We can't save you from yourself, sir...

[Andara Bledin]

Um... don't try to remove the power supply cover without turning off and unplugging it.

Short form: The fan in the power supply went out and I replaced it. Put everything back together, switched it on, realized I'd put the fan in backwards. Shut it down, opened the case, and went to to open the power supply. Huge arc of electricity (thank goodness for insulated screwdrivers), totally fried the power supply. No other damage, thankfully.

^-.-^

[Shabo]

I'm personally surprised that you opened the PS yourself. That's pretty dangerous.

[Andara Bledin]

Yeah, I know. I wouldn't open up a power supply case these days. They're inexpensive enough to just replace, although it's a shame to toss a perfectly good power supply just because the fan has gone out.

I figured out eventually that Shameless (my ex) was incredibly cheap when it came to my computer. His always got new components, but mine always got hand-me-downs. The power supply in question was one of those. But he had to get me a new one when I fried the old one.

^-.-^

[MadMike]

I learned the hard way --- make sure the power supply is turned on. Talk about embarassing.

I had the power supply on, but while it was connected to all the drives, I had forgotten to plug it into the motherboard. However, I realized it quickly once I tried to turn on the machine and nothing happened.

Another time, I did something that wasn't as easy to figure out. I turned on the computer, and everything worked wonderfully, except that it wasn't reading CDs or even displaying the drive. I didn't think anything was wrong with the drive, because the light came on, and it opened and closed when I pressed the button. Finally figured out that I had remembered to connect the drives to the power supply, but forgot to connect them to the motherboard.