Power Supply Problem

[thefahrm]

I think I have had a power supply failure. My machine was running and I suddenly had a disk error, and the machine shut down and rebooted asking me to run CHKDSK, which I did. When that was complete, the machine came up normally. I began working with an app (MS Word) and suddenly the macjhine shutdown, not gracefully, simply turned off and only the components seperately powered had power available. The machine cannot be powered up now.

The machine is an Alienware, running Windows XP Pro.

My approach is to remove the power supply, carry it down to Fry's, buy a comparable replacement, and install it.

Does this seem to be a reasonable course of action? Is there anything else that might cause a loss of power to the machine and its components?

 

[jsc]

Odds are that it is the PSU. But a drive or something on the motherboard could have shorted.

Time for more troubleshooting.

Disconnect all the drive power and data cables. Remove the video card, memory, and any cards plugged into motherboard. Unplug the keyboard and mouse. You should have only the PSU, CPU & HSF, and the case connections plugged in.

Turn on the computer. You should hear a series of long single beeps (or whatever the pattern is for bad memory. If you do, one of the parts you removedis bad.

If you get silence, either the PSU, motherboard, or CPU is bad. And of these three, the PSU is most likely. But the only way to know for sure is by sustituting known good parts.