A desktop that shows absolutely no sign of life, no lights, no fans, no sound, almost always comes down to power rather than anything inside the machine itself. Before assuming the worst, there are three things worth checking, and all three cost nothing.

Three checks before you book anything

  1. Check the power board itself

    Plug something else, a lamp, a phone charger, into the same power board and outlet. It sounds obvious, but a dead power board or a tripped switch accounts for more "completely dead" calls than you would expect.

  2. Check the switch on the power supply

    Most desktop power supplies have a small rocker switch on the back, near the power cable, marked 0 and 1. If it is set to 0, the machine will not turn on no matter what else you try.

  3. Check the cable itself

    Power cables fail more often than people expect, particularly if one has been kinked or trodden on. Swapping it for a different one, even from another appliance, rules this out in seconds.

If none of that works

The fault is most likely the power supply itself, or something further inside drawing too much current and preventing the system from starting. Both need a technician to open the case and test properly, rather than something diagnosable from outside.

Common questions

I checked the power board and it's fine. What's next?

Try a different power cable if you have one, they fail more often than people expect. After that, it's likely the power supply itself or a fault further inside, which needs a technician to open the case and test properly.

The fans spin for a second then stop. Is that better or worse than nothing at all?

It usually points at the power supply trying and failing to sustain a stable output, or a short somewhere in the system triggering a safety shutdown. Different cause to a completely silent machine, but still needs someone to open it up and test.

Could this be a really cheap fix?

Sometimes, yes. A power board switched off or a loose cable costs nothing to fix. Once it's confirmed as the power supply or a motherboard fault, it becomes a real repair, and we will always tell you which one you are dealing with before charging anything.

Will I lose my files?

No. A power fault never touches the drive. Once the machine is running again, everything on it is exactly as it was.