If my PC won't turn on, yet the light in the back for the power supply is glowing, does that mean a failed switch instead of a dead power supply?

Just thought I'd ask in case that light still being on is not always indicative of a properly-functioning power supply.

Connections are all good and untouched since I powered it down last night.

I'll open it up to look for any fuses, but thought I'd get this post out there first thing to capture some wisdom before the commutes!

Hard to say. Do the fans even turn on? It could be the power supply, that light means very little on a lot of models.

One thing to try, unplug it from the wall. Press and hold the power button on the computer for 30 seconds or so, and then plug it back in and try again.

- Double check that power is being supplied to your wall outlet.
- Try another power cable from the PSU to the wall (also double check that the one you have hasn't somehow worked loose on it's own)
- Double check that the power button connector is attached to the correct pins on the motherboard. (You can also start the computer by bridging the two pins that the power button connects to with a metal screwdriver or paperclip. . . which will rule out the possibility of a bad switch.)

From this point, I usually suspect the mobo, or the psu. If you've got another computer kicking around, try swapping power supplies first (removing the mobo always takes longer).

Thanks for the help, guys. I very much appreciate it.

Chris, I tried the "press the power switch" trick, no-go. Guitar, I know the power strip is good, and am getting a no-go with another cable in another location also.

I just picked up a new PSU locally that was well-rated and am going to try a swap.

This is my main business computer; I really need to get it back.

BTW- I've always been curious about this: If I were to take out the C: drive from a computer such as this and buy a new computer (using all the same peripherals), could I simply swap it with the drive on the new computer? Or does a different MOBO, BIOS etc., necessitate reinstalling all the drivers, software, etc on the new unit's drive?

The different motherboard is likely to cause the most trouble, the are drivers for all the chips on the board. Unless the boards are very similar, you'll likely end up with a blue screen on boot. I've tried, and it's not really even possible to change the drivers out, it requires a re-install of Windows (installing over top, with the repair function will probably get you a running machine, but it'll have a lot of left over junk).

Swapping video cards is almost as bad. Most other peripherals can be changed.

Good luck, Mark.

I tried the "replace everything but the hard drive" trick. I wasn't satisfied. Got it to "work" but lots of flaky stuff (and not the delicious, buttery kind). I used IDENTICAL components.

Woo-Hoo!
I'm posting this from my business computer! All is good now with the new power supply!

Thanks for your input, you guys!

With great power comes great responsibility. Back to work!

Oh, go upgrade, will 'ya?

Hey, you solved your own problem. Just that your new power supply for its output.

Sweet!

You can swap it into a new computer and occasionally Windows will boot from it . . . more often than not though, you're going to have issues from the different hardware on your new computer. You can always read the data off your old HDD by plugging it into a new computer, and booting up off of the new HDD to recover files though.

Good stuff Mark!! Been there and a new PS didn't do it for me.

On a separate but related note, I bought a bunch of components from Newegg and dropped them off today at a local PC store who will assemble my new super computer. It will have an Intel i5-3570K chip, 16GB RAM and a Samsung 256GB SSD as the boot drive (OS and all the programs). The data drive is a 750GB. I am really looking forward to speed and something robust enough to not choke on a few programs being open. Should have it Fri/Sat.

Also, it should REALLY help out with photo processing in Lightroom 4.

... and as a bonus, it'll make those snappy replies to Mark even snappier.

That's important because it's Mark and he REALLY needs that kind of support!!!!!