Hi, found this great site a few weeks back and solved most of my hardware problems - until now, so thought you guys would give a try to help me . I must warn you though, im not as experienced as other users in the forum.

Hah so i went on a one week holiday to come back and find that my old Acer Aspire T310 desktop wont start. (Oh and i run Windows xp) At first i figured that it was the power supplys fault since there was no green light on or even blinking when i start the comp. Itd just run for 5 seconds with a just the red light and turn back off. The fan runs just fine.

I tried disconnecting all plugs and cleaning up the insides, yet no luck.
Could it be that it isnt the power supply and is something else? Virus maybe? It had malware before i left home for the vacation.

I might go to a tech mall to try and get it fixed but at the same time would risk the files getting deleted as the techs at the mall find that erasing the memory and reinstalling Xp is the only way to go.

Hello Spray, welcome to PCHF.

Did it just start start for 5 seconds one time only, or does it do it every time you switch the laptop on?

If you battery is flat, leaving it for a while may let enough power to accumilate enough for the laptop to start for a few seconds. If there is no light on the power supply then it is likely that the power supply is faulty. It's possible that the light on the power supply may have gone, but these are fairly reliable, and are meant to last for many many years. You could use a multimeter to see if you are actually receiving power from the unit, but make sure it's not something silly if your living in an area that requires fuses in your plugs.

If the laptop powers on for the same amount every single time, then the problem is likely to be something different.

Hi mad, thank you.
Right though im using a desktop computer i related my problems to your possible solutions.
Heres what happens,
I turn it on for the first time and it runs for 5 seconds then dies. After this im not able to turn it on anymore. Though if i cut all power from the desktop computer and replug everything it will run again for 5 seconds - go dead and wont be able to turn on unless i unplug the power and replug it.
Also the led near the power supply isnt on.
Oh so its without doubt the power supply right?

Hmmm. Don't see how your desktop PC could affect your laptop. Is your laptop plugged into a multiple power socket strip or something? If so, try in it's own socket. If you have the same problem, then the only way of testing that power adaptor out for absolute certainty is to use a multimeter, or to test it out on an identical laptop. If your not able to do this, then it may be a good idea to take the power supply to an electrical or computer shop to see if they have a multimeter then can use to test out for you. This is something I used to do myself when I was younger, before I started getting any equipment and workshop of my own.

Oh right i got my uncle to check out the power supply with using a multimeter and he said that it (power supply) was a dud - there wasnt a living current. Then he checked out the multi socket strip and told me something was wrong with it. He replaced the power supply cables and the supposed faulty socket. Right now it works just fine!

Though, im still faced with a boot.ini file problem which i edited last time, but ill take that somewhere else.
Anyways, thanks for your help Mad!

Will mark this one as fixed then