherboard?

Answer all that you can and post back.

[jbarnett]

Nothing at all happens when I try to turn on the tower. My screen and speakers are all plugged into the same surge protector and they all have power. I do have a seperate video card. But no fans, lights, bells or whistles come on when i push the power button. I removed all the covers on my tower. Power comes into my computer through the cord plugged into the wall then into a box on the other side of the box is all the cables taking power to various points (board, drives, video card etc.) i am thinking somthing has to be wrong with this box. Once again no fans come on at all when you push the power button.

[drmsucks]

In that case:

Can you get hold of another power supply to make a test?