Returned from a weeks holiday on Sunday and when I presed the on/off button on my pc it won't switch on. There is power going in as it has a green light on the back, the on/off switch presses in/out as normal but it isn't lighting up.
Bloody thing was fine before we went away, how can it stop working when it's been off?
Any ideas. If I take it to bits can I just snip the wires at the switch and connect them together to bypass the switch?
Switch it off at the wall. Wait ten seconds. Switch it back on.
Any better?
No, I've tried that several times. Still nothing.
Probably either a dead PSU, or a dead motherboard. Do the fans start up? If not, it's probably the PSU. You can replace them for about £20-30.
Could be the PSU sometimes they do just decide they've had enough, if it is that then very easy to replace yourself.
If you don't get anything at all, not even fans, when you press the button then the power supply could be gubbed.
Open up the PC and just make sure all the power connections are properly seated.
Don't go snipping wires - it almost certainly isn't the switch itself.
Fans not starting up, what's a 'psu', is it a power supply unit, where will I find it? Are they generic or do I need one specific to the pc?
Does the power cable plug directly into the psu? Beside the power connection on the back of the pc there is an illuminated green led - would this be on if the psu was knackered?
Without getting into too much detail that will be fine for an average PC older than about 2 years old...
cheers beanum, I'll have a look at it tonight and see if changing it is within my limited pc 'taking apart and putting back together' skills.
I think the pc is around 3 years old.
I could ask our it guys in the office but if they can't press 'control alt delete' they throw it in the bin 
Not too hard to change a PSU.
Just think of it like a normal adapter that you use for charging your phone, except this on has multiple leads coming off it to "charge" multiple different devices.
Note what your current one is attached to and make sure you attach the new one to all the same bits.
The connections to the motherboard that vary you need to make sure they match or get one that does both.
You could always have a root around the bins in the IT dept then... 
also try removing and refitting power cable from PSU (not just switching off at wall) as can be some issue over earthing, have had that a couple of times here
This just happened to my office PC (Dell). The engineer swapped the 'power unit thingy' yesterday and all is now well. Seemed a very easy job to do, took him about 5 minutes.
Sorry to bring this one up again but I had a chance to look at the pc last night. I unplugged things from the psu, plugged them back in but still nothing. PSU looks easy to change and is rated at 400w.
I did notice that there is a buzzing noise when the power is on, does this give any clues to the problem or confirm it's the psu?
Yep. Buzzing could be a loose solder or knackered capacitor.
Or it might be a trapped wasp.
Aye usually the sound they make when they've borked.
Same issue as my PC eariler this year..
The real clue is when they go pop and the magic smoke gets out.
All modern electronic gadgets rely on magic smoke and if that smoke ever escapes then you're screwed.
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