# Computer Help: My iMac Won't Turn On! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2002, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030 "2002-09-04T20:42:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/1 "2002-09-04T20:42:56Z")
I was using Premiere on my iMac when I accidentally kicked the plug out of the wall. Since then it’s totally dead. I hit the power button and nothing, not a sound or a whir or anything. Nothing. I tried using a different power cord but to no avail. Any ideas? Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/2 "2002-09-04T21:01:16Z")
Try a different outlet? Weird things happen to outlets, too. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/3 "2002-09-04T21:01:43Z")
I assume you’ve made sure you also didn’t kick the power cord out from the computer as well (where it connects to the machine)? Make sure to check all cable connections. If that fails, maybe you somehow killed the power supply thingy-ma-jig, by introducing an electrical surge. You might want to bring it into an apple repair shop near you… good luck… -kev ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/4 "2002-09-04T21:12:08Z")
Or, is it possible you blew a fuse on that outlet’s circuit? Try an outlet on another circuit? How old is your house’s wiring? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/5 "2002-09-04T22:00:41Z")
How did you turn it on? The macs I use only come on with the keyboard connected & the keyboard power switch. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/6 "2002-09-04T22:00:47Z")
Is this the power button on the keyboard or on the computer? What model iMac? There’s a hardware reset button on the logic board that might do something, but that will invalidate your warranty. Sounds like a service call, dude. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/7 "2002-09-05T01:42:47Z")
It’s not the outlet/fuse because the power surge protector’s light is on, so I know there’s power coming out of there. Plus when I plug the printer into the surge protector it works okay. The iMac is a year old, an Indigo model (not the flat screen). The power button is right below the monitor. Could my kicking the plug out of the wall somehow have fried it? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/8 "2002-09-05T01:52:11Z")
Did you push the little button (thrugh a hole, the top one) right next to the connectors? It’s got a black triangle above it. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/9 "2002-09-05T10:41:51Z")
Try holding in the power switch on the iMac (not the keyboard) for 10 to 15 seconds. Let it go. Then try to power on manually. Sometimes my iMac did strange things like that, and that usually worked. Good luck. Oooh, and for some reason **handy** new Macs don’t seem to have the keyboard power switch! My QuickSilver sadly didn’t have it. So I used the Macally I used with the iMac, and gave the unused Pro keyboard (and that awful mouse) away with the iMac. \ Anyone remember the days when you bought a new Mac, you received a new _Mac_? If you wanted a mouse or keyboard, you had to shell out the extra bucks… \ ---
**Author:** ![Newton\_meter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/57b2e6/32.png) [@Newton\_meter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newton_meter)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/10 "2002-09-05T16:29:19Z")
There was this great scene in the movie _Zoolander_… Suffice to say that you are not the only one to have difficulty turning on an iMac. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/11 "2002-09-05T22:59:47Z")
**Fixed.** God knows how. I took the iMac to another outlet, plugged it in and presto, it booted right up. Kudos to **Duck Duck Goose** , I’m sorry I doubted you. Once it booted though it told me that the date was set to the wrong year. I updated the date & clock, turned it off, unplugged it and plugged it back in to the original outlet. It booted right up, no problem. Fascinating… ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-help-my-imac-wont-turn-on/127030/12 "2002-09-06T19:08:54Z")
Hee. 😃 I was a secretary/receptionist for many years, and the first thing you learned to ask, when some Junior Executive would come rushing up to your desk to report in excitement that the Mr. Coffee or the copy machine was broken, was, “Is it plugged in?” Nine times out of ten, you’d crawl under there and look, and it wouldn’t be. And the tenth time, you’d drag the cord to another outlet across the room and plug it in, and it’d work.