Busted Capacitor

[MikeHof]

I've got a MSI Delta motherboard that was running fine until yesterday. It stopped booting while installing XP & I couldn't figure it out so I took it to a local computer shop. They looked at the board & noticed that the top of one of the capacitors was busted open. It is not blown, just looks like something has fallen on it. The board has no warranty & they said it was bad. Well they sold me a new board & after I got it installed I had the same problem, it wouldn't boot. Seems one of my front panel connectors shorted out so we disconnected them from the board & now it works. I think my old board will still work & want to try it out but will that capacitor having a hole in top affect anything safety wise? Can it be replaced?

Mike

[MRCOMPUTER]

The bad cap should be replaced before you try to use the board.
Check the other capacitors. Look for bulging tops and leakage/stains at the bottom. Their value is marked on the side.
Its about a 5 minute job to replace one. Pick up a soldering pencil and a replacement capacitor from your local electronics store...