Phoenix Gold Phorum

I have a computor problem. I was hoping, with all the expertese on this forum in that catagory, I might be able to get help fixing it.

One of my computors at home took a shit. It is my (home) buisness computor and has alot of important stuff on it so it's gotta be fixed. At the very least the files from it need to be retrieved if the computor is shot. I'll be the first to admit the I know just enough about computors to get in trouble.

It's an E-Machine purchased like 2 yrs ago, running on Windows xp 'home' edition. It is NOT connected to the internet so it's unlikely to be a virus or sorts. Unless viruses can be transfered thru back-up files. Thats the only 'outside' contact this computor has.

The problem is It won't turn on. I shut it down the night before and tried to fire it back up this morning and it just wouldn't come back on. It was working, turned it off then nothing. I made sure there was power there, checked for any type of fuse or breaker but found none. My guess is the power supply? If it is, are they difficult to replace?

Any help here would be greately appreciated!

Sounds to be your PS first off. Does the fan in the PS still work?

And no, they're not usually to difficult to replace.

Another vote for checking the power supply first. If you know anyone that has a spare ATX power supply they can bring over to test with, do that.

It's pretty easy replacing them but EMachines might have made it a bit more squirley in there than a hand-built would be.

You'll basically need to make sure you get the right power connector(s) to the motherboard, and then the hard drives, CD/DVD drives, etc.

No. No fan, no lights, nothing! So will any power supply work or will it depend on E-mach. design? Are there any better then others? What's the best place to shop them?

Again, Thanks for the help!

if you need it NOW, then local of course

if you can wait a couple days...newegg.com is tough to beat


as far as i have seen, power supplies are pretty standard as far as size and design go, but you need to make sure it has enough outputs to plug into the devices you are running. i am probibly not thebest to explain that part of it to you

You'll want to get a least a 500 watt ATX PS. ATX is the defacto standard, and if you have another computer sittin round you can test with it before you buy another.

Awesome! Thanks for all the info! I do have a couple sittin around that I can dismantle. Never thought of that. Then I'll check that web site for deals.

Thanks again guys! Really appreciate it. I get all beside myself when it comes to this stuff because at home and work I'm all there is when it comes to maintaining the computors and I'm no expert in this field.

Heres some good links for you

http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/powersupply1.html?
http://www.fonerbooks.com/r_power.htm

Well, I swapped out the power supply today. No luck. It still won't turn on.

I noticed today for the first time, the mother board in the E-machine has a small LED. A power indicator of sorts I assume? If so, it is on. I'm guessing that means the power supply is getting juice to everything. Now what? What else would keep this from turning on? A bad switch? Or is there a possibility there is something wrong with the motherboard? Hardrive?

I'd say check the connections from the power switch to the motherboard. Next thing from there I'd try is to remove all unnecessary components (any cards, HDD, etc.) from the motherboard and try again. If all that fails, you're left with the motherboard.

Emachines for the past few years have been made by gateway, but theyre still cheaply made..

IF its not switching on at all check the switch, or unplug EVERYTHING off the board and plug it all back in again.

ATX motherboards (well some) have an inbuilt protection against surges. And, wont function until they have had everything unplugged and reseated.

Also, clear the CMOS.

ydnap wrote:Emachines for the past few years have been made by gateway, but theyre still cheaply made..

IF its not switching on at all check the switch, or unplug EVERYTHING off the board and plug it all back in again.

ATX motherboards (well some) have an inbuilt protection against surges. And, wont function until they have had everything unplugged and reseated.

Also, clear the CMOS.

actually, if you just unplug everything but the cpu, power supply and power switch, it should still "boot" (it will get to the ram test and beep, signaling no ram)

my guess is, its one of those components, but would suggest simply checking the power switch, as its the easiest and cheapest to fix.. perhaps swap it out for the reset one, and see if theres any reaction. I believe reset switches are momentary, so you may have to press and hold it.

If you've tried a known Good power supply and it MEETS the minimum requirements of your computer, I'd bet it to be the motherboard. Double check the motherboard's capacitors...they would like like those on the amplifiers, check for buldging caps etc. Leaky caps....etc.

Also make sure you plug in the 4 pin 12 volt to the board too...

Also it should be very easy to recover data as long as the drive is not bad or shot.

So worse case scenario, you could replace the computer, and pull the drive and slave it into the computer...or put the drive in a hard drive external enclosure. (make it USB or firewire if your new computer supports that etc).

If you need help, let me know... I have access to computer parts and am a pretty good tech.

Thanks alot! I'll try those suggestions tonight. I guess one way or another I'll be able to retrieve the data

Oh and how to check the power switch....on some of those emachines, you dont have a reset switch, so just get a screwdriver and touch the two pins where the power switch was attached to to short it out for a second....if the power switch on the front was bad, then that should turn on your computer... a momentary switch, is just that...you wont need to hold it....power switches and reset switches are only momentary. Press it and it crosses the wires closing the circuit...thats all you need to power it or reset it. If you hold the power switch down for at least 7 seconds it should (for most boards) turn the machine off without waiting for it to shut down.

I tried jumping the power switch leads on the board but got no response.

Question .. should there be any voltage at the power plugs for the individual devices. ie dvd drive, floppy drive etc. Or is that output from the power supply controlled. I brought my DMM home with me and I tried to get some readings but nothing on these plugs. I suppose it's possible this power supply is bad too? Is there a way to check a power supply to verify that it is working? Again, there is a small surface mount LED on the motherboard that lights up when power is connected.

pc power supplies are actually switched on through the motherboard, so you wouldnt see any voltage at those plugs yet. I'd say you have a toasted motherboard.

unfortunately, its probably time for an upgrade..

To turn the PSU w/out a computer.....on the 20pin (24 pin block...) Use a paper clip. Stick one end in on a black cable, and the other on a green. That'll turn it on. And there you can check your voltages on the PSU.

Wakeup wrote:To turn the PSU w/out a computer.....on the 20pin (24 pin block...) Use a paper clip. Stick one end in on a black cable, and the other on a green. That'll turn it on. And there you can check your voltages on the PSU.

That's a great little trick I've used before.

Thanks once again for the help guys. I will try the power supply trick tonight. I haven't given up on the old girl just yet.

But in the event she's a goner, what does it take to get the HDD into another computor? I like wakeup's suggestion of putting it in an external case with USB or putting it in as a slave in another comp. My family computor resides right next to this computor so it would be easily done.

What happens then? Does the new comp. recognize the new hardware and set up itself? Wishful thinking maybe? What happens with programs on the HDD that aren't on the newer machine? This is where my head starts spinning.

Harddrives are quite easy to pull out. There will be those big fat grey IDE cables that go to them. You unplug that, and the power plug. Then there should be four screws holding it in. After that, slip it right out.

Then go out and get yourself a 3.5" IDE external harddrive case. I am assuming with your other computer you want a USB one. After that you hook your harddrive up in the new case (two plugs, four screws, just like before). Close the case up, and plug it in. The drive should immediately appear on your other computer.

Now to be sure I'm telling you to buy the right thing, please tell me what your other computer is first.

The dying comp is an e-machine #T2742.
The 2nd comp is HP #1606n

I can't find info on this HP 1606n

Do you know if it supports USB 2.0 or Firewire? How old is it?

It's about 13 months old. I got it when 'Vista' came out and chose this because it still had 'XP'.

Awesome. It will definitely support a USB 2.0 harddrive enclosure then. Those are cheap and ridiculously easy to set up.

Crack that Emachine open, pull the harddrive, put it in an external case... and away you go!