I need help i need help i need help..computer just wont turn on...at all.

[Gilbert5083]

i just bought this system for 15 bucks from a local pawn shop sorta...anyway, it had no hard drive... i put one in and tried to turn it on...all that happend was the front light went on, nothing else. power didnt even go to the hard drive, and the power supply was makin a low noise....and then i tried another power supply, same thing happend...but this time it didnt make a noise...so i tried ANOTHER power supply and the same thing happend...im not sure wats wrong, i dont kno if the motherboard is fried, but i think one of the capacitors is blown, cuz the top of it isnt flat, the top looks round and bloated, can someone help me out?

 

[raybay]

The top of many capacitors are rounded... what you look for is splits and bulges on the side... or reddish brown powder or dust sprinkled around. But if the capacitors near the cpu are bulging in an uneven way, you have a dead machine.
What you neglected to tell us was the brand and model of computer, or in lieu of that, the brand and number of the motherboard.
Motherboards seldom fail, unless it is an eMachine or Tri-Gem board, but somebody could have become reckless with gaming or whatever, and fried it.
Do some simple things like carefully examine the cables, and the wires between the power switch and the motherboard.
Does the CPU fan look OK? You will get the signs and symptoms you report if the CPU fan is bad, or poorly connected. Look for loose heat sink.
Look very carefully for a rainbow-like look on the mother board... If it has been fried, you will see an uneven color or a rainbow moire pattern sometimes... Look closely at the larger chips. See if any of the tie-downs or clamp-downs have pulled out of the board. Give it the sniff test to see if anything smells burned or strongly odd.

 

[Gilbert5083]

it is an emachine and the model is T2642....there is no rainbowlike look on the motherboard. everything looks and smells fine...the ONLY thing is that one capacitor that the top of it is bulging

 

[raybay]

That is one of the 14 high-failure desktops by eMachine. The motherboard fails, then destroys the power supply. Failures exceed 66 percent within the first three years. The hard drive, modem, and memory are likely still good. A replacement board from eMachines which will allow you to use the eMachines recovery discs is $159.95 plus shipping. Microsoft will tell you that the product ID dies with the motherboard and will not allow transfer to a different board, although some users have been able to do it.
Your data can likely be recovered, and a full version of Windows would allow it most easily.
Good luck.