The night before last we got a nice thunderstorm that passed through East Texas. I was startled awake around 4:00 in the morning to a bright flash outside with an instant thunder boom; it was a close hit. Immediatley after that I heard something in my room make an odd murmer sound. I thought it was my TV because it’s the only electronic in my room not connected to a surge protector so I clicked the flicker and it came on just fine so I went back to sleep ignoring it. When I returned from work that afternoon I immediatley notice that my computer was on. I normally keep the machine on standby but I thought nothing of it because the slightest movement of the mouse will make it come alive. I powered on the monitor but got “No Signal” so I tried to power off the computer and restart but I got no response from the power button. After several attempts I resorted to unplugging the power cord from the back of the machine, re-inserting, and trying to power back up that way… Nothing. I moved the computer to another outlet, hit the power button… Nothing. I unscrewed the back, looked inside for any burnt wires and everything looks fine. Do you think I just have a burnt power supply or do you think the whole machine is toast?
My guess is there was a power surge and you fried your board. Just a guess though.
Yet another one of the evils of standy mode…
Could just be the power plant…they can blow with little visual evidence sometimes.
Power supplies are cheap. Replace it, and hope for the best. If it fails to bring the machine back, you’re only out a little cash, and you got a backup supply for the future.
If it is just the power supply ( I called and got a quote of around $45.00 ) do you think the hard drive could be fried as well? I don’t regurally back up my data (its been months since my last backup). I guess what I’m asking is, how rugged is the Hard Drive? If the power supply and even the mother board are toast, what are the chances that the Hard Drive and all my data is gone as well?
Depends on how much you’re willing to spend to get your data back. Worse case scenario: the drive electronics are completely shot, but the data on the actual platters is recoverable. You’d need to send it to a data recovery house, where they can remove the platters inside and install them in a working frame, and get your data out for you. It’s expensive though. Whether the drive electronics survived depends entirely on the failure mode. Switching supplies used in computers are fairly well-isolated from the rest of the circuitry, so the surge itself probably did no direct damage to the board or other electronics. However, if the supply failed in such a way as to cause a momentary high-voltage pulse on one of the power lines to the mainboard, you could be SOL.
I can’t imagine you’re looking at anything more then a new power supply and a motherboard.
Luckily both of those items are fairly inexpensive.
Be sure to get a surge protector when you take it to the store to ask them what you need.
Might be a nice time to get a new Dell, try techbargains.com they have some listed specials around $400 for about a 2.6ghz.
A word about surge protectors. There’s a few important characteristics to look for when purchasing one.
Maximum surge energy. This describes the total amount of energy the supressor can dissipate before losing it’s protective ability. It’s rated in joules, and the higher the number, the better.
Clamping response time. This is how fast the supressor can respond to an overvoltage, usually measured in nanoseconds. The lower the number the better.
Protection configuration. Ideally, you want a supressor than protects all the power lines: H-N, H-G and N-G. Cheaper units often only protect H-N. This listing will often include clamping voltage ratings for each pair, such as H-N 250V. the closer the clamping voltage is to about 20% over line voltage, the better.
Maximum surge voltage. This is, as it sounds, the maximum voltage surge the unit will safely protect against. The higher the number, the better. Average power lione surges can approach 6000V or more, and lightning-induced surges can exceed that by several times. No supressor will protect against every surge, especially where lightning is concerned, and none will protect against a direct strike. Ever.
For not much money, APC sells surge protectors and backup power supplies (UPS) with sizeable warranties against surge damage to equipment plugged into their products.
Protection warranties start at $50,000 or so on their UPS lines and go up from there.
I’m not here to plug APC, but they make a fine product and stand behind it. All of our computers here and at my house are protected by APC. Heck, I even bought an APC UPS to keep my Tivo and VCR running.
I’ll second the endorsement of APC’s products. Very reliable, and I’ve never had or encountered a problem with them.
Wait, didn’t you say your computer is surge protected but only your TV isnt? Your surge protector should have protected your computer. Since you tried different outlets, try with a new power supply first. Most power supplies will protect your computer at the cost of their “lives” 
If things got bad enough to fry the HD, your whole system is shot.
And next time get a real surge protector. I have 2 berkleys, one with a $25,000 and another with $50,000 warrenty against failure, since I have 3 machines and a surround sound TV/DVD/VHS system.
test the power supply…
I will assume you have a ATX motheboard… unless it is really old…
open your case, unhook the power cable cvonnected to the motherboard. get a paperclip…
and go here
If it doesn’t start up… then it is bad… if it does… then it may be a bigger issue…
you should try to re-seat everthing… CPU, Ram, all cards… see if that works…