So I had a hard drive that failed a month or so back and finally got a replacement for it.  Put it in there just like I've done hundreds of times before.  Plug the computer back in and flip the power switch and I hear a pop and nothing happens.  Then a second later I smell smoke like a firecracker but it goes away after a few seconds.  The UPS started beeping 'cause the breaker had been tripped.  So I flip the power back on and plug the computer in again and SPARK BZZ POP!! there are fireworks coming out of my power supply.

I hope that didn't ruin the rest of my components.

Anyone ever seen this happen before?

No, but I can tell you, if your computer's magic smoke comes out...it's broken.

That can't be a good thing.

There's an easy solution- 14 rounds .45 ACP

Quoted: No, but I can tell you, if your computer's magic smoke comes out...it's broken.

Yeah I'm crossing my fingers that the damage is limited to the PSU but I'm worried that it won't be.

My grandmother's computer got taken out by a nearby lightning strike.  She lived in Tucson, AZ at a retirement home.

There was a blown capacitor on the motherboard, its guts spewed onto the inside of the case, some melted solder, and other signs of heat damage throughout.  The hard drive was dead, and one chip package on its controller board was fractured.

Who said it was a lightning strike?  

There are a bunch of bad capacitors on the market, most of which went into motherboards.  They explode and damage computers just like you describe.  Not just offbrand or cheap, but even top brands.

cquirke.mvps.org/badcaps.htm

news.com.com/PCs+plagued+by+bad+capacitors/2100-1041_3-5942647.html

www.badcaps.net/

home.earthlink.net/~doniteli/index27.htm

Doesn't this make you feel confident in your computer?

I had a powersupply fail while I was using my computer..

went out with a LOUD  BANG!!!!

scared the crap out of me. I've never heard one go up like that before or since.

Quoted: No, but I can tell you, if your computer's magic smoke comes out...it's broken.

My laptop had the magic smoke come out the other night,  now I can't surf and watch basketball at the same time dammit.

I was once building a computer and when I first turned it on it made a loud pop-one of the voltage regulators on the mother board had exploded.  It threw out fragments and a spark which hit my arm.  Newegg replaced it without question.  

Several months ago I put my computer together with stuff from newegg.com.   New case, motherboard, 3.0 chip....all new stuff.  Plugged that thing in and the power supply blewup.  Contacted newegg and they sent another, no questions.  Second one worked great, but the board would not reconize the DVD drives.   Called newegg and they sent a new motherboard, again with no question.  Been working great.   Our IT guy said that the power supply has some type of protection circuit in it and that should have protected the rest of the computer when it went out.    Any way, good luck and only hope that the SPU needs replacing.