Pro tip: my old boss told me to always check the power supply first, even when it seems like a software issue

I had a client last week whose PC would boot to a black screen with a cursor. It screamed corrupted Windows to me. I was about to start a reinstall, but I remembered his advice and tested the PSU with a multimeter. The 12V rail was reading 10.8V, way out of spec. Swapped in a new Corsair unit and it booted right up. Saved me hours of wasted time. Anyone else have a simple rule that's saved their bacon more than once?

2 comments

2 Comments

johnson.lee16d ago

Honestly, that feels like overkill to me. I start with the quickest diagnostic steps first, like checking the monitor input or a different cable. Jumping straight to the multimeter every time would slow me down more often than not.

johnson.ryan15d ago

Used to think the same way as johnson.lee. Then I wasted a whole afternoon swapping cables on a dead monitor that had a blown fuse. Now I check for power at the outlet first, it takes two seconds. That one time changed my whole process.