My computer shot me!

M

Makarov

New Member
I was using my 3 month old Dell XPS 420 I bought from a friend. With one of those new Quad Core processors. And I was installing Bioshock, and suddenly my computer stops working (it froze) then I went down to reboot it, and this really scared me, it made a really loud BANG noise, like a gunshot, and the screen went black. Now it wont start and there's something ratteling around inside the case! Also, I there was this, bad car brakes smell, you know like burning plastic...

I'm not sure what to do, is it just a loose peace that I can just open the case and put back into place? or should I send this in for repairs? I don't wanna send it back for something I can fix myself, but if I do open it, it'll void my warranty <:[

Any suggestions would be appreciated : D
 
it sounds like a capacitor blew, just open up your computer and see if a capacitor looks different/ not there. i would say the only way to fix it is to get a new motherboard.
 
don't open it, as you said it will void your warranty and then you'll have to pay for a new motherboard. just send it in.
 
I would send it back

from the sounds of it, something has been blown.

Thats Not Good.

Voiding your warranty is not worth it.
 
brianmay27 said:
it sounds like a capacitor blew, just open up your computer and see if a capacitor looks different/ not there. i would say the only way to fix it is to get a new motherboard.
Click to expand...

If all it done was blow a capacitor it is a easy fix, i have fixed two before. If your not knowledged in repair electronics you can have a capacitor replaced by a professional but it might be cheaper just to buy a new motherboard, however unless you can talk dell into sending you a new copy of windows or reactivating it with a new motherboard you will have to buy window XP or Vista for $114 + a new motherboard

EDIT: if its under warrenty send it back!!
 
I finally got it to boot up! But it only goes to the dell screen and then to a blue screen that shows a hole list of numbers and stuff, and on the last line it says:

BIOS Error: 167 - Component Not Found

any ideas what this means and why this happened? :\
 
I agree, It does indeed sound like a capacitor and i'm with everyone else when I say set up a shipment to the dell depot to have it repaired before you open anything.
 
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