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Psu or motherboard?

metallicat

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Posted July 27, 2011 at 3:44PM

hi, i have an 8 year old hp that is not starting up, only the lights and fans are working. Is the cause likely to be the power supply of the motherboard? If its powersupply is it easy to replace a PSU? Thanks

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Diemmess

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Posted July 27, 2011 at 5:53PM

Before you blame component failure try this.- Shutdown and switch off the computer at the wall. Now press and hold the reboot button for at least 20 seconds. Cross fingers and switch on again as normal. I cured a similar non-start some time ago on this much younger computer.

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Just my opinion:.............. Yes, easy to replace the PSU but make quite sure of the physical attributes to match your motherboard and case.

The root problem needs inspired guesswork! In a younger machine I would say the PSU is to blame. It should be giving accurately controlled voltages at all its potential leads. Many computer repair shops are able to check your PSU whereas you can't do this with just a multimeter because the various voltages are only true when under load If you remove the existing PSU and take it in, the shop would doubtless sell you a suitable one if yours is faulty.

Motherboard failure is bad news indeed and probably not worth replacing in such an old model.

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onthelimit1

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Posted July 27, 2011 at 6:20PM

If fans and lights are OK, I would think the mobo was dead. Eight years is a long time in electronics!

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metallicat

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Posted July 27, 2011 at 9:55PM

Thanks for the advice, tried the reboot key suggestion but didn't work unfortunately I think its time to update!

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wee eddie

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Posted July 28, 2011 at 10:33AM

When you buy your new System:

Also buy a Caddy/Enclosure (about £10 to £15), this is a empty case into which you can fit a Hard Drive.

You take the Hard Drive out of your old PC and stick it in the Caddy, which will have a USB Connection. You can then copy, from it, all your old stuff onto the the new PC.

Once you have done that, you can Format your "new" External Hard Drive and then use it for your Back-ups.

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