For the PC wizards...

[DavidA]

My daughter is starting her A-levels this week so I thought I would dig out an 'old' HP desktop that I have had kicking about in the attic as it's better than her old laptop and has MS Office (it used to be my Dad's office computer).

Set it up on her desk, plugged it in, switched it on and "BANG !". I'm guessing it was the power supply that went.

My question - are they easy/cheap enough to replace or should I bite the bullet and put the whole thing in the skip ?

[WiNgNuTz]

Kinda depends what sort of spec the rest of the system is really...a PSU isnt that hard to replace, just make sure the new one has the same number (or more) of the various connectors, and that you make a note of where each one goes before pulling it all out.

EDIT: You also want to hope that the PSU giving up didnt take any other bits of hardware with it, i.e. Motherboard...or you may end up replacing the whole system anyway. Your best bet would be to try and find someone local to you that has a spare PSU you could use to test the system before making any rash decisions.

[DavidA]

Or being lazy and finding a local PC repair shop...

[WiNgNuTz]

Who'll then charge you the earth for the pleasure. Shame you're not closer to me really, I'd have happily done it for you, and i happen to know my little brother has about 3 or 4 (if not more) spare power supplies floating around at his.

[DavidA]

Shame you're not closer to me really, I'd have happily done it for you

Damn shame.

Admittedly I've replaced memory and sound cards in the past, so I guess a PSU shouldn't be too tricky. Just a case of taking my time I guess.