I have a 3+ year old emachines T2742 with a 2.7 ghz celeron, 40 gb and 256mb RAM with XP Home.  I bought it for my son when he returned stateside.  He has gone back overseas and left it with me and I want to give it to my daughter.

The first time I "fired it up" I heard a rapid clicking sound and saw the HD like flashing in time with the sound.  I unplugged everything and opened the case.  A green LED on the board was lit and the power supply and processor fans were running.  I suspected the HD had died and decided to put off the inevitable.

I "fired it up" again, same symptoms, and this time unplugged and plugged back in the power plug to the HD.  The clicking stopped, both fans stopped but the LED on the board is still lit.  When I push the on-off button on the front nothing happens.

Could the power supply have died?  The sticker on the PS says it is a "Bestec" 250 watt (max output) unit.  Is there a way to test the PS.  I do not have one laying around, but have several old Win 98 machines in the closet that worked several years ago when last used.  If a PS from an older machine would work, what about plug patterns?  And, I expect I have to be careful not to touch anything that could shock me inside the PS.

Thanks for any input,

Jeff Long

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