The trouble and trivals of parents...

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frigidmagi
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#1 The trouble and trivals of parents...

Post by frigidmagi »

So I am at my parents house and settling for a visit when my father informs me that their computer has given up the ghost. I took at look and I am very sure the problem is hardware but I'm gonna ask anyways.

You see they have an old HP Pavilion that has one big problem, it doesn't turn on. When you push the power button there is an click sound and... nothing. So I'm thinking my options here besides abject surrender are:

Look up the internal workings of this puppy and crack it open and attempt a manual repair with my little brother who is much better at computers.

Crack open the tower and check the current in the wires working the power switch. My superstitious thought is maybe a decade old wire has snap or something...

Or should I wave a white flag?

Right now I'm working off a laptop that a friend of my father's gave him. The guy meant well but he didn't strip the damn thing nor did he have protections no spybot, no nothing. I'm cleaning and securing while my parents are at the hospital.
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#2

Post by LadyTevar »

Why are Parents at Hospital?? Hopefully all is ok....



As for the computer, it sounds to me like it may be the powersource gave up the ghost. Finding a new one for a computer that old, well... I'd go buy a new computer, honestly. Move the old harddrive over to it.
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#3

Post by Cynical Cat »

Open it up and take a look. If it's the button, the connection to the power source, or the power source then repair/replacement is feasible.
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Post by Batman »

A decade? And I thought my last rig was old.

If memory serves, frigid is an electrician so if it's the wiring he should be able to fix it, but then he'd probably also have found out by now. If the PSU is pooped-ditch the clunker.While you probably COULD find a replacement on eBay or somewhere frankly I don't see where you would want to.

And moving the HDD over may be a bit harder than Her Ladyship thinks for a rig that old. For starters, I'm not certain modern day mobos HAVE IDE connectors anymore, and I know for a fact they DON'T have the power connectors needed for a PSU that old.
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#5

Post by Charon »

Always good to give it a look over. Make sure everything is fitting right, get all the dust out, check the wires etc.

If it's not even trying to start, I'd think it might be a power supply problem. If it is, you could get a new power supply... but if this thing is that ancient it's probably better to just put $300 towards a new computer.
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#6

Post by The Cleric »

Likely the power supply, they generally don't last more than 5 years anyway. You can get a replacement, but it'd probably be worth spending a couple hundred dollars on a budget rig. Newegg isn't a bad place to look.
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