Thank you for having this forum AVAILABLE. I still have a lot to learn about computers and I appreciate the HELP. I built a PC four years ago and it has worked fine ever since, until recently. I don't know what the problem is, or what to do next. I hope someone can help. I will try to keep this brief:

1. In order to get the Netflix player to work for viewing movies online, Netflix tech support had me use Internet Explorer and disable all security measures. So possibly this problem involves a virus, though I don't have any direct evidence for this.

2. About a month later, I began getting an error when I turned on the PC. An Energy Star screen came up, which I normally never SAW, and said "Hit F4" for the BIOS Menu, then things like "detecting master" and "detecting slave". Finally it went to a screen that said "Disk Boot Failure" though I had no disks in any drives. After this I had to restart the computer to get it to work. So I am thinking the hard drive was failing.

3. Finally it got to the point where NOTHING powered up. No FANS, nothing on the screen, not even the little green light on the motherboard. Then I was thinking power supply, but after I let it the computer sit for a couple of weeks, all the other power came back on--fans, motherboard light, etc., it just won't boot.

4. I tried to re-install everything from disks but nothing happened. I can't find my boot floppy anywhere. Is there some way to get this hard drive to work again, or even test it, or will I have to buy a new one? I'm not sure what to do next, and I'm hoping for an inexpensive solution.

Details about my PC:
* dual boot Windows XP Home SP2 and Linux, Hoary HEDGEHOG version
* Asus A7V8X-X motherboard
* AMD Athlon XP 2500+ CPU
* Maxtor 80 GB HD
* CD/DVD drive
* floppy drive
* DSL internet

It's almost embarrassing how basic my little system is, but I really need to get it working again. Thank you.Try replacing your power supply with a known working one. Sounds like the one you've got is giving up the ghost.Nothing to be embarrassed about with your system! Sure, the bells and whistles are fun, but they also have potential for more to go wrong. Use what you have; use what you need.