Hello all, I was hoping that maybe some of you could perhaps give me some advice on the current problem with my computer. Last week my Dell Dimension desktop was the victim of one of the lightning storms that passed through Houston. Even though it was plugged into a surge protector, the computer got a surge some how and now will not turn on. Interestingly, everything else plugged into the surge protector still works just like normal. I called Dell, and got there technical support. They had me open up the computer, disconnect all of the power cables from the hard drive, dvd drive, etc, and then remove the video card and ram. After plugging in the computer with all of those parts out he told me that it was a power supply issue, but it would cost $200 to get Dell to come out here and fix that problem. Well, screw that, I went to Best Buy and bought a 350 W power supply, and had a computer guru friend of mine hook it up. Only problem is, that wasnt the problem, the computer still will not turn on. Not to mention that Dell has different locations for their screws on the power supply then anyone else so they make you buy their brand, so I wouldnt have been able to use the one I bought anyway, but we wanted to see if it would at least turn on. So finally, my questions are....What do you think could possibly be the problem? Should I just give in and pay Dell to come out here and fix it, or is there a better place in Houston that someone knows of that I can take it? Any advice is great!, I'm sick of using my old Pentium 2 450 mhz as a replacement. Thanks.
blow in it. that usually worked for my nintendo. i wish i could help you man. at a $200 repair tag, it might better just to buy a new one.
Quick Question: 1. do you use dial up? 2. Was you modem connected to the wall outlet? Try removing the Modem and rebooting. . .. I know. . it sounds silly but . . what the hell Rocket River
No I use Road-Runner high speed internet, and my modem was plugged into the same surge protector that the computer was. But on my old replacement computer that I'm using temporarily, the internet works fine through that same modem. I've tried just turning on the Dell with both the new and old power supply with no connections attached at all and it wont boot up/turn on at all. God this sucks.
dell sucks, my dimension at home has had issues ever since it came out of the box ...so now i work at hp.
I just went over to Best Buy and they said it would be about $50 for them to diagnose the problem. If it turns out to be a power supply problem they said it would be about $130 total, which isn't too bad I guess. I think I'm just going to take it there, at least they're reputable.
ROFLMFAO....that is hilarious!!! Do you have any idea what kind of idiots they have working at Best Buy??? If you are going to pay that much, get Dell to do it.
Your Motherboard or CPU. I dont know if DELL has this, but on ASUS motherboards. There is a little green light that goes on to let you know the motherboard has power going through it. First thing I would do is try swapping CPU, if that doesnt fix your problem, its the motherboard.
Not exactly an expert, but if you hear no fan(s) or drives in the background when you power on, I would guess your power supply is most likely at fault. If you do hear fans or signs of life, your motherboard would seem to be the culprit.
Usually most power surges, have a 10,000 dollar warranty. So if your computer got fried even though you had it plugged in, call up the company, and see what they can do, maybe hopefully reimburse you.
Very true...but on the other hand..best buy no longer repairs laptops...or most warrenty work that requires parts to be replaces. It's outscourced to a big tech company. They used to have their own repair centers for computers now they go through a tech company that the repairs are done pretty well. If it was in house i would say hell no lol... I used to be a tech at Best Buy for 3 years lol...but back then things were run a hell of a lot differently then they are now...they suck ass now.
Yeah that green light on the mother board comes on when I plug in the system. But nothing else shows any sign of life. BTW, I should have said the Geek Squad, and not Best Buy. When I talked to the Geek Squad people at Best Buy they actully seemed like they knew what they were talking about. So I guess it's between them and Circuit City, I dont know which one would be better. I wont go through Dell though, $200 to put in a power supply when that may not even be the problem is too much.
The Geek squad is still best buy...no different. They are not going to work on the computer in store. It's going to be sent over to a 3 rd party tech company they use and when they get the item back they invoice you for the same price that they get it fixed for or maybe a bit more. They make their money off of that $50 diagnostic fee which in fact they dont do anything. Becuase it goes over to the other techs in another city and they do all the diagnostics and work on it. The only thing those guys fix are basically desktop computers if you are putting in new parts etc etc....Warrenty work or laptop work that involves same parts being swapped out that goes to another company.
This should be restated. It's worth an extra buck to have a reliable surge protector. Summit, does the light on your surge protector still work?
Yeah it's still on. In fact, my old computer that I'm using as a replacement right now is running off of it. But when/if I get my new computer fixed, I'm going to get a better one.
not to belabor the point but Unplugged the Modem [not the cable modem] I have seen many of system brought down by that fricking Modem honestly If you call in dell tech support they will ask you to remove all the cards and see if it will boot up then if that does not work . .they as you to remove all the connections like DVD,CDROM, Floppy and Hard If still no go Remove the Ram and the Processor if you get NO SOUND . .it is your motherboard [considering you said u say a lite] If you get a beep . . .. with the memory and/or the process out then one of them maybe the problem Rocket River
Thanks for the help. I took it to Best Buy and got a free diagnosis and they told me it was in fact the motherboard, and not the power supply. So now I'm pretty much screwed. I figure at least $200+ to get a new mother board and have someone install it.
What do I win for guessing it right first? jp. I had a similiar problem twice. First time it was the motherboard (acer), second time was the cpu (amd). Thats how I knew it was either of the two when you said you tried replacing the power supply.
