Power supply Problem

I built my computer about a year ago and had no major problems at all. But today it just shut itself off and i can nolonger turn it on. I think the problem is the powersupply because not even the fans will turn on and i checked inside the case and all the wires seemed to be hooked up ok and there seemed to be nothing wrong with any of them. Another reason which caused me to think it was the power supply was because it was a free one that came with the case with only 500w and ive been needing to buy a new one. Id like feedback from anyone to help clarify and suggest if there might be a different problem before i start spending money to repair it.

Sure, pull the 24 pin connector out of the mobo and connect a jumper between pin#14 and ground on the PSU harness (can't remember what color it is....purple maybe, but it's right next to 2 blacks which are grounds), plug the PSU back into the wall and hit the switch........if nothing happens the PSU is DOA.

Thx, yea i really needed a new one, are there any recomendations for a good 550 watt psu?

like you said though, don't spend the money unless you need to. Is the green light on the motherboard lit?

Tell us what the brand is, all brands have problems but some have more than others.

As to recommendations, I think that Antec makes a decent and cheap 550w psu.

Some might not like my recommendation, but this one has worked nicely for me for about 6 months:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817182027

Check my system specs and see if yours are comparable.
-Brett

Look here for 500-600 watt units that Newegg sells for $100 to $200. Of those, this is a really good value.

lol yea, and srry bout that didnt mean to make it sound like i was addressing it to you, just gettin that bit of information out into the open