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Turning off my PC case lights?

Unfortunatly I believe it depends on the computer model.

I ran into the same problem and had to come up with my own solution. The thing is, on my PC I had no desire at all to get the flashy lights that came with a lot of the parts I got, and since my computer is in the same room as me and I'm a light sleeper that needs total darkness, they had to go. First thing I did was tape a piece of black cardboard over some lights inside it (fortunatly they were far away from any heat sources so I didn't have to create a fire hazard). Second thing was the power supply fan lights (stupid "bling" tackiness anyway), which I solved by taking apart the power supply and snipping a single wire. Fortunatly those lights didn't complete any important circuits and the power supply works just fine without them.

My problem is somewhat different from yours in that you actually want your lights. Unfortunatly, every board I've seen with these sorts of lights seems to lack an option to disable them. I would first check the bios of the board to see if that has options. Barring that, I'm afraid it's either snip snip or tape tape.
 
I have a similar problem. My HP PC's big square power button lights up.

Fair enough, but when the PC goes into a power-saver mode, that button flashes on and off about once every second.

I can live with the light being on when I need to leave the PC on overnight, but the flashing light is particularly bright in a dark room, and is very annoying.

I wish I could disable it.
 
RSLancastr said:
I have a similar problem. My HP PC's big square power button lights up.

Fair enough, but when the PC goes into a power-saver mode, that button flashes on and off about once every second.

I can live with the light being on when I need to leave the PC on overnight, but the flashing light is particularly bright in a dark room, and is very annoying.

I wish I could disable it.
Click to expand...

Gaffer tape.
 
Now a power light, THAT one is relatively easy. It does require a little knowledge of putting together a computer though.

Essentially all you should need to find is the wire that connects that power light to the motherboard. Find that, and unhook it. The trick is that some wire setups just combine that and a number of not optional cables into a single plug. In that case, there are a few options available to you. The most destructive is of course just to cut that individual wire (and then tape it off so it isn't a hazard), but optionally if you have the right tools and some good coordination you can also basically "plug up" the connector port with some nonconductive material, and then if you want the light just remove that material later on.
 
Actually, looking closer at the lights, they're basically just connected to the psu, so the only solution is to unplug them. Ah, well.
 
Try doing this

Get a toggle switch as in the picture.
switch.jpg

Toggle switches usually have 2 positions, on and off. Find the wires that go to the LED. For power ON it is usually green and white. Cut the green wire and connect it as per the green lines of the drawing.

I prefer to solder the wires there, or use crimp terminals.

In the drawing there is also a resistor shown. Use this resistor IF you can find a 3 position toggle switch. A 3 position switch has 3 positions (refer to the drawing) top, center and bottom. The center position is OFF.

What this resistor and 3 way toggle will do is, you will have LED at full brightness (in one of the side positions, let's use the "top" position as an example here), LED totally OFF when the switch is in the center position, and LED at reduced brightness (because of the resistor, and this would be the "bottom" position to follow this example)

Edited to add : this will also work if the LEDs are connected directly to the PSU. As long as you can access the wires that go to the LEDs
 
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Smike said:
Actually, looking closer at the lights, they're basically just connected to the psu, so the only solution is to unplug them. Ah, well.
Click to expand...

Either the switch from stormer, if you're feeling handy and get a blanking plate, or the panels I linked to will work fine. Most of the power connections within a computer are standardised so you shouldn't have too many problems
 
I hate this new trend with lots of lights and fluorescent things inside the PC and even transparent cases so that you don't miss any lights. The ideal PC for me is completely dark and silent do that you don't know whether it's on or off.
 
My ideal case also doesn't have giant green plastic shapes all over it or is shaped like a demon or an alien or something. I want something that is exactly one box with rounded corners expressely for the purpose of not digging into my hands when I carry the thing around. I find the cooling mods very neat but other than that, I love me some bland and uninteresting case appearence.
 
They do? Most I've seen only get "warm", even when covered. Never been burned by one, no matter how long I've left one on and touched it while still on. I understand that LEDs have an advantage simply because they are more efficient and don't lose as much energy to heat as filament bulbs.
 
Lightshow notwithstanding, that seems like a pretty decent system at a pretty decent price. Or at least it did until they stopped selling it. Still, I think I can feel some shopping coming on. Are you happy with it, Smike?
 
richardm said:
Lightshow notwithstanding, that seems like a pretty decent system at a pretty decent price. Or at least it did until they stopped selling it. Still, I think I can feel some shopping coming on. Are you happy with it, Smike?
Click to expand...

Yeah, looks like they've replaced it with this

Bear in mind that it is only a barebones system, so I also bought hard drive, monitor, Windows XP, extra GB of RAM, DVD-RW, graphics card, floppy drive...

Overall, it probably cost me more like £900, but yes, it's still good value for a gaming machine and I'm very happy with it. The only problem I have had is that my older games aren't compatible with it.

It was also allergic to Black & White 2, but I think that's more of a problem with the game than the PC.
 
Smike said:
Bear in mind that it is only a barebones system, so I also bought hard drive, monitor, Windows XP, extra GB of RAM, DVD-RW, graphics card, floppy drive...
Click to expand...

Yeah, mind you it would replace an existing system, so I'd probably be able to reuse most of the stuff except the graphics card (Got an AGP one which is probably past it now) and the RAM. In fact the case I'm using must be seven or eight years old now, and has been restuffed more than once, so perhaps one of their motherboard deals would suit me better. I believe I got my last bundle from Novatech as it happens - it's nice that they assemble and test them before shipping, it saves a lot of RMA.

But I digress :)
 
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