Hello EVERYONE,
I have a really bizarre situation. yesterday, I was over at my brothers place attempting to transfer things from my hard drives to his using his computer. I don't know what the problem was but this is what happened.
I hooked up two of my SATA hard drives in addition to his and I also added a IDE hard drive. so a total of four hard drives in computer. I also connected two other additional external hard drives via USB onto his computer, so a total of 6 hard drives running. when it booted up, it was fine. at first, it installed drivers to SUPPORT my hard drives. and then I had to reboot after it was done. so the second time it booted up, I started moving files between mine and his. after about 10 minutes, the computer shut down, made a LITTLE swishing noise, and a few quick ticks, then I saw a spark right behind the computer (something was obviously blown, the smell indicated it....but don't know what). close to where the video card was located. after that it just wouldn't power on.

at first i thought that I PROBABLY had hooked up too many hard drives inside the computer and the power supply couldn't handle it. but after looking at the power supply, it was a 650W power, which was twice amount of what i have. and I had three hard drives in mine. since we are both broke right now, i want to know what could that spark meant. is it the motherboard that is burnt?..or is it something else.

although he has a plastic tower, I constantly had to ground myself on my metal case before touching each drive and before installing it into his. so i know it can't be a problem with body electricity. and looking at the motherboard, i couldn't see anything that looks like it was burnt or anything. so...i don't' know. my heart stopped for that moment when i saw that spark. can anyone help me come to a conclusion?
Thanks,
spider0735you probably did something wrong- does NOTHING happen when you power on? if not- at the very least, it's the power supply.

Wether the motherboard is also a victim, and/or the cards can only be discovered via the use of a new PSU- or, if your PSU is compatible, plop it in there- with just his original boot configuration.

Chances are, it will power up, but nothing will happen. If so it INDICATES a problem with the motherboard, or one of the cards. so, I would try simply started with the most basic config possible- a known good video card (perhaps even PCI, to rule out a problem with PCI-E or AGP or whatever he/your using), and no other cards. remove them, perhaps even test them on your PC if your feeling bold. (no need to get them installed and working, in my book, windows willingness to install drivers is proof enough of at least basic function). And One hard drive. (ignore the CD-drives for now). Then try to boot up.

No luck? We've narrowed it down to the CPU or motherboard (maybe even the HD- to prove otherwise try unplugging the HD, you should be able to at least get a BIOS screen).


IF none of this works- it's probably a motherboard failure.thanks for replying BC_programmer,....after that spark, it wouldn't power on anymore. nothing happens when the power button is being pressed except for the dry bitterness of the sound it makes. so if it's not the motherboard, it should still power on provided that the power supply still works, right? man...and there is no way to test it because his computer is about 5 years newer than mine so, the difference in hardware is quite large. the power input to my motherboard has only 20 pins...and his has 24 pins.

do you know if it's possible to fix a motherboard if something on it was burned?... like just replace the element that was burned instead of swapping to a new motherboard?

..hmmmIf you fried the motherboard you may see burn marks, but that isn't always the case ... see if there's a strong burnt electrical odor coming from the power supply fan....you might have got lucky and only fried the PS...Does your brothers' power supply allow you to slide 4 pins off the end of the connector to give you a 20 pin connector?
Unfortunately, when motherboards go bad there's not a lot you can do.