Greetings all!
This is my first post and I'm hoping to be able to reciprocate with answers from my own knowledge and experiences, though limited. Thank you in advance for your kindness and patience.
I have an older PC (six years) running Windows XP (fully updated) with an Athlon 64 CPU, 2G ddr, 250 GB Hdd, onboard Nvidia graphics chip set on an Asus motherboard. For years the system has been stable & reliable but last night I found it dead. After troubleshooting the basics (power strip, power outlet, power cord, on/off switch etc.), I figured a new power supply was in order since everything worked fine the day before and then nothing. So... while putting in a new TEC 385 W PSU I noticed the 20 +4 connector was different from the old 24 plug. Stupidly, (looking back) I left the 4 plug off. Also I noticed a six plug connector for the PCI express but no receptor on the motherboard for it. I figured since I had nothing in the PCI slots or the PCI express slot,; no big deal, just leave it unconnected. Power on and I see a small amount of SMOKE coming out of the carriage near the front panel USB/1394 connectors and the Hard drive! Quickly unplugged & rechecked all the connections. Didn't find a problem there. Plugged the 4 pin connector next to the 20 pin on the power connector (finally) and tried again. This time no beep, CPU fan spins up, Chassis fan spins up, hard drive does not spin up and the HDD light on the front panel stays lit. Nothing (not even the BIOS) on the monitor. Please tell me I did not corrupt the drive! The mother board looks fine (capacitors etc.) Where to go from here? Help? Ten years worth of digital images!
Thank you for your time.
falconboy
This is my first post and I'm hoping to be able to reciprocate with answers from my own knowledge and experiences, though limited. Thank you in advance for your kindness and patience.
I have an older PC (six years) running Windows XP (fully updated) with an Athlon 64 CPU, 2G ddr, 250 GB Hdd, onboard Nvidia graphics chip set on an Asus motherboard. For years the system has been stable & reliable but last night I found it dead. After troubleshooting the basics (power strip, power outlet, power cord, on/off switch etc.), I figured a new power supply was in order since everything worked fine the day before and then nothing. So... while putting in a new TEC 385 W PSU I noticed the 20 +4 connector was different from the old 24 plug. Stupidly, (looking back) I left the 4 plug off. Also I noticed a six plug connector for the PCI express but no receptor on the motherboard for it. I figured since I had nothing in the PCI slots or the PCI express slot,; no big deal, just leave it unconnected. Power on and I see a small amount of SMOKE coming out of the carriage near the front panel USB/1394 connectors and the Hard drive! Quickly unplugged & rechecked all the connections. Didn't find a problem there. Plugged the 4 pin connector next to the 20 pin on the power connector (finally) and tried again. This time no beep, CPU fan spins up, Chassis fan spins up, hard drive does not spin up and the HDD light on the front panel stays lit. Nothing (not even the BIOS) on the monitor. Please tell me I did not corrupt the drive! The mother board looks fine (capacitors etc.) Where to go from here? Help? Ten years worth of digital images!
Thank you for your time.
falconboy