Main computer is TEH FRIED.

We've been getting power outages for the past few days thanks to God-awful weather, and I awoke today to find my computer seemingly dead after yet another outage. It was plugged into a surge protector, and now makes a clicking-ish sound when plugged in, and won't power up properly. At most, the light on the front goes orange, and that's it. It's an emachine, and I've had problems with their power supplies before. Could this be a power supply problem, or does it sound like something easier? Is there any chance it could just be the power cord?

First of all, have you unplugged everything from the mains, and then plugged it back in again?
I used to have problems like that on my old computer, and all I had to do to fix them were to reset the power supply.

Failing that you can test the power cords easily as your PSU and your monitor use the same cable. You won't be able to see what comes on the screen, but hopefully you know your computer and what it sounds like when it boots; maybe you have the case speakers plugged in.

If not maybe you have another computer power supply you can hook your motherboard up to. The cables do reach between the two cases so it isn't a lot of hassle.
If it's your power supply which is bust, then it might be just a fuse; maybe you'd want to check for that.

If you're using a surge protecter it sucks that it didn't work properly as it sounds like something is broken.

Does your insurance cover for this?
My grandparents had their TV fried due to a power surge about a year ago and they got it paid back.

Also; "it makes a clicking noise". Be more specific, is it the power supply or what which makes the noise?

For true protection you need a battery backup such as the ones sold by APC, a surge protector is very close to worthless on a computer imo.

As for trouble shooting, take the psu from another pc and put it on your's to see if it then powers up.

I'm not sure surge protectors are useless; my power supply claims to have one built in, and being a reputable brand I don't think they would make a false claim.

Chances are anyway it's just one piece which is bust. You can test out for that, and then just replace the part, or sell the remains on ebay.

LOL. Now OUR master plan has come to fruition.

Burky, I tried uplugging everything, and re-plugging it in, and that worked to an extent. The clicking sound is gone, but nothing will show up on the screen. Revoltor, no, it didn't, as I can still post as much as I want on this laptop. I'll try to get one of my computer-inclined friends over during the week to see what they can do. I opened the case up and nothing appears to be damaged, so it probably is just a single part damaged, which is what happened to previous emachines. Best Buy's tech service could probably fix it, but they take forever.

But does the computer stay on and make it's usual sounds?
If so it's your graphics card. Make that the next thing you test.

The clicking is coming from the hard drive meaning it can't spin up, so like a CD in a play if it don't spin it don't read. That doesn't mean it's dead really, but getting no sound at all from it now isn't a good sign. Even if the supply is damaged, you're going to need a new HD even if you can get your current one to run again. I'm saying all this from sad first-hand experience.

The computer stays on, but doesn't make the usual sounds (like the fan going and such). It looks like I'd better look for a new computer, since this one seems to be just about dead going by all the stuff that could be (and seemingly is) wrong with it.

Yeah. Isn't your computer an old piece of shit anyway? This might be a blessing in disguise.

P.S. this time don't buy an e machine. noob.