My main computer simply stopped; there was no power at all. This was a first for me--I'd come back into the room after being away for several hours to find my main computer (an Athlon 1700 XP, Windows XP Home system) completely dead. I checked all the connections and the power strip and there were no problems with those. What I found is that when I shut off the switch on the power strip, and the one on the back of the power supply, then turned them both back on and hit the power switch on the front of the case, I got a split-second of power that turned the fans a little and lit the indicator lights on the optical drives very briefly, and that was all. Hitting the power switch on the case again did absolutely nothing.So I went off to buy a new power supply--a 350W Antec replacement unit--at Fry's, and I ran into someone there who told me that the split-second of power I got after turning all the switches off and then back on could indicate that the main board had been fried, and that the power supply was not necessarily the problem. But we tried the new power supply; I connected only the wide plug into the main board, without hooking up any of the drives, just to test it. When I turned the power on, there was definitely power there for about a second--but then there was a pop, and a discouraging burning smell!Experts, can you tell me: Did I just ruin the brand new power supply? Is it possible for a dead main board to do that to a new power supply? On subsequent start-up attempts I got exactly what I was getting with the old (nearly 3-year-old) power supply--just a split-second turning of the fans, and then nothing. Does it sound like the main board's gone bad? If I just replace the main board is the new power supply likely to still be good? And have you ever heard of a computer simply stopping like this?I need to get up and running again as soon as I can, so thanks for any help you can offer.One additional note: I leave the computer running around the clock (it's normally doing calculations), and really only shut it down to install a new drive or something similar, so it's rarely subjected to power on-and-off stress.

Assuming the new powersupply was good and you installed it correctly, then one would have to think the problem lies with the motherboard or one of the peripherals.Could you tell where the acrid smell was coming? If you remove the new powersupply from the computer, does the smell seem to be in the powersupply? The powersupply may have overload protection and shut down so as to not damage the powersupply.If the smell is coming from the motherboard or peripherals, then you must have a component failure or a short to ground.It is nearly impossible to provide you with a correct answer without direcly troubleshooting your computer.W. Sieffert

>It is nearly impossible to provide you with a correct answer>without direcly troubleshooting your computer.>>W. SieffertI understand, but I'm just trying to get an idea of the probabilities. I'd be willing to pull out the main board and put a new one in, but then I'm wondering if a "fried" main board is also likely to have damaged the RAM module (512k), as well as possibly messing up the brand new power supply (I checked its manual, and it only refers to a variable speed of the fan in responding to the level of the heat; it says nothing about an automatic shut-down mode). If I tried a new board with a possibly damaged power supply or RAM, perhaps I'd end up damaging the board too! No, I couldn't tell exactly where the electrical pop came from--I was a bit stunned at the time--or where the burning smell was coming from; one just wonders if anyone else has ever had anything go "pop" like that in similar circumstances, and what the solution might have been.When I tried the new power supply, I only hooked up the connectors to the main board--I didn't connect any of the drives because I just wanted to do a brief power-on test first. Hopefully that was okay to just have that one connection at first; at least it indicates the peripherals weren't part of the problem.

When you hear "pops", usually you find capacitor cans blown open, the tops of chips popped up, or resistors that are burned apart and charred.Other than that it is a toss-up and what may be bad at this point. Sorry that I can't be anymore specific!W. Sieffert

>When you hear "pops", usually you find capacitor cans blown>open, the tops of chips popped up, or resistors that are>burned apart and charred.Thanks for your help; I shall check into the things you've mentioned.Having had a few days to think about it and to check what's available on the market, I've pretty much decided to go with a brand new HP Media Center PC with an Athlon 64 3400+ for $999. I was planning a new system for early in the new year anyway, though I would have kept the last system running as my second computer. I was pleasantly surprised to see what could be had for a thousand these days, and I've really been wanting to get ahold of one of those Athlon 64s. I do a massive amount of number crunching and I'll be very interested to see how that one performs.

Before you buy the HP computer make sure what is inside the box. Investigate what peripherals are part of the MOBO, sound, graphics, modems, NIC. If there is on-board graphics, does it have an AGP or PCI Express slot along with a number of standard PCI slots. Make sure the AGP or PCI Express slots, if installed, are usuable (Note: some aren't even if installed).Don't be fooled by a high-end CPU and find other limitations. I would visit the HP and other computer vendor websites and do comparison shopping.W. Sieffert

Thanks again. It has one free PCI slot that I'm told I can use for my internal DSL modem. Apparently it has a low end graphics card, but that's not an issue for me at the moment. I will check to see if it can be swapped though--but I believe it's possible.I had a tech on the phone who told me there's a slave connector on the HD ribbon cable that I can use to transfer data from my existing drive, though I'd have to temporarily use the CD-ROM power connector to get the job done (he couldn't see a spare connector). There isn't a second hard drive bay inside, but once I've got the data transferred that's not a drawback for me.Overall I know what you mean about these brand name models. Last time around I built my system, and it lasted for nearly three years. This time I need to spend less time on that project and more time on my work. But every time I buy a new system it's always a case of, Which way do I go this time? It's never been a simple choice, but this time the brand name seems to be a decent alternative, and I am impressed by what's available at the thousand dollar level.