After Lightening Storm - Computer Will Not Turn on

Ok, I'm posting this for my brother who's wife has a HP computer. I'm
asking here because I figure you all would know. So, we had a storm last
night. Some lightening. My brothers wife turned off here HP computer
during the storm. My brother says the computer is hooked up to a power
surge thing. Anyway, after the storm the computer will not turn on. I told
him to check all the cables and plug it and unplug it. It will not turn on.
The power surge thing still works. The monitor still comes on.

So, does the computer have a fried powerpack from a lightening hit? My
brother is thinking it's from lightening or maybe the on button is broke.
If they had a power surge device, shouldn't that have saved the computer?
Any ideas? I have not seen the computer yet. I suspect I will be taking a
drive to his house this evening to check it out.

Thanks!

even if the computer was turned off,
it could still have taken a hit because the network line was not
disconnected. or perhaps the phone line was not disconnected from the
modem.
a surge could have traveled up either of those points as well.


Von Fourche wrote:
> Ok, I'm posting this for my brother who's wife has a HP computer. I'm
> asking here because I figure you all would know. So, we had a storm last
> night. Some lightening. My brothers wife turned off here HP computer
> during the storm. My brother says the computer is hooked up to a power
> surge thing. Anyway, after the storm the computer will not turn on. I told
> him to check all the cables and plug it and unplug it. It will not turn on.
> The power surge thing still works. The monitor still comes on.
>
> So, does the computer have a fried powerpack from a lightening hit? My
> brother is thinking it's from lightening or maybe the on button is broke.
> If they had a power surge device, shouldn't that have saved the computer?
> Any ideas? I have not seen the computer yet. I suspect I will be taking a
> drive to his house this evening to check it out.
>
> Thanks!
>
>

"JayB" <JayB@audiman.net> wrote in message
news:g62p1k$bu8$1@registered.motzarella.org...
> even if the computer was turned off,
> it could still have taken a hit because the network line was not
> disconnected. or perhaps the phone line was not disconnected from the
> modem.
> a surge could have traveled up either of those points as well.


I asked my brother if the phone line was hooked to the surge protector and
he said it was but, when it comes to computers they are so confused I can't
take what they say to be true until I visit them and look.

I have my computers hooked up to a surge protector but even when big
storms come I usually unplug everything just to be safe.

Hi!

> So, we had a storm last night. *Some lightening. *My brothers wife turned
> off here HP computer during the storm.

This may be summed up in two words: "uh oh".

>*My brother says the computer is hooked up to a power surge thing.

This won't do you any good without a working safety ground present at
the outlet it is plugged into.

>*Anyway, after the storm the computer will not turn on.

It will be one of three places where the machine took a hit:

1. The modem. This seems to be the most common place, and you will
most likely see any of burned, blown or bubbled components or board
traces upon inspection. You should remove it, and if you get lucky,
the computer won't be harmed at all.

2. The network interface (if hooked up directly to an internet
connection device, such as a cable modem or DSL box). If it's on the
motherboard, and the system won't power up, that system board is done.
A network add-in card can be removed much as the modem.

3. The power supply. Power supplies are supposed to shut down
completely and not work if something fails or is damaged inside them.
Whether or not this happens depends upon the quality of the supply,
its age and at least some luck. If the supply didn't shut down
properly upon failure, it could have killed the motherboard.

To diagnose this properly, you will need basic hand tools and a good
look at the expansion cards or motherboard. Testing the power supply
will require a power supply tester, but it's very likely to be fine
especially since the computer was "off" at the time.

William

"Von Fourche" <khonakong@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ttidnX0RisTUexnVnZ2dnUVZ_sHinZ2d@earthlink.co m...
>
>
>
> Ok, I'm posting this for my brother who's wife has a HP computer. I'm
> asking here because I figure you all would know. So, we had a storm last
> night. Some lightening. My brothers wife turned off here HP computer
> during the storm. My brother says the computer is hooked up to a power
> surge thing. Anyway, after the storm the computer will not turn on. I
> told him to check all the cables and plug it and unplug it. It will not
> turn on. The power surge thing still works. The monitor still comes on.
>
> So, does the computer have a fried powerpack from a lightening hit? My
> brother is thinking it's from lightening or maybe the on button is broke.
> If they had a power surge device, shouldn't that have saved the computer?
> Any ideas? I have not seen the computer yet. I suspect I will be taking
> a drive to his house this evening to check it out.
>
> Thanks!
>

I don't know why this works but I've done this a couple of times and it
works. (sometimes)
Unplug the power cord from the computer. Unplug the network cable. Wait 30
seconds. Plug the network cable back in, then the power cord. Try to power
up again. I just did this a couple of hours ago to a computer on the
network that wouldn't turn back on after a 2 second power interrupt after a
lightning strike nearby and it worked. Before unplugging the cables, a
light would flash by the power button, then nothing. Like I said, I don't
know why this would work but it does.

alien

"Von Fourche" <khonakong@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cNmdnUUH-7-bdBnVnZ2dnUVZ_q_inZ2d@earthlink.com...
>
> "JayB" <JayB@audiman.net> wrote in message
> news:g62p1k$bu8$1@registered.motzarella.org...
>> even if the computer was turned off,
>> it could still have taken a hit because the network line was not
>> disconnected. or perhaps the phone line was not disconnected from the
>> modem.
>> a surge could have traveled up either of those points as well.
>
>
> I asked my brother if the phone line was hooked to the surge protector and
> he said it was but, when it comes to computers they are so confused I
> can't take what they say to be true until I visit them and look.
>
> I have my computers hooked up to a surge protector but even when big
> storms come I usually unplug everything just to be safe.
>


Unplug the system from any surge/UPS and plug it directly into a known good
wall outlet. If it still will not power on/POST.........file a homeowner's
claim.

Best thing to do is to isolate whatever hardware component(s) failed, one at a
time. I generally do so by substituting known-good hardware. I would usually
try a good power supply first. If the computer boots up, then the major
problem was a failed power supply. If the computer does not boot up, then the
motherboard is toast, too. In this case, I would replace both mobo and power
supply.

One caveat here, though, is that hardware can suffer just enough damage that it
still works for a while, then fails ka-thunk.

Surge protectors are generally OK when the line voltage surges above acceptable
limits, say 130v or maybe 140v instead of the usual 110v. But a lightning bolt
can blast through anything with its thousands of volts, so the best thing to do
during an electrical storm is to unplug EVERYTHING valuable from wall current,
AND TV/internet cable line AND telephone lines... Ben Myers

On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:41:51 -0400, "Von Fourche" <khonakong@hotmail.com> wrote:

>
>
>
>Ok, I'm posting this for my brother who's wife has a HP computer. I'm
>asking here because I figure you all would know. So, we had a storm last
>night. Some lightening. My brothers wife turned off here HP computer
>during the storm. My brother says the computer is hooked up to a power
>surge thing. Anyway, after the storm the computer will not turn on. I told
>him to check all the cables and plug it and unplug it. It will not turn on.
>The power surge thing still works. The monitor still comes on.
>
> So, does the computer have a fried powerpack from a lightening hit? My
>brother is thinking it's from lightening or maybe the on button is broke.
>If they had a power surge device, shouldn't that have saved the computer?
>Any ideas? I have not seen the computer yet. I suspect I will be taking a
>drive to his house this evening to check it out.
>
>Thanks!
>

Phone lines are 5 mile long antennas grounded only
at the central office end. And, of course, when
the insulation fails, through your computer.

Mine is a little better since it runs underground
all the way, but it still has 5 miles to pick up
voltage.

Interesting experiment : drive two copper ground
stakes into the ground about 20 feet apart. Get
an AC voltmeter, and measure the voltage between
them. It will run about a quarter volt.

What's ground 5 miles away is nowhere near ground
at your house, and especially spectacularly if
lightning is around.
--
rhhardin@mindspring.com

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

"alien" <nofenders@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:RR6hk.16953$89.14810@nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com...
>
>
> "Von Fourche" <khonakong@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:ttidnX0RisTUexnVnZ2dnUVZ_sHinZ2d@earthlink.co m...
>>
> I don't know why this works but I've done this a couple of times and it
> works. (sometimes)
> Unplug the power cord from the computer. Unplug the network cable. Wait
> 30
> seconds. Plug the network cable back in, then the power cord. Try to
> power
> up again. I just did this a couple of hours ago to a computer on the
> network that wouldn't turn back on after a 2 second power interrupt after
> a
> lightning strike nearby and it worked. Before unplugging the cables, a
> light would flash by the power button, then nothing. Like I said, I don't
> know why this would work but it does.
>
> alien
>
That's an indication of a failing power supply. The network cable is
irrelevant. One type of PSU failure is an intermittent failure to power
up. It will sometimes start after being unplugged completely for a brief
period. It will likely fail completely within a few months.

"GTS" <x@y.com> wrote in message
news:g67h79$ik0$1@registered.motzarella.org...
> "alien" <nofenders@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
> news:RR6hk.16953$89.14810@nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com...
>>
>>
>> "Von Fourche" <khonakong@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:ttidnX0RisTUexnVnZ2dnUVZ_sHinZ2d@earthlink.co m...
>>>
>> I don't know why this works but I've done this a couple of times and it
>> works. (sometimes)
>> Unplug the power cord from the computer. Unplug the network cable. Wait
>> 30
>> seconds. Plug the network cable back in, then the power cord. Try to
>> power
>> up again. I just did this a couple of hours ago to a computer on the
>> network that wouldn't turn back on after a 2 second power interrupt after
>> a
>> lightning strike nearby and it worked. Before unplugging the cables, a
>> light would flash by the power button, then nothing. Like I said, I
>> don't
>> know why this would work but it does.
>>
>> alien
>>
> That's an indication of a failing power supply. The network cable is
> irrelevant. One type of PSU failure is an intermittent failure to power
> up. It will sometimes start after being unplugged completely for a brief
> period. It will likely fail completely within a few months.
>
>
>


If the machine has taken a hit, nearly every component in the system is
suspect no matter if replacement of an individual component seems to revive
it.

Or in other words: it might run after repair but I don't know that I would
trust it to do so from that point on.