Lightning Strike Help

[Anaxibius]

Ok...so I was extremely stupid. I built a new PC...loved it...worked perfectly. Well I was a moron and didn't have it on a Surge Protector. Lightning hit and a few seconds later there was an audible pop. This was around 5 in the morning, so I didn't really pay too much attention to it. When I got up the PC was on. All of the fans were spinning, but there was no display and the PC could not be powered off without removing the power.

I found that one spot on the motherboard got extremely hot when you plugged in the power, so I replaced the board (luckily for free). Now it still wouldn't power on, so I swapped out the power supply...it now powers up ...fans start spinning, but no POST and no display. My next assumption was the video card, but unfortunately the board does not support my old 2x agp card. The same goes with my old motherboard...it doesn't support the new card which requires an AGP 4x/8x Pro slot, so I can't test it.

The symptoms now are that it will power on with the new motherboard, but no post. The processor looks fine, but that means nothing and the memory looks fine as well. You cannot turn off the PC with the power button and reset does nothing. I am a computer geek, but I am not the type to keep extra components laying around. I do not have a bunch of extra components to test with which is why I am coming here for help. Is there a simple way to determine the component that is failing? I am leaning towards the CPU now, but I hope it isn't. Any ideas would be appreciated as well as any experince with similar problems created by lightning.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[severtki]

Anaxibius,

I just went through this yesterday and today -- I was in your exact same place with a new MB but older components so I couldn't swap most in. In my case, several add-in PCI cards were blown along with the PSU. The machine wouldn't post any time I tried to add the defective cards back in. If you haven't done so already, remove all unnecessary components. Does the MB have an LED read-out with error codes? Connect the speaker and see if it gives any beep errors -- these can sometimes help troubleshoot the problem.

If you've got two memory sticks, try using just one and trying different sockets.

Otherwise, I'd say locate a friend who doesn't mind you ripping apart his computer and start swapping things!

Good luck!

 

[Anaxibius]

I only had the one AGP card in it. No modem or sound card in the PCI slots. I do not have an LED readout for error codes and the PC doesn't get to the point where I can get any beeps. I know for a fact the PSU was blown. I also know that the board was blown. I just want to try to eliminate some things before I spend money. I live about 75 miles away from my all of my friends and they play too many games to rip apart their pc's 🙂

Were you getting any error codes or beep codes with your blown cards? As far as I can tell nothing is ahppening at all...no beeps, no hard drive spinning. I will have to try it wihtou the card in it and see if I get the beeps. Guess I will check the manual to see if it has a "no video card detected" beep.

Thanks for the help.

 

[severtki]

After reinstalling the MB and replacing the PSU, it wouldn't do a THING. Nothing at all -- then I remembered to connect the power switch to the MB. 🙂

In my case I could POST with minimal config, but as soon as I added a fragged card I would get beeps and error codes on the LEDs.

My only other suggestion would be to run to a Walmart or some such and buy the cheapest parts you can to play with. Make sure the store has a good return policy. Use those to play with and figure out what you'll need to buy...

Good luck!
Kirk