computer crashed, shut down all of sudden, won't turn back on

[kentexcellence]

Hi,

I was using my computer and everything was going great when all of a sudden, it shuts down. Totally shuts down, no power, can't turn it back on, when I press the start-up button on the front of the computer nothing happens. I run AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition and Wondows Firewall, and the last anti-virus scan that I did (one was done that day) showed no viruses and no problems.

When I plug a power cord into the back of the computer, a light underneath the outlet on the back of the computer flashes for a second and the CPU fan also turns on just for a second. I have tried two different power cords, same story, when I try to turn the computer on nothing happens.

Could it be the power supply in the computer, that it needs to be replaced? What do you guys think?

Thank you.

 

[Macboatmaster]

It is extremely unlikely that this problem can be solved on this forum.
Your analysis is more than likely correct.
It is either a power supply unit problem or another major hardware failure.
If the computer is NOT a laptop, the first thing to do is open the case, without the power connected and check if the fan to the CPU and other cooling fans are full of dust. Are the fins of the CPU cooling blocked. If so the processor may have fried.
I would urge caution, if you are going to attempt repair yourself, as I have known people buy a PSU to find that this was NOT the problem and then a processor to establish that the CPU was not the problem etc etc etc.
You need if possible to run tests, however that requires in most cases special euipment. Testing a PSU with a voltmeter is sometimes extremely unreliable, as some PSU`s do not output voltage until there is a load.

 

[JennyJackson01]

It could be a number of things but obviously it`s a main supply problem although whether it`s the PSU, the motherboard or the CPU is, as Macboatmaster said, hard to tell from a text based sympton.

Check the power supply connection to the motherboard is firm and hasn`t come loose for some reason although unless you`ve been digging about in there, I doubt it`ll be that. If you`re feeling confident in repairing it yourself, the first and easiest thing to try is changing the PSU if you know of someone you could borrow one from. After that, you`ll need someone who knows about and has the equipment to test the motherboard and CPU so if you`ve got a local computer repair shop nearby, that`d be the route to go down.

Jenny