Okay, I figured I'd turn to you guys for a few tips. I came home from uni this xmas to be told our older PC was acting up, apparently it wouldn't turn on at all. If the power cable was removed and re-attached, the little green power light at the back would flick on momentarily and make a small audible click noise, but for all intents and purposes it seems dead.

So far I've opened up the case, carefully vacuumed out the dust and un-fixed the CD-R and DVD drives to give me room to reach the power supply unit, I've taken off most of the casing for that and given it a vacuum too.
None of that has actually helped so far but with the sheer quantities of dust inside there I figured it was the best thing to try to fix first.

Any ideas what I should be looking for? This is the first time I've decided to play surgeon with a PC and I'm not sure if there are particular things I shouldn't do or touch. Any links to decent sites that might help me would be great too.

That sounds like a dead PSU (Power Supply Unit). Which isn't something you can fix by just jiggling wires around.

Look around the computer though, for any wires that aren't plugged in. If you find some (ignore the ones coming out of the PSU, you probably have some extra), try to find a slot they'd fit in, then try to research it a bit (where the wire is coming from/supposed to go) to make sure it's supposed to go there.


That's really the best I can tell you. I'd also look into getting another power supply from somewhere, which would likely fix the problem.

Don't be opening a PSU. Dangerous stuff in there, and there's nothing you're gonna be able to fix. Best off spending $20-40 and getting a replacement.

[QUOTE=Cool Matty]Don't be opening a PSU. Dangerous stuff in there, and there's nothing you're gonna be able to fix. Best off spending $20-40 and getting a replacement.[/QUOTE]
Just to emphasize, the PSU contains large capacitors that can store a very large charge even after it has been unplugged. Some people hear it's dangerous and think "Okay, I'll just unplug it", so I wanted to make sure it was clear.

[QUOTE=Cool Matty]Don't be opening a PSU. Dangerous stuff in there, and there's nothing you're gonna be able to fix. Best off spending $20-40 and getting a replacement.[/QUOTE]


Heh, I may open a PSU up soon to replace a fan a save 60$. I'll be sure to have the family take a video of it.

But they're fun to play with!

And maybe there is candy inside!

I'm sure there IS candy inside one of mine but I'm still not going to open it!

As others have said, replace the PSU.
Depending what your shops are like, you might be able to take it to a small computer shop and let them do it, I know some of ours will test it for free and with your consent then replace whats needed and only charge for parts not labour.

I did think those were some rather large capacitors at the time but have to admit I didn't think much of it short of making sure I didn't touch anything but the casing.
Anyway, I've put it all back together and should hopefully be getting a replacement PSU sometime soon. Cheers guys.

I think if you spill a carbonated drink inside the case, that will fix everything.