I have a three-year old Compaq desktop. The fan in the power supply unit stopped working and the computer shut off. I picked up a new power supply at Compuserve for about $30 and installed it. Now when I boot up, it only goes as far as the "post-up" screen. Windows XP does not boot up and the keyboard doesn't work. The hard drive is not spinning and the cd drive isn't working as well, so I can't use my boot disc.

What are the chances my harddrive failed when the PSU went? Since the post-up screen comes on, I'm thinking the motherboard is still working.

Anybody else run into this problem?

Thanks for any and all input!

Compaq is another one of those companies that are proprietorial about thier parts, so if you didn't replace the PSU with one of theirs you could have a compatibilty issue, the pin configuration isn't the same as others.

I agree dc3, I have had several Compaq's that did require a certain type of PSU's. If you have the old PSU, you should be able to get the information off of it, or do a search on the Compaq model and find it's requirements. I have had luck finding these compatible power supplies on ebay and they worked great.

I should have thought to add this in my last post, look at the two connectors and see if there is any difference in the colors and the pins. Not all of Compaq's motherboards are incompatible with OEM PSUs.

Let us know what you find, inquiring minds want to know.