Hi, yesterday my sons pc was working fine no problems.As he wasnt supposed to be on it in a fit of temper my hubby turned it off at the wall without shutting it down. Come today it will not load up, it makes a beep noise like its trying to start up and then it powers down again. Apart from once nothing comes up on the screen. The once it did i managed to read before it shut down again: sorry for the inconveinance windows didnt load last time due to either a hardware or software problem, couldnt read anymore as it shut down again. There is no noise coming from it like a overheated system. Its running xp sp2 but that all i can tell you as cannot get in it.
Could my hubby of blown the harddrive?
Any help is much appreciated as im on a tight shoe string here and cannot really afford to start forking out for really expensive repairs.

turned it off at the wall without shutting it down

You mean he simply unplugged it from the wall outlet? If so, then it is possible the hard drive became corrupted as certainly, hard crashes like that are bad. But typically, you should see the start of the POST (power on self test) on the monitor as the video card BIOS is loaded and the RAM counted. Do you see anything on the monitor? Was the computer physically jostled about? If so, I would check all connections, inside and out, including add-in cards, to make sure they are secure.

Yes he unplugged straight from the wall. No nothing comes up on monitor. Will check it inside to see if anything has come out. Thanks for help.

That's too bad. With 5 kids and 8 grandkids, I certainly understand the frustration they can cause, but yanking the power cord (or any abrupt power outage) is never a good thing and why I recommend ALL computers be on an UPS.

The fact that nothing comes up on the monitor suggests more than just the hard drive. Hopefully, it was just something simple knocked loose. Sadly, because the CPU's HSF (heatsink fan) assembly is big and heavy, a sudden abrupt jolt on the PC itself could knock it loose, causing the CPU to heat up instantly and shut down as a self-preservation action. Or worse, permanent damage to the motherboard could result.

Is the beep at boot up the normal single beep?

Hi have checked and pushed anything that looked loose back in and its now working fine again. Could'nt tell you what it was though lol. Anyway thanks for the help. Also what is ups? i havnt heard of it.

Great! I am glad it is working now. Now smack the husband and tell him next time to just take the mouse away! lol

An UPS, or uninterpretable power supply, is commonly referred to as a battery backup. I recommend everyone get an UPS, and make sure it is an UPS with automatic voltage regulation (AVR) to protect the computer from anomalies coming down the power lines.

Note that a surge protector is nothing more than a fancy, overpriced, extension cord. Every time the air conditioner, microwave, toaster, hair dryer, electric clothes dryers, coffee pot, water cooler, refrigerator, and/or any other high wattage appliance cycles on and off, they send high and low anomalies down the line. A surge and spike protector can only provide some limited protection from the high (over voltage) anomalies. Surges and spikes are ALWAYS followed by sags as the circuit stabilizes. Since the surge and spike protector (being a passive device) has no way to boost the voltage back up to the normal line voltage, this must be done by the voltage regulators in the computer's power supply (PSU), and then in turn the regulators on the motherboard. Over time, this added stress and strain on the regulator circuits can and often does cause premature aging and failure of those critical components. And certainly, any time the anomaly causes the computer to reboot or shutdown, there's the risk of lost data, a corrupt hard drive, or worse!

Do note that battery backup in the event of a sudden power outage is only the icing on the cake. The AVR is the primary advantage of an UPS w/AVR as that will protect your equipment from surges and spikes, but also from dropouts and sags - which no surge protector can do. And it will also provide clean power during extended surges, something surge protectors struggle with as well.

Any computer located in the same facility as one of those high wattage appliances should be on an UPS. If you live in an apartment or multi-family dwelling, you need an UPS.

I normally recommend 900VA to 1100VA or greater for each PC. With one that size, you can easily protect your computer, two LCD monitors, and all your network equipment. With two computers, you could probably get by fine with a good 1500VA UPS with AVR, if using LCD monitors. If using CRT monitors, then you need separate UPSs, or do not plug them into the battery side of the UPS. If budget is limited, a good 800VA with AVR will do for an entry to mid-level performance PC with one 17" LCD monitor, cable/DSL modem and network router.

While certainly some UPS can easily cost $200 and more, there are many with AVR that are much more reasonably priced for the small office or home user environment. APC is considered the industry leader. Some examples include:

Sam's Club - APC 1250VA w/AVR - $139.86

NewEgg - CyberPower 1500VA w/AVR - $124.99

Bestbuy - APC 900VA w/AVR - $124.00

Fry's - Tripp Lite 900VA w/AVR - $119.00

NewEgg - APC 750 VA 450 Watts w/AVR - $89.00

There is a downside - the batteries must be replaced about every 3 years. However, this is normally something a user can do in about 15 minutes. Replacement batteries can cost around $50 - still cheaper than a new computer!

I have a big UPS on my stereo/home theater sound system, and another on my HDTV too!