Emachine Power Problem

[JackH4161]

Emachine Desktop T series Model T2742. D845GVSR motherboard. Father in law's computer. He could not power up. Power supply was bad and I replaced it with another 250W power supply. Different vendor but specs were right. New power supply works and C drive light blinks but steady clicking (not the normal sound of a drive). Sounds hung up.

Absolutely no video output. Does not recognize any keyboard inputs also I can not open the CD drive other than with a paperclip. I suspect that the old power supply fried the motherboard when it failed. Any suggestions or should I order a new motherboard. I suspect the CD drive problem is because of the motherboard not allowing it to open since it is probably getting power from the new power supply. Also I never changed a motherboard. I presume staying with the same D845GVSR is the safest bet without having a lot of hardware/software issues afterward.

Thanks for any help

 

[wahnula]

JackH4161,

This forum is littered with the carcasses of eMachines PCs. Cut your losses and get another brand replacement board. To recover his data and profile, connect the drive as Slave in your system and copy the data (run Virus check on it LOL).

To check the HDD quality after copying download the drive maker's diagnostics utitlity and run it on your PC. Thsi may be step One if the drive is not visible as slave.

Tony

 

[JackH4161]

Good advice and easy for you to say ROFL

I would pay 500,000 to fix this one before setting up a new one for him. Where is my thing that showed me the temperature outside. What program was it. I don't know but what about this, what about that. He has DSL and won't stop using that stinking AOL. Wo knows what he has on that stupid thing and where. He would sit next to me for three weeks with a legal pad slowly writing everything down like a court reporter.

 

[wahnula]

jackH4161,

Your best bet is to first remove that drive and check it on a system that works before you invest that 500 Grand in a new MB. Best practice is to image the drive to another drive or partition before running anything:

http://www.runtime.org

Take the computer (or at least the HDD) home to minimize distractions (unless they live with you, then that is a subject for another forum: forum26543, PC Repair Amongst Aged Relatives.

If the drive is clicking that's not good, we need to determine if the drive is operable on a working machine. If not, and money is no object, STOP USING IT and send it off to a data recovery service for repair. If not, image it and start forensic recovery. If it's good, a new MB can be ordered for much less, or a repair install of Windows on a new MB would get him back to normal. First step: find the broken part.

We complain about being our relatives' Tech Support, but we placed ourselves in that position, it is our duty to make tech accessible to them. Or tell them "You live near a school and my parole officer says I can't get within 1000 feet of one..."

 

[JackH4161]

Thanks

Great idea to see if the drive is working. I can get the slave pin position for his drive online and give it a try in one of my PC’s.

I like the school idea too. I don’t mind helping them but between my son, my wife and my father in law they keep me pretty busy on the software and tech issues.

Probably will set him up with a new one sometime but this is the wrong season It is Turbo Tax season and he spends all day either looking at his simple return all day or reading an E-mail from his sister.

I hope his eight-track doesn’t break. Appreciate the ideas and thanks for the time.