Computer won't turn on - Help please!!

Shaztastic

Been doing some googling and have found talk of the Dell PSU problems. Seems simple to replace though if I can find the right part.

Thanks for your help everyone

macman

Shaztastic wrote: »

Been doing some googling and have found talk of the Dell PSU problems. Seems simple to replace though if I can find the right part.

Thanks for your help everyone

It's not really a Dell problem. On any five year old PC most of the components are on borrowed time, it's usually the PSU or the hard drive that are the first to fail.

mallada

macman wrote: »

It's not really a Dell problem. On any five year old PC most of the components are on borrowed time, it's usually the PSU or the hard drive that are the first to fail.

And as such i would highly recommend backing up the contents of your Hard Drive when you manage to fix your PC. Especially if you need/do not want to loose the contents of your files.

JasX

If you post your Dell model number someone can probably check if its standard ATX or not (and maybe find some pins you could check with a volt meter to prove its the PSU), hopefully it is on both counts. As per other posts should be fairly cheap to source off ebay 2nd hand/a generic new one/ideally salvaged from someone ditching an old PC for free/an old one someone has in the loft somewhere.

Expect to spend £10-20 MAX for a cheap PSU for a 5 year old machine, be sure to keep things backed up from now on tho as sounds like the PC will be on the way out sood (as would any PC of its age)

If you want to get the data off sooner you could remove the hard disk and either put it into a 3.5" caddy or just wire it into any other desktop PC (most will have a spare IDE socket) and access it as a 2nd hard drive to copy all the data off.

Desktops are always easy to pull apart and fix... unlike laptops

Shaztastic

It's a Dell Dimension 8400 which was built in June 2005. If anyone can tell from that whether or not it has a standard PSU then that would be very helpful. Will give Dell a ring to check as well.

Think I'm going to tray and take the PSU out tonight so I can take it to a computer shop tomorrow and see if they have a suitable replacement.

Will definitely be backing everything up from now on (had been meaning to do it for months anyway!). Found out a friend of mine had to recover data from a hard-drive in a broken computer a little while back so has a caddy I can borrow. Fingers crossed the data from my broken computer should be recoverable if I can't get it fixed.

macman

Yes, your data will be fine unless the hard drive has itself failed.
You don't need to lug the heavy PSU to the shop, just note the wattage rating on it. Then ask the shop for an ATX PSU of that rating or higher (this of course assumes that it does need a generic PSU and not a specifc Dell one). Any ATX PSU will physically fit.
And note down on paper how many cables and what they are attached to you before you remove the PSU.

JasX

Shaztastic wrote: »

It's a Dell Dimension 8400 which was built in June 2005. If anyone can tell from that whether or not it has a standard PSU then that would be very helpful. Will give Dell a ring to check as well.

Yes thats a standard ATX power supply,

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8400/SM/techov.htm#wp1060221

Check the wattage and number of connectors and you'll be fine

Alternatively if you can find anyone freecycling/junking/mothballing in the loft an old ATX based PC (anything from 2003ish onwards for 24pin based ATX) you could swipe the PSU from that :A

macman

Shaztastic wrote: »

It's a Dell Dimension 8400 which was built in June 2005. If anyone can tell from that whether or not it has a standard PSU then that would be very helpful. Will give Dell a ring to check as well.

Think I'm going to tray and take the PSU out tonight so I can take it to a computer shop tomorrow and see if they have a suitable replacement.

Will definitely be backing everything up from now on (had been meaning to do it for months anyway!). Found out a friend of mine had to recover data from a hard-drive in a broken computer a little while back so has a caddy I can borrow. Fingers crossed the data from my broken computer should be recoverable if I can't get it fixed.

Don't bother ringing Dell, they will be delighted to sell you an overpriced standard ATX supply and are bound to tell you that only theirs will do the job.

Shaztastic

macman wrote: »

Don't bother ringing Dell, they will be delighted to sell you an overpriced standard ATX supply and are bound to tell you that only theirs will do the job.

Was in an optimistic mood so gave Dell a call. You were right - first they said the PSU was standard, then they said it was non-standard, then they wanted to charge me £30 to tell me anything else!!!

Think I'm just going to remove the PSU this weekend, examine all the connectors and then take it to a computer shop and see what they say.

Hopefully JasX is correct and it's standard ATX.

Will definitely be taking lots of pictures before I remove it though as have never done anything like this before!

macman

You won't have a problem, the connectors are only of two or 3 types, so you can't really muddle anything up. As a guide, you will probably have to disconnect:
one or two cables from the motherboard.
one from the hard drive (or each if more than one).
one from the optical drive (or each if more than one).
One from the floppy drive (if fitted).
On a basic desktop PC that'll probably be it.
Then from the back of the PC at the top just undo the 4 little screws securing it to the case (hang on to it at this point so it doesn't fall and cause damage to the mobo).
You can then remove the PSU.