I think I am fried

[adnoto]

Hello all. I am looking for some help or at lest some suggestions as to what to do next. I wasn't home at the time but my girlfriend told me that the power to the condo cut out and came right back on. She thinks the computer rebooted and then about 5 mins later there was another power outage. I showed up right after this second outage and the computer was off. I tried to fire it up and I got power but no boot. The PS's fan is spinning and everything lights up (including the HDD indicator light) but the HDD never seems to actually read. I am terribly afraid that somehow my HDD was fried or something. I get no post beeps of any kind.

I am running

C2D 4400 Stock
Asus P5B-Plus (green on-board mobo light is lit)
Corsair 520 PS
2 gig of Geil
WD 250 HDD

This is a nightmare for me as I need to do some serious writing tonight and I have the bulk of several term papers I now have no acces too.

Any thoughts and/or suggestions would be much appreciated at this point. Thanks in advance.

 

[CoachB]

You might try a cmos reset and see if things return to normal. Next would be to unplug the power connector to the HDD and then try a boot to see if you get beeps and maybe can get into BIOS. Could be BIOS has lost it's way to the HDD.
Next would be to try each stick of RAM individually.
Good Luck!!

 

[adnoto]

Coach, Thanks a ton. I am writing down everything you just said for future ref but, as of now, I might be the most relieved guy on the face of the planet -- IT BOOTED! For some crazy reason, after about 15 mins of it sitting off, it finally booted. Holy crap I was literally frantic there for awhile. I am still shaken and have no idea why it wouldn't boot the first few times I tried it. What would cause it to not be able to boot one min and then a few mins later have it boot up just like normal?

This has scared me enough that I think I might invest in a battery backup or something. Is it worth it? Do those things really work and mitigate power surges and spikes?

 

[JustaGeek]

Originally posted by: adnoto
Coach, Thanks a ton. I am writing down everything you just said for future ref but, as of now, I might be the most relieved guy on the face of the planet -- IT BOOTED! For some crazy reason, after about 15 mins of it sitting off, it finally booted. Holy crap I was literally frantic there for awhile. I am still shaken and have no idea why it wouldn't boot the first few times I tried it. What would cause it to not be able to boot one min and then a few mins later have it boot up just like normal?

This has scared me enough that I think I might invest in a battery backup or something. Is it worth it? Do those things really work and mitigate power surges and spikes?

Absolutely essential.

I would not run a computer without a UPS connected.

Even a 550VA/330W APC will do the job.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm...m/ccd/productDetail.do

$40 for the peace of mind.

 

[robisbell]

I agree with justageek, and I'd run a diagnostic on the HDD and visually inspect the motherboard, and manually check the psu with a multimeter.