Computer won't POST

[ikix]

My friend recently bought a new external hard drive. Turned his computer on, loaded etc. then as soon as he plugged in the new external hard drive via USB cable the computer shut down and now the computer won't even POST. I simply turns on, the screen won't be "woken", nothing appears on screen and the fans are just spinning at full throttle.

Any ideas?

[peterb]

Assuming that you have checked all the usual things (wall plug, plug fuse, and fuse on the PSU) I would suspect the PSU. Is there any sign of life from the computer, fans spinning, the warning light on the mobo?

Although the USB port should be capable of supplying 500mA, t may be that the drive had a fault, or the extra current (or surge) was enough to tip the PSU over the edge. What make is it? How old is it? What nominal power rating is it? (Have you unplugged it from the mains supply and tried again in case it needed resetting?

Other possibility is that the mobo has died as a result of power overload.

Finally, have you tried the external drive in another computer (might be risky as it is suspect) but if you do and it works, the failure of the computer may be coincidental, or might have been about to fail anyway, the external drive just hastened it.