Some computer questions for the tech-savvy

Last week my 12 year-old HP tower PC went bang, literally. It’s been chugging away on Windows 8 for the last few years and had developed a habit of suddenly shutting itself down at random moments. Whenever that happened, I merely used to unplug it, give it a few seconds, plug it back in again and it would usually start back up after a short delay. However, when I tried that on Friday there was a loud bang, the electric in my flat tripped out and there was a brief smell of smoke from the back of the PC. I’m not a computer expert by any means, but I think it might be knackered…..

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive. I have a Chromebook I'm currently using for the internet and almost all of my document work, but it’s not possible to do the music quiz stuff on anything other than a tower PC. Unfortunately, all the external CD drives currently on the market are really flimsy and not designed for the type of frequent use I need while preparing a quiz.

My questions are these: do you think there is any realistic possibility that the old PC could be fixed? If so, do you reckon it would prove cost-effective (I've already been quoted approximately £180, and that's if it only needs a new power unit)? Failing that, do you reckon the small amount of data on the hard drive that I'd like to keep could be recovered and moved to an external hard drive so that I could eventually transfer it to a new PC tower? My guesses are possibly, probably not and quite likely but, as I’ve said, I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to stuff like this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Last week my 12 year-old HP tower PC went bang, literally. It’s been chugging away on Windows 8 for the last few years and had developed a habit of suddenly shutting itself down at random moments. Whenever that happened, I merely used to unplug it, give it a few seconds, plug it back in again and it would usually start back up after a short delay. However, when I tried that on Friday there was a loud bang, the electric in my flat tripped out and there was a brief smell of smoke from the back of the PC. I’m not a computer expert by any means, but I think it might be knackered…..

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive. I have a Chromebook I'm currently using for the internet and almost all of my document work, but it’s not possible to do the music quiz stuff on anything other than a tower PC. Unfortunately, all the external CD drives currently on the market are really flimsy and not designed for the type of frequent use I need while preparing a quiz.

My questions are these: do you think there is any realistic possibility that the old PC could be fixed? If so, do you reckon it would prove cost-effective (I've already been quoted approximately £180, and that's if it only needs a new power unit)? Failing that, do you reckon the small amount of data on the hard drive that I'd like to keep could be recovered and moved to an external hard drive so that I could eventually transfer it to a new PC tower? My guesses are possibly, probably not and quite likely but, as I’ve said, I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to stuff like this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

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It sounds like the power supply gave up. 12 years is quite old for a computer, why don't you treat yourself to something a bit newer?

Even if you fix the PSU and that's all that is the issue and the motherboard itself isn't fried, something that old could have other stuff die at any moment. Given the randomly rebooting, it's probably a miracle it lasted as long as it did. Sounds like the data is what you really care about.

I'd strongly recommend doing the second way - get the data off the hard drive onto an external device or up into the cloud (think there are tons of places that will do this for you if you aren't comfortable doing it yourself), buy yourself something new and copy the data back. I haven't bought a computer in the UK in 30+ years but looks like entry level towers at Curry's start between 300-400 quid, if it's not just the PSU needs replacing you'll start to approach that fixing the old one in a hurry.

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Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

It sounds like the power supply gave up. 12 years is quite old for a computer, why don't you treat yourself to something a bit newer?

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I've tried a couple of times in the last couple of years, but the problem is PC towers with optical drives are few and far between and those that are available have very flimsy optical drives that are barely fit for purpose.

As I've said, I only really use the tower PC for recording and burning CDs. I bought a new one from John Lewis two years ago, but the optical drive proved hopeless within a few days, so it went back. About a year ago I bought a refurbished tower PC with an optical drive, but that was also hopeless. Despite me clearly stating in my communications with the sellers that the optical drive had to be robust and fully operational, when it arrived it was rubbish.

It's a tricky situation. I fully appreciate that CDs are considered old media now (just as vinyl was not so long ago...), but I have a huge collection and really enjoy setting the music quizzes, so I'm determined to find a solution.

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Originally Posted by LA Bluebird

Even if you fix the PSU and that's all that is the issue and the motherboard itself isn't fried, something that old could have other stuff die at any moment. Given the randomly rebooting, it's probably a miracle it lasted as long as it did. Sounds like the data is what you really care about.

I'd strongly recommend doing the second way - get the data off the hard drive onto an external device or up into the cloud (think there are tons of places that will do this for you if you aren't comfortable doing it yourself), buy yourself something new and copy the data back. I haven't bought a computer in the UK in 30+ years but looks like entry level towers at Curry's start between 300-400 quid, if it's not just the PSU needs replacing you'll start to approach that fixing the old one in a hurry.

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Yeah, after today's quote I'm fairly sure it's the only way to go. I'll just have to hope the data is recoverable. The annoying thing is that I have almost everything that is on the tower PC backed up on two external hard drives anyway, but I've been on a bit of a roll with the quiz stuff in the last couple of months and neglected to back up the new work I'd done. Not a complete disaster as most of it was already complete, so I'd burned the CDs and some of the other stuff is recoverable from e-mails I'd sent, but some decent stuff will be missing.

I've seen hard drive enclosures online, which may be a solution, and they're not expensive. Maybe they will work to recover what I've lost.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Last week my 12 year-old HP tower PC went bang, literally. It’s been chugging away on Windows 8 for the last few years and had developed a habit of suddenly shutting itself down at random moments. Whenever that happened, I merely used to unplug it, give it a few seconds, plug it back in again and it would usually start back up after a short delay. However, when I tried that on Friday there was a loud bang, the electric in my flat tripped out and there was a brief smell of smoke from the back of the PC. I’m not a computer expert by any means, but I think it might be knackered…..

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive. I have a Chromebook I'm currently using for the internet and almost all of my document work, but it’s not possible to do the music quiz stuff on anything other than a tower PC. Unfortunately, all the external CD drives currently on the market are really flimsy and not designed for the type of frequent use I need while preparing a quiz.

My questions are these: do you think there is any realistic possibility that the old PC could be fixed? If so, do you reckon it would prove cost-effective (I've already been quoted approximately £180, and that's if it only needs a new power unit)? Failing that, do you reckon the small amount of data on the hard drive that I'd like to keep could be recovered and moved to an external hard drive so that I could eventually transfer it to a new PC tower? My guesses are possibly, probably not and quite likely but, as I’ve said, I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to stuff like this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

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I have a tower PC here, it's Dans he used to use it for his music stuff before he switched to macs, it's a decent PC an I7 but an early variant of the chip, you're quite welcome to it if you want it, he was going to smash it up, it's a big fkin case though 530 mm deep, 230 mm wide, 460 mm height. He would want to wipe it. Regarding the transfer of data from your HDD, i did buy a cable a while ago to get stuff of my old HDD's and it worked fine, but from 12 years ago there were a few different interfaces on SATA drives. and if the HDD doesn't spin under power thats a bigger problem.

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Originally Posted by Heathblue

I have a tower PC here, it's Dans he used to use it for his music stuff before he switched to macs, it's a decent PC an I7 but an early variant of the chip, you're quite welcome to it if you want it, he was going to smash it up, it's a big fkin case though 530 mm deep, 230 mm wide, 460 mm height. He would want to wipe it. Regarding the transfer of data from your HDD, i did buy a cable a while ago to get stuff of my old HDD's and it worked fine, but from 12 years ago there were a few different interfaces on SATA drives. and if the HDD doesn't spin under power thats a bigger problem.

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I offered him my portable Cassette player, still haven't had a response.......

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

I offered him my portable Cassette player, still haven't had a response.......

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He'd struggle to press play and record at the same time :hehe:

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Originally Posted by Heathblue

He'd struggle to press play and record at the same time :hehe:

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I'm shit with technology, i haven't touched the TV since we went digital, i'm an analogue man.

I'd be amazed if the hard drive is knackered. The psu may have taken out the motherboard but the other components should be fine.

Recovering the data should just be a matter of plugging the hard drive into another computer

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Originally Posted by Heathblue

I have a tower PC here, it's Dans he used to use it for his music stuff before he switched to macs, it's a decent PC an I7 but an early variant of the chip, you're quite welcome to it if you want it, he was going to smash it up, it's a big fkin case though 530 mm deep, 230 mm wide, 460 mm height. He would want to wipe it. Regarding the transfer of data from your HDD, i did buy a cable a while ago to get stuff of my old HDD's and it worked fine, but from 12 years ago there were a few different interfaces on SATA drives. and if the HDD doesn't spin under power thats a bigger problem.

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I will be in touch. Thanks Chris.

:thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

I offered him my portable Cassette player, still haven't had a response.......

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Didn't I give you that to start with? One I found in the attic when I moved here? Or did I dream that?

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Originally Posted by PontBlue

I'd be amazed if the hard drive is knackered. The psu may have taken out the motherboard but the other components should be fine.

Recovering the data should just be a matter of plugging the hard drive into another computer

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Thanks, that's what I'm hoping. My sister has thrown the subject of 'earthing' myself into the equation before I attempt to remove the hard drive from the old PC. I thought she was taking the piss, but she sent me an article and apparently it's a thing. This is a minefield...

:hehe:

You could possibly reuse the optical drive from the knackered pc in a replacement

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Originally Posted by RichardM

You could possibly reuse the optical drive from the knackered pc in a replacement

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I had thought of that, but the problem is the existing tower is quite wide and all the new towers seem to be thin. None that I've seen have a slot that would be big enough for the existing drive. Anyway, to be honest, the built-in drive also became a bit temperamental in terms of the disc writing a few years back, so I started using a small and flimsy external writer for that bit of the operation. The old drive is fine for reading and playing the discs, and the external drive is fine for burning, but neither can do both properly.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Didn't I give you that to start with? One I found in the attic when I moved here? Or did I dream that?

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Yeah, i'm sure you gave me an old school 90s blaster type thing, although you told me that you bought it from ebay as a gift, not something a dead person had discarded, thanks mate......

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

Yeah, i'm sure you gave me an old school 90s blaster type thing, although you told me that you bought it from ebay as a gift, not something a dead person had discarded, thanks mate......

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:hehe:

I think there were three in the attic when I bought this place. And two old TVs. And a hole in the roof that was fixed by Mark who called himself the Alien on here if I recall correctly?

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

:hehe:

I think there were three in the attic when I bought this place. And two old TVs. And a hole in the roof that was fixed by Mark who called himself the Alien on here if I recall correctly?

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Indeed, Mark was a diamond, i regularly called him up when i needed advice on roofing work.

The symptoms you quote are not uncommon and not difficult to fix. The reason your computer kept shutting down is because the fan is probably clogged with dust. A give away for this type of problem is you tend to hear the fans work harder much sooner than normal resulting in the PC shutting down through overheating. You may well have to get a new PSU but the problem may not go away until you've tackled the processor fan. Not a difficult job in a tower PC because there's lots of room to work in. AS it's an old PC the contact paste on the processor may have dried out somewhat and that paste can be bought on Ebay for buttons. That quote for £180 seems a little steep unless it includes parts . If it was my computer I would spend 50= 60(poss cheaper on Ebay and a glance on your broken PSU should tell you exactly what you need} on a new PSU, a couple of quid on contact paste and a can of air to blow out all the dust. Under no circumstances use a vacuum cleaner on it. Someone competent would do this in half an hour. I did have a similar problem on an old PC of mine about 20yrs ago and that's how I fixed it.

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Originally Posted by PontBlue

I'd be amazed if the hard drive is knackered. The psu may have taken out the motherboard but the other components should be fine.

Recovering the data should just be a matter of plugging the hard drive into another computer

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I doubt the hard drive is knackered as you say, but anything that old could die at any time especially assuming it's old magnetic based storage. Also depending on age you might struggle getting an interface with a newer motherboard.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

I've tried a couple of times in the last couple of years, but the problem is PC towers with optical drives are few and far between and those that are available have very flimsy optical drives that are barely fit for purpose.

As I've said, I only really use the tower PC for recording and burning CDs. I bought a new one from John Lewis two years ago, but the optical drive proved hopeless within a few days, so it went back. About a year ago I bought a refurbished tower PC with an optical drive, but that was also hopeless. Despite me clearly stating in my communications with the sellers that the optical drive had to be robust and fully operational, when it arrived it was rubbish.

It's a tricky situation. I fully appreciate that CDs are considered old media now (just as vinyl was not so long ago...), but I have a huge collection and really enjoy setting the music quizzes, so I'm determined to find a solution.

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I would only use Asus optical drives and then back up everything online and offline.

Can i just say that i'm really impressed with the knowledge people have on here on various subjects, i learn so much. My input would have been to bang the **** out of the computer like we used to do with the TV back in the 80s, my old man was a craftsman when it came to lumping the TV.

I replaced a psu on an old tower a few years back after the old one packed up and it cost prob less than £30. It was easy to do. I also used to put the hoover over the vents on pc's and laptops and you'd be amazed at the dust levels.

In terms of backing up data if the drivers support it you can buy usb pen drives for v little and I got a 64gb drive for under £10!

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive.

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If that's literally the only thing you're looking to do, you can probably just use your phone (assuming you have a basic smartphone).

Download the song you want from YouTube using a free ripping website or app (there are hundreds of them, just Google "YouTube music rip android" or similar).

Then download a simple audio editing app to trim the song to 30 seconds. Again, there are hundreds of free ones available (your phone might already have one installed).

If you're just playing the first 30 seconds of the song (rather than a specific section), you don't even have to do that.

Almost all sound systems should have bluetooth or even a wired connection so that you can then play them during the quiz.

Might sound like a faff on the surface but it's far more efficient (and cheaper!) than the "old school" way.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Last week my 12 year-old HP tower PC went bang, literally. It’s been chugging away on Windows 8 for the last few years and had developed a habit of suddenly shutting itself down at random moments. Whenever that happened, I merely used to unplug it, give it a few seconds, plug it back in again and it would usually start back up after a short delay. However, when I tried that on Friday there was a loud bang, the electric in my flat tripped out and there was a brief smell of smoke from the back of the PC. I’m not a computer expert by any means, but I think it might be knackered…..

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive. I have a Chromebook I'm currently using for the internet and almost all of my document work, but it’s not possible to do the music quiz stuff on anything other than a tower PC. Unfortunately, all the external CD drives currently on the market are really flimsy and not designed for the type of frequent use I need while preparing a quiz.

My questions are these: do you think there is any realistic possibility that the old PC could be fixed? If so, do you reckon it would prove cost-effective (I've already been quoted approximately £180, and that's if it only needs a new power unit)? Failing that, do you reckon the small amount of data on the hard drive that I'd like to keep could be recovered and moved to an external hard drive so that I could eventually transfer it to a new PC tower? My guesses are possibly, probably not and quite likely but, as I’ve said, I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to stuff like this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

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This TOWER comes in at £189.99 has a fast Intel i7 Processor, Windows 11, 8GB RAM and 1TB SSD memory.

The danger of running old operating systems is security, with mainstream support for Windows 8.1 ending on January 9, 2018, and extended support ended on January 10, 2023.

The above package is customizable - so give yourself a much easier time at the keyboard :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by FormerlyJohnnyBreadhead

If that's literally the only thing you're looking to do, you can probably just use your phone (assuming you have a basic smartphone).

Download the song you want from YouTube using a free ripping website or app (there are hundreds of them, just Google "YouTube music rip android" or similar).

Then download a simple audio editing app to trim the song to 30 seconds. Again, there are hundreds of free ones available (your phone might already have one installed).

If you're just playing the first 30 seconds of the song (rather than a specific section), you don't even have to do that.

Almost all sound systems should have bluetooth or even a wired connection so that you can then play them during the quiz.

Might sound like a faff on the surface but it's far more efficient (and cheaper!) than the "old school" way.

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Thanks for the advice, and I understand what you're saying, but that's not for me. I don't use my mobile for music at all.

I have an enormous CD collection which includes a couple of hundred three or five disc various artists compilation albums. A large part of the enjoyment of preparing and recording the quizzes is digging through the collection, finding the tracks, selecting the segments to be recorded, etc.

There will be a way to continue and I'll find it. There are a couple of apparently sturdy BluRay/DVD/CD players and burners available on the market at present costing between £120 and £160. The problem is the reviews are mixed as the machines are geared towards far more complicated operations than I need.

I'm talking a local professional PC expert tomorrow to get his views on the existing machine and any possible solutions going forward.

2 options in my opinion

get a new PC PSU, £50 - £60 on eBay , 15 min job to change it in your Tower PC, hoover out all the fans and vents, maybe if you are feeling brave change the fans to better ones ( with more airflow )

option 2, get yourself a old MacBook Pro ( Sub £200 ), install windows on it ( using bootcamp ) which is easy to do , get yourself a external Mac CDR ( the apple superdrives are only £30 on eBay these days, which USB 2 and a slower date transfer rate, they will be good enough and simple enough for what you want to do )

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

There will be a way to continue and I'll find it. There are a couple of apparently sturdy BluRay/DVD/CD players and burners available on the market at present costing between £120 and £160. The problem is the reviews are mixed as the machines are geared towards far more complicated operations than I need.

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not sure what you are doing with it to be hung up on it being " sturdy " , they are designed to be slung in a laptop bag , at £15 each, get 2, if one fails when you need it, you will have a spare, but they are not as delicate as maybe you think

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Originally Posted by blue matt

not sure what you are doing with it to be hung up on it being " sturdy " , they are designed to be slung in a laptop bag , at £15 each, get 2, if one fails when you need it, you will have a spare, but they are not as delicate as maybe you think

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I can understand your viewpoint, but I'm not talking about the build of the external CD/DVD drive as such. As you say, they are sturdy enough in that respect. I have an old HP external CD/DVD drive and it's solid enough. However, what I'm referring to is the internal mechanism of the machine.

When I record a quiz, there are ten rounds. Each round contains ten tracks and each track excerpt is between 30 and 40 seconds long. Therefore, each quiz lasts approximately an hour and contains 100 track clips. Unfortunately, almost all of the external CD/DVD drives on the market are just not built to cope with such a rapid turnover of discs. Unlike normal CD players, you need to clip the disc into these external drives. It's fiddly and the mechanisms are not robust enough for frequent use.

I need a drive where I can open it, drop a CD in and close it again like you would with a standard CD player on a stereo system. That's how they used to be on PC towers like the one I have now, but these days any PC tower that does come with an optical drive has the flimsy, upright, clip-in type of mechanism.

The sort of external drives you're referring to are no doubt fine for loading the occasional CD and burning the occasional disc, but they're not robust enough for the type of frequent use I'd need. I require something more like the Pioneer models in the link below, but they're obviously a lot more expensive.

https://pioneer-blurayodd.eu/

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

The sort of external drives you're referring to are no doubt fine for loading the occasional CD and burning the occasional disc, but they're not robust enough for the type of frequent use I'd need. I require something more like the Pioneer models in the link below, but they're obviously a lot more expensive.

https://pioneer-blurayodd.eu/

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Never knew what the Welsh word for bluray was.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Last week my 12 year-old HP tower PC went bang, literally. It’s been chugging away on Windows 8 for the last few years and had developed a habit of suddenly shutting itself down at random moments. Whenever that happened, I merely used to unplug it, give it a few seconds, plug it back in again and it would usually start back up after a short delay. However, when I tried that on Friday there was a loud bang, the electric in my flat tripped out and there was a brief smell of smoke from the back of the PC. I’m not a computer expert by any means, but I think it might be knackered…..

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive. I have a Chromebook I'm currently using for the internet and almost all of my document work, but it’s not possible to do the music quiz stuff on anything other than a tower PC. Unfortunately, all the external CD drives currently on the market are really flimsy and not designed for the type of frequent use I need while preparing a quiz.

My questions are these: do you think there is any realistic possibility that the old PC could be fixed? If so, do you reckon it would prove cost-effective (I've already been quoted approximately £180, and that's if it only needs a new power unit)? Failing that, do you reckon the small amount of data on the hard drive that I'd like to keep could be recovered and moved to an external hard drive so that I could eventually transfer it to a new PC tower? My guesses are possibly, probably not and quite likely but, as I’ve said, I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to stuff like this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

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Chat GPT says

"It definitely sounds like your old HP tower is beyond saving in any cost-effective way. A loud bang, tripped electrics, and smoke strongly suggest a power supply failure—possibly taking other components with it. While replacing the PSU (£180 quote) might get it running again, there's a good chance other parts (motherboard, hard drive, or RAM) were also damaged, making it an expensive gamble.

As for data recovery, your hard drive is probably fine unless it was directly affected by the power surge. You could remove it and connect it to another PC using a SATA-to-USB adapter or external enclosure (these cost around £10-£20). That should allow you to transfer your files to an external drive and then onto a new PC when you get one.

Since you rely on a solid optical drive for ripping CDs and burning discs, your best bet is probably a new/refurbished tower PC with a built-in disc drive or an older but reliable external DVD/CD burner. Avoid cheap, flimsy USB drives—they won’t hold up to frequent use.

TL;DR:

Fixing the old PC? Probably not worth it.
Recovering your files? Likely doable.
Best solution? Get a new/refurbished tower with a built-in disc drive.
Hope that helps!"

Dont bother fixing old one.

Some good advice in here for alternatives.

Like I said before I'd be surprised if you PC wasn't repairable. Years of dust is the biggest cause of overheating in a PC and I hazard an educated guess but I'd be surprised if there was any other sort of damage to other components as they are well protected. If there was then that quote for 180 wouldn't cover it. I would repeat though don't use a vacuum cleaner to clean it out otherwise you risk frying components with static-Take it from a chap that's done it.

Buy a new PC, and an external CD drive, preferably with a cable. CD drives are £20-odd on Amazon. As long as your (new) PC has the socket for it (usually HDMI, but they do differ), then you're good to go. The PC should 'recognise' the drive as soon as you plug it in.

Hdmi is a display standard. Any internal cd drive will almost certainly be a sata connection

A 12 year old PC usually isn't worth salvaging (unless it was really really high spec when it /the parts first came out).

The loud 'bang' could mean numerous things.

Possibly, the PSU is fried, you could replace it and whilst it's 'pretty easy' probably isn't worth it, also other components are likely gone as well, most notably the motherboard, if that has fried it probably has travelled to the RAM, CPU could be fried.

I would personally recommend a new PC, however in 2025, make sure it's got either windows 10 or windows 11 (if the former, if it's new enough should still allow you to upgrade to windows 11, but if not sure just get a machine with windows 11 pre installed) Do not get windows 8 again as as other people have said, end of life.

Make sure the primary drive is an SSD, I would recommend at least 8GB RAM at a minimum now.

Be careful when people say to make sure it's an I7, we are currently in the 14th gen of the I processors by Intel, for example, a 10th Gen I5 would be better than a 3rd gen I7.
You probably wont have a need for a graphics card for what you're using the PC for, and also to what others said, depending on the case, you will be able to situate the CD drive within the case and connect via SATA cable.

Also make sure that whatever type of connector you are using for the monitor, is also situated on the new PC (I.E, if you are using HDMI, make sure it has a HDMI port... there are adapters but from personal experience aren't as great as 'native')


I have worked in the NHS for 6 years in IT and have a degree in computing, but would also like to say a lot of people here also seem to know what they're talking about!

Good luck! :)

Thanks for all the advice. It really was appreciated.

On Thursday evening I spoke to a local computer engineer. He said it was almost certainly a PSU failure as a result of both the age of the unit and a build-up of dust in the fans, as a couple of you suggested. He didn't think there was likely to be any other damage, so I took the PC over to his workshop yesterday afternoon. He contacted me a few hours later to say he'd installed a new PSU, cleaned out all the dust and the machine was booting up just fine.

I collected it this morning, it's working perfectly now (better than it has in years, in fact) and I was charged just £40.00! Excellent service and Neil is a really nice guy to deal with. Can't recommend him and his company highly enough. If you live in the Cardiff area and have any PC or laptop issues, his website is here:

https://wewillfixyourpc.co.uk/

I quickly managed to back up the data I thought might have been lost and now have plenty of breathing space to explore the market for some new equipment. £40.00 well spent I reckon.

£40 is a bargain for parts and labour

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Thanks for all the advice. It really was appreciated.

On Thursday evening I spoke to a local computer engineer. He said it was almost certainly a PSU failure as a result of both the age of the unit and a build-up of dust in the fans, as a couple of you suggested. He didn't think there was likely to be any other damage, so I took the PC over to his workshop yesterday afternoon. He contacted me a few hours later to say he'd installed a new PSU, cleaned out all the dust and the machine was booting up just fine.

I collected it this morning, it's working perfectly now (better than it has in years, in fact) and I was charged just £40.00! Excellent service and Neil is a really nice guy to deal with. Can't recommend him and his company highly enough. If you live in the Cardiff area and have any PC or laptop issues, his website is here:

https://wewillfixyourpc.co.uk/

I quickly managed to back up the data I thought might have been lost and now have plenty of breathing space to explore the market for some new equipment. £40.00 well spent I reckon.

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My trading name is wefixyourpc, has been for 20 years. In the past I had people calling me thinking I was him. Glad you got it sorted.

Handy to know as I only usually do domestic stuff for my regulars, so I can recommend him if I get enquiries I'm not able to deal with.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Thanks for all the advice. It really was appreciated.

On Thursday evening I spoke to a local computer engineer. He said it was almost certainly a PSU failure as a result of both the age of the unit and a build-up of dust in the fans, as a couple of you suggested. He didn't think there was likely to be any other damage, so I took the PC over to his workshop yesterday afternoon. He contacted me a few hours later to say he'd installed a new PSU, cleaned out all the dust and the machine was booting up just fine.

I collected it this morning, it's working perfectly now (better than it has in years, in fact) and I was charged just £40.00! Excellent service and Neil is a really nice guy to deal with. Can't recommend him and his company highly enough. If you live in the Cardiff area and have any PC or laptop issues, his website is here:

https://wewillfixyourpc.co.uk/

I quickly managed to back up the data I thought might have been lost and now have plenty of breathing space to explore the market for some new equipment. £40.00 well spent I reckon.

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And you didn't tip him? Tighter than cramp.