Hi folks, I have got a technical problem, and I hope it belongs here.
Anyway, here it comes:
I have an AMD Athlon with 1,4 G, a 300 watt powersupply, an Geforce 2 grafic card, elite group board, an 40* cd rom and one 40 G hard disc.
My problem started a while back. My old 300 watt power supply (whats the english term for it anyway?) started to make strange noises and to smell a bit. So i changed it for another one (an old one from my brother). Since this was build in, i had sometimes the problem, that my PC would switch off, when starting (probably a warning sign for an overused plug, but at this one, only my PC is connected to, and has been for years). But this problem ceased and i didnt waste a thought at it anymore. Then yesterday, when i started my PC it made "puff", a burning stench came from my powersupply and the PC switched off (a second before i unplugged it). Now i was under the impression, that the powersupply had caused the havoc, and bought a new one today. 30 € poorer i build the (350 Watt) powersupply into my PC. Then the same as above happened again.
So now i am 30 € poorer, and one information richer, that the powersupply was definitly not the cause for my problem.
So what could it be else?
I will probably buy a new pc (a cheap one for perhaps 500 €), and i want to save at least the hard disc (if it is still usable). So can anyone assure me, that the problem lies at least not in my hard disc? And whart parts could be reused?
Thanks in advance.