New machine in sudden death syndrome?

[oldmonkey]

Hi everyone, hope you can help solve a perplexing problem with my new machine.

Last night I experienced a series of no doubt related problems that have left me unable to power up. Machine is XP Home, Pentium IV 3.2, 1024MB DDR Ram, 200G HD, 256MB Geforce FX6200 graphics, Soundblaster Live 24 bit sound. Ten days old.

I connected and turned on a FAT 32 USB drive, as I had done on each of the previous ten days of use (in a different USB port this time, one of six). Also running was iTunes, and I was connected to 2MB broadband. Three other devices were connected by USB, printer, a Targus USB hub with nothing in it, and a further USB hard drive that was not switched on.

1) USB drive was not recognised, didn't show in Windows Explorer.
2) iTunes started sticking.
3) I tried to turn off iTunes unsuccessfully, opened Task Manager and closed it from there.
4) Decided to reboot machine.
5) Machine stalled on boot, I used F11 to boot from HD (alternative choices being DVD drive or CD drive)
6) Went into Device Manager to see if there was a USB problem.
7) Machine crashed and powered itself down suddenly without warning.
8) Nothing works - no power light visible through case, no fans, nothing.
9) Tried with different kettle lead to see if the fuse had gone, still no response from machine.

I haven't opened the case yet to check individual components - not that I would really know what to do. The machine is still under warranty, I haven't contacted the seller company yet with details of the problem, would like to know more about it first if at all possible.

Please help!

I've picked up some ideas from reading the threads here, so will try and disconnect the USB connections as first port of call when I get home, but I am very concerned that it appears to be totally dead.

[oldmonkey]

Further to the above, I got home and isolated the machine, removing all USB connections. Tried booting it up again, and the power light flickered on for a split second and there was just a second of whirring noise, which very quickly ran out of steam. It has done this four times now over a 6 hour period. Nothing else seems to work.

I can't open the case and check things as this apparently invalidates the warranty on the machine. Will contact the supplier tomorrow.

Does this sound like the power supply to anyone? Fingers crossed it's not the HD!

[Catweazle]

I haven't opened the case yet to check individual components - not that I would really know what to do. The machine is still under warranty, I haven't contacted the seller company yet with details of the problem, would like to know more about it first if at all possible.

Please help!

That bit of your post should tell you EXACTLY what to do! Any advice given here other than 'send it back' would be, quite frankly, irresponsible!

Yes, it does sound like a power supply or other hardware failure. Discontinue using it and contact the vendor straight away.