This computer is probably close to 2 years old, and is a very good desktop. Anyway, today, I was on it, and we had a power outage. When the power came on, my wife told me it woudln't come on. Everything else would. I plugged it into different plugs, even changed the power cord(I know those don't go bad, but I had to check everything.) There is a green light underneath the power plug spot, adn it blinks a fast green. When I unplug it, for a short while, it will continue to blink, and then quit blinking. As soon as I plug it in, it start blinking rapidly.

It did this once before, if I remember right, and I waited until the light quit blinking, and plugged it back in, and it came on.

What do you guys think it is?

Jeremy

Sounds very much like a dodgey power supply. Usually when they come with an LED indicator they're supposed to be a steady light, not a blinking or flickering light. Could very well be that a power surge took it out.

It isn't difficult to replace, but if you're not comfortable with that it's an easy job for a computer shop. With luck it's only the supply that's faulty and didn't damage the system board, swapping the supply will tell you that pretty quickly.

how expensive are power supplies?

Jeremy

In addition, is labor usually expensive to replace them? I may could do it myself, if there is a good walkthru.

Jeremy

A decent PSU will range from $50-100, depending on the wattage.
Likewise the labor will depend on where you take it, I would guess around $20-30.

Generally, there are 4 screws that hold a power supply in place - removing them is easy. You may want to use an inexpensive multimeter to test the power output before buying a new PSU.

Open up the case and trace the wires from the PSU - see the size and where each one attaches. When purchasing a power supply, make sure you get all the connectors that you need. In most instances this isn't an issue - but occasionally a missing connector will rear it's ugly head (necessitating a trip to Radio Shack for an adapter).

Here's how I do it:
1) Unscrew the old PSU and remove it from the case (leave the wires connected).
2) Put the new PSU in and screw it down.
3) Disconnect one plug from the motherboard and replace it with the identical plug from the new PSU.
4) Do this for each connection - just pull gently on the old power supply to find the connections.
5) When the old PSU comes away without any more connections you've finished!

It was the power supply. Thanks!