Thanks a million to Brian Snow at Northern Hills for getting my PC fixed. The guy really knows his stuff.
I initially took my non-functioning PC to Best Buy in Rapid to have the Geek Squad look at it, diagnose the problem, and, if my PC was shot, then buy a new one there. Which I didn’t want to do because of cost and time lost. The Geek Squad told me my motherboard was bad and the cost to replace it would be the same as a new computer.
I got a 2nd opinion from Brian (Northern Hills also sells PCs), who told me the motherboard was fine — it only had a bad battery and my power supply was failing. He fixed those things and also solved other vexing problems I had due to my previous very complicated set-up. Now I’m up and running for the next 4-5 years, at a fraction of the cost of a new computer.
Moral of the story: If you have a real problem with your PC, skip the Geek Squad and go to Northern Hills first.