Hi, I'm new to this forum and REALLY need some suggestions. My son and his sister in law have emachines. My sons was working fine, he moved it to another room and when he went to turn it on he said he smelt a electrical burning smell, all we have is a black screen and the computer will not turn off without unplugging it. His sister-in-laws did the same thing, only she wasn't moving hers. She was just using it, smelt a burning and the same black screen. What are your suggestions? :-?

Thank you for any help you can give me.

vasquezmomIt's pretty common for the mainboards on eMachines to have a short life. I've replaced a few for friends. Not sure if they're just low quality or if the eMachines power supplies have something to do with it. Kept the original power supply in the machines I repaired and they're still working as far as I know.

My guess would be they are both bad mainboards, particularly the one that doesn't shut off without unplugging it. All of the eMachines I repaired were like that when I GOT them. It could also be a bad power supply. The safest bet would be to try another before replacing the mainboard.

If you replace the mainboards with something similar, keep in mind that the eMachines restore disks will no longer work on the computers, so you'll need a Windows full install disk and your own software for CD burning, DVD viewing, etc... You'll probably need to download some drivers from the eMachines web site. One of the eMachines I repaired had a CD-R drive that would only write at a very low speed using any CD burning software other than the original. No driver was available on the eMachines web site to fix the problem. Did a web search and it was a common complaint.

Could probably order exact replacements from eMachines or one of their service centers. This would allow you to use the original restore disks. Cost would probably be high, if they are available at all. Dependability wouldn't likely be any BETTER.Thanks that was exactly my fear. Appreciate your time.No problem. Wish it was better NEWS. Replacing the mainboard with a similar one is no big deal if you have all the necessary software and someone who can do it. New mainboard less than $100.00

I'd OFFER to do it for you at cost, but shipping the computer back and fourth would add to the cost quite a bit. Could probably just pay the same amount to someone in your neighborhood.