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recently, a storm/tornado went through our town. our house was fine, and we suffered no damage.
however, the computer will not turn on, even when I hit the secondary button below the normal start button on the front. IT's a powerspec. the battery pack had 3 minutes of charge of the normal 5 allotted the last I checked (*2 weeks ago).
the DSL lights aren't on either.
is it possible a lightning strike is/was strong enough to fry the computer, even when there is surge protection there and even if the computer was not turned on at the time of the storm?
i'm worried there was a surge that overpowered even our surge protector and we lost our data. I have a backup in a separate hard drive, but it sucks--we take precautions to make sure surges don't happen--no computer on during storms or threats of storms, constant windows updates to keep everything up to date--and we still get screwed.
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Legend
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Legend
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Is this a laptop or a desktop?
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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Practice Squad
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It's possible, unfortunately.. the DSL lights being out may be a sign the surge came through the dsl lines.. What kind of surge protection do you have? Most run-of-the-mill power strips aren't much help w/ a big surge or direct strike. On top of that, does the surge protector have ethernet protection? If the ethernet connection from your modem going to your computer doesn't pass through the surge protector, then the electricity can go straight from the phone line to your computer without having to pass through any surge protection.
It might not all be a lost cause. this sounds silly.. but w both the dsl modem being out, and the computer.. have you tried an outlet you know is working? Like plugging each one separately into an outlet a working lamp is plugged into? Sorry, I'm in tech support and you'd be surprised how many times it's something simple like that.
If that's not it, it might just be the power supply that is bad, and that's a fairly easy replacement. However, it the surge went through the DSL line into the computer, there is a good chance the motherboard (or more) is fried. That's fixable.. but a bit more work and money... But even if the motherboard and/or power supply are bad.. there is still a good chance the hard drive is still ok, and can simply be connected to a working computer to retrieve the data.
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Legend
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Adding to your comments ....
If this is a laptop, the battery could have died, and the timing is coincidental.
Also, sometimes laptop batteries come just the slightest bit loose, and it throws everything into chaos. Make sure that the battery is properly seated. Take it out and re-seat it.
I have seen desktop computers go out for no reason, and unplugging the computer and plugging it back in works.
Is the power cord plugged in tight at both ends?
Does the outlet show any signs of electrical overload? (blackened edges, etc)
Was there anything else plugged into the same outlet? Does the outlet work if you plug something else into it?
Is the computer plugged directly into the outlet, or is it plugged into a surge protector? Is the protector tripped? Have you tried plugging it directly into an outlet?
Also, some desktops have a reset button on the back for the power supply. If this is a desktop, you might want to check.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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Dawg Talker
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good advice from everyone.
sounds like you have a desktop, and a battery back up. If that battery is going bad, you might not get power from it. Had that happen to me. plug you computer into a working outlet to check.
my next guess would be your power supply. If you did catch a surge, then it could be more damage
Attitude is everything....FEAR THE ELF!!!
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Legend
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Legend
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To add to what BrownieElf said, if a surge came through, it's possible the surge protection helped but is now toast, as he said try directly into a wall without the surge protector to see if it powers up.
We don't have to agree with each other, to respect each others opinion.
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Hall of Famer
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No surge suppression short of a TVSS on your main service panel is going to withstand the amount of electrical energy that comes from a direct lightning strike.
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All Pro
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Quote:
Adding to your comments ....
If this is a laptop, the battery could have died, and the timing is coincidental.
Also, sometimes laptop batteries come just the slightest bit loose, and it throws everything into chaos. Make sure that the battery is properly seated. Take it out and re-seat it.
<b>just a desktop </b>
I have seen desktop computers go out for no reason, and unplugging the computer and plugging it back in works.
Is the power cord plugged in tight at both ends?
<b> power cord is plugged in normal. it's a desktop. </b>
Does the outlet show any signs of electrical overload? (blackened edges, etc)
<b> the outlet does not look abnormal. i do know what you mean--outlets like those you mention look brownish somewhat--I think. </b>
Was there anything else plugged into the same outlet? Does the outlet work if you plug something else into it?
<b> I will try the outlet when I go home later today. </b>
Is the computer plugged directly into the outlet, or is it plugged into a surge protector? Is the protector tripped? Have you tried plugging it directly into an outlet?
<b> the computer is plugged into the surge protector. the protector is tripped. </b>
Also, some desktops have a reset button on the back for the power supply. If this is a desktop, you might want to check.
<b> I will reset that button. is that the I/O button that's like a flip switch? </b>
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if there is a toggle switch then that is to turn the power supply on or off. If you are talking the switch that slides, that is for 120/240 volt for oversea's don't mess with that.
What they were talking about is a reset switch (its actually a breaker) I have never seen one on a power supply for a computer. There may be one on your battery backup though.
First thing to do is find out if the outlet in your house is good. (test it with a lamp, or something you know works)
you could even plug the lamp into the battery backup to see if it still works. i would still bypass it anyway to be sure though.
if the lamp lights both times then you have a problem with the computer itself. If it is a power spec (or any prebuilt computer) then it probably had a cheap power supply. It could have simply failed.
Attitude is everything....FEAR THE ELF!!!
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Legend
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Legend
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Don't lose hope, even if your computer is fried, your hard drive is probably fine. You can install it in your new computer or spend $10 on an external hard drive enclosure and connect your disk to another (new) computer via USB to recover your files.
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Legend
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Exact same thing happened to me Wednesday night,, we had a power outage and the next morning I turned my puter on and NOTHING..
So I took it to a place that fixes things for me..(exactfix) Power Supply was shot..
Bought a new Aztec 25, 450 watt power supply from Staples (45 bucks plus tax) and took it back to Exactfix and they put it in for me.. works fine now.
Of course, it scared me which is why I'm now thinking I want a new computer.. see my thread on that subject.
#GMSTRONG
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Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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Legend
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I'm shocked by how many people I've seen complain about Power Supplies going out on them the past few days. Had a few friends on Facebook complaining about it as well. 
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Quote:
I'm shocked by how many people I've seen complain about Power Supplies going out on them the past few days. Had a few friends on Facebook complaining about it as well.
One of the maintenence guys in my neighborhood had the same dang thing happen on Wednesday..
Only thing is, it fried several computers in his home. Man,, that would really be a bummer..
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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Quote:
I'm shocked by how many people I've seen complain about Power Supplies going out on them the past few days. Had a few friends on Facebook complaining about it as well.
I lost my Samsung DLP tv a couple weeks ago during storms. Find with me though been wanting to upgrade to an LED 3D tv 
We don't have to agree with each other, to respect each others opinion.
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Does the DSL modem have ANY lights at all, or is just the DSL light out?
Quite possible just the line was damaged, you should have at least a power light on the modem. If none at all, it's fried and the phone co will replace it free. Unless you bought it, then you get to do it again.
PC hard drive is most likely OK. Probably fried the power supply, and possibly the Ethernet card. Both easily replaceable. Hopefully the mobo survived, they usually do. Needs to be thoroughly tested before you spend a lot of cash on replacement parts.
APC surge protectors do not guarantee to stop such a surge. They do, however, guarantee to pay fair market value to repair or replace damaged equipment. I have seen the checks, they have been used to pay my bill. They also make units with Ethernet protection. VERY HIGHLY recommend such equipment.
Dif you ever get your other problem solved? Or are you one of those people who never responds back with whatever the ultimate solution was? I find such folks extremely annoying, and once identified as such, I no longer bother to offer any assistance.
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All Pro
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Quote:
Does the DSL modem have ANY lights at all, or is just the DSL light out?
Quite possible just the line was damaged, you should have at least a power light on the modem. If none at all, it's fried and the phone co will replace it free. Unless you bought it, then you get to do it again.
PC hard drive is most likely OK. Probably fried the power supply, and possibly the Ethernet card. Both easily replaceable. Hopefully the mobo survived, they usually do. Needs to be thoroughly tested before you spend a lot of cash on replacement parts.
APC surge protectors do not guarantee to stop such a surge. They do, however, guarantee to pay fair market value to repair or replace damaged equipment. I have seen the checks, they have been used to pay my bill. They also make units with Ethernet protection. VERY HIGHLY recommend such equipment.
Dif you ever get your other problem solved? Or are you one of those people who never responds back with whatever the ultimate solution was? I find such folks extremely annoying, and once identified as such, I no longer bother to offer any assistance.
hey nelson, sorry for not getting back to you earlier. I have been in and out all week moving to the seminary. My parents told me the APC went bad and we got a new one. The ethernet card also had to be replaced.
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Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum not sure if my computer blew up.
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