And it seems the PSU has died. I probed the laptop end with a multimeter and there was nothing coming out of it. I probed the end of the mains cable and that registered 250v, so the black box in the middle is at fault. It’s definitely at fault now since when plugging it back in there was a loud crack from the PSU.

Well, I found a new one for £25 which isn’t so bad. The machine is also still covered by that PC World warranty they convinced me to buy so I think I’m covered even if the motherboard has died.

And fortunately, my paranoid attitude to taking backups have ensured I’ve not lost any data, and can use my sister’s laptop instead. Mind you, I need to get the off-site backup working properly. I have my really important data stored on a USB pen drive, my server here, my University account and my School account. I’d just like to be able to do the same with the rest of my data.

Lessons have been planned, there are no problems