Hmm - can you boot from a floppy or a CD?

The object would be to get your computer up long enough to make a backup.

I don't even know if I can, since I don't have a boot floppy and I can't even get the CD drive to open so I can try to load one.

This is very bad.

Well two things.

There may yet be a way to get this thing to boot. Also, to tell you the truth it sounds more like a power supply or a motherboard than a hard disk crash.

Just out of curiousity, try unplugging everything and plug it into another outlet. I once had an outlet going bad produce those symptoms.

Even in the worse case - a hard disk crash, the person who sells you your new system may abe able to mount your old hard disk temporarily as a D drive and get the data off for your.

But if it is a motherboard or a power supply, those can be replaced fairly reasonably - either permanently, or temporarily to recover your files .

t edit

Just to be clear - the "plug into a different outlet" is a real long shot. I tried it because I knew the wiring in the office I worked in was crappy. I'm suggesting it to you cause it is something free you can try. I'm pretty sure it is a power supply or maybe a motherboard. A hard disk crash usually won't prevent a CD opening and closing, or the fan running. That is good news - you can either replace the power supply and mother board or move the disk as D drive to a new computer.

Okay, but how do I figure out if it is a motherboard or power supply issue?

And then what do I do?

I'd take it to a computer repair place you trust or get a friend in the same city with expertise to help you.

Maybe some of the other buffistas can help more. Power suppplies are cheaper than mother boards, so I'd try replacing the power supply first. If that doesn't work then the Motherboard. But maybe there is a reason for trying it in the other order. In the end, regardless, it comes down to replacing parts and seeing what work.

Well, I googled up some information and went to Compusa for a replacement power supply. Wish me luck!

t dives

Okay, so the power supply is replaced. Now when I turn it on, the fan works. But I don't think the hard drive is working, and the monitor still isn't getting a signal. Argh.

Try disconnecting the Hard Drive from the ribbon/etc. cable, with just the power connector, you will be able to tell if it spins, at least.

remove all memory sticks and reseat, or try one at a time.

Okay, so the hard drive started, I heard it.

What's this all mean? To recap: The power supply now works and the fan works. The hard drive starts up when it's disconnected from the ribbon cable (that's the connection to the motherboard, right?). I don't apparently have a restart disk for this computer, but I"m assuming that's the next task, to restart it from a cd or floppy? What do I need to be able to do that? I have an external burner I can hook up to the laptop to make one...

Basic troubleshooting of a Motherboard starts with this:

1. Take out all add-in cards. If you have a modem or a seperate sound card? Out.

2. Start with a bare minimum of Ram.

3. turn it on and see if it at least tries to access the floppy drive, or brings up any sort of video.

4. If the video is built-in, try unplugging the monitor and starting it. Then attach the monitor if it seems to be working.

5. If it's a separate video card, take it out (see 1 above) and see if Motherboard beeps.

6. If the video is built-in, and you have an old video card from something else, try starting it up with that video card in a slot. If you have to borrow one, try that.

7. Let us know the results of above.

(Other people feel free to jump in, It's very late here, and I'm overtired...)

Does anybody here back up their Music folder(s) on the Mac, and what sort of software/hardware do you use to do it? I've reached about 7 gigs, so it's too big for a straight dump to a DVD, and even though most of it is music that I have on CD, I'd still like to have the complete set available....