Vista - Power Outtage & reboot problems

Hello,
I am new to this group and hope someone could help me.
Two nights ago we had power outtage ( eventually we had no electricty for 12 hrs)
my computer just shut off , I smelled something burned right away.
After taking out the power supply I smelled again and it was PS toasted.
Went to Fry's and replaced it with a better unit, put it back together and turned PC on great! everything was on: fans, lights, dvd would open etc..

The problem is that it doesn't boot. I tried to reboot with original software Ultimate. I tried to use the repair function, but it gets stuck looking for drivers. I tried to reinstall Vista but it won't let me do it either. The message says to locate drivers but I can not locate them. The hard drive manufacturer claims that Vista has the right drivers.

I build and it ran flawlessly for 8 months until the power outtage. The computer is build from part that I purchased at Fry's.

Any ideas about the driver problem? Is there any way to avoid re-installing Vista?

Thank you so much for any tips you might have.
Les

Well, it might have fried something on the motherboard. I would take a good look inside your computer for anything else that might have been fried by the power surge. You may end up having to replace something. I could be totally wrong though and it might just be a driver issue but my guess is that something else besides the PS got fried. I would buy a power strip that has a surge protector in it. And you could always get an UPS as well for the power outtages, if they happen often.

Hello Les,

One other thing to check is in the bios,

Check to see if the drive type has been set to Raid

Its not likely but have known for BIOS settings to be altered by a sudden power outage,

They are usually set to defaults when this happens but if set to raid on a non raid set-up or vice versa will cause the system not to boot and the install routine to call for drivers

Yup - verify all motherboard components are working. verify all your BIOS settings are correct, and, of course, verify that the new PSU is completely working as well...