fucking lightning...
 

OK, so I come back home to get a call from my dad that the computer got fried during the storm. Now when I push the power button on, nothing happens. Also, when I plug it into an outlet, you can hear a slight ticking sound that slowly dies off when I unplug it. What could be fucked?

Could be anything. Try replacing the power supply first. If that doesn't work your motherboard and possibly other components are ****ed.

Yeah, I'm getting a new one tomorrow. It's a bitch not having my "good" computer.

Your hard drive could be ****ed as well as any component on the motherboard.

I lost my first hard drive this way.

Two words: Surge protector

I have one, a "Power Center". :shrug:

Maybe it offers some insurance against loss of equipment due to lightning. You should check into it.

Heh, thanks, it's really old though and I don't know where the papers are. I'll definatelly look into it that, though.

Another question: I have a really old power supply (150 watt ROFL), can anything bad happen from using it to troubleshoot?

yeah... like nothing will work.
150w rofl is right. not enough juice.

dude, if your machine got fried by lightning, you're pretty much
looking at replacing everything. your CD drive(s) might still
function, and you might be able to get a HD reformatted,
but mainboard and pci/agp cards are more than likely toast. those
12v boards weren't meant to handle 10000v... cripes a static charge
will even fry them, so you can imagine what a lightning $trike will do.

sorry to hear it and good luck.

Well, I just tried the older power supply. It was my bad, it turns out the older PS was 250W - not 150W, the one that got fried was 300W (so 50W difference between old and current). I tried turning my computer on and all it did was, what it looked like, kept restarting itself over and over with no signs of life (i.e. the monitor light stayed orange).

This is such a bitch, I just upgarded this mother****er last summer with a XP 3000+ (before the 64 days), new mobo and a 180 Gig HDD. :(

Try replacing the motherboard.

Good surge protector with insurance policy worth it.

Does your homeowners policy cover it?

it is impossible to collect on those UPS/Surge Protector warranties. They fill those with many loopholes to keep the average guy from ever being able to cash in.

you can get a power surge through the phone/cable connection for the internet.

that way it bypasses the surge protector


when the thunder boomers start i try to remember and unplug my computer completely ... disconnect the phone/cable line etc.

people still have dial-up?

i thought that had been outlawed because it slows down the internet or something... :p :p :p

You eliminated the power supply as a fault so now remove everything in the computer that you can. Strip it down to the minimum and turn it on. If it works in that condition then start adding parts one at a time until the symptoms return.

If it does not work in the stripped down state then.....much $ is lost.

Yup, it can be anything from the motherboard, video card, hard drive, memory, or even the keyboard and mouse. Could also be more then one device that was fried. Note to self: turn off computer during electrical storms. Turn off cable modem too.

I knew a person that received a mild electrical shock while using the phone during a lightening storm.

Yeah, those cordless phones can be a bitch.

I know dude. My dad was always anal about it and always told me to turn the comp off during T-storms. I always gave him shit about how that never happens and we have a surge protector, etc. Anyway, this was the first time my dad left it on since he was burning some DVD or some shit... Oh, the irony. This is also my computer, I've invested probably around $2500 in it over time.

That sounds painful.

Sorry about your comp, dude.