This thread reminds me of a story, please forgive the length. Someone I know (a Silicon Valley engineer, actually) liked to putz around with the innards of his PCs, although his professional expertise involved non-PC products. Being an engineer, his view was that most problems and issues in the world were easily understood and could be resolved by simple application of his finely-honed problem solving skills. The guy isn't frugal, he's cheap. Also completely lacking in common sense (as you'll soon see demonstrated). He bought a used desktop, and found after awhile that he'd failed to consider that the hard drive was too small. So he added whatever was needed to connect a spare one he had lying around. Still not enough, so he bought a USB hard drive that he kept connected. Some time passed, he started to do some new things on the PC and found he didn't have enough memory, so he added more. And the stock graphics processor was inadequate for the video work he wanted to do, so he added a graphics board that a friend of his had. The PC started shutting itself down periodically, he figured it was overheating. So he rigged up internal and external fans. He talked to someone who suggested maybe he needed a bigger power supply, so he bought that. His PC setup was in his home "office", a room he had added on some years back. He'd hired someone to do the actual hammer and nail construction work (an unlicensed worker), but he did the electrical wiring himself because, of course, he's an engineer and can understand anything. After installing the new power supply, the circuit breaker started to trip off regularly, like several times a day. After trial and error, he remembered he'd wired the office plugs into a kitchen circuit and the breaker tripped when the fridge started. (There were other things on the circuit too because all the plugs in the office were on one line). Easy enough, he put a larger circuit breaker into his panel. Only a few days later, while working at his desk one morning, there was a flash and smoke started out of his PC. The whole thing got fried. Likely, he figured, a result of his not being careful enough with the various hardware customizations he'd done. At his wife's insistence, his DIY PC building and troubleshooting days are over. He buys new ones and replaces them when they have problems. Also at his wife's insistence.

eMachines were/are notorious for the cheap power supply failing and in many cases taking out the motherboard too. Sadly that seems to be the case with yours. A repair is costly. Not only the expense of the motherboard and the installation fees if you cannot do it yourself but you also have to buy another copy of Windows unless you are willing to argue with Microsoft. Microsoft changed the rules last year so that folks like you could not re-install the operating system if the motherboard was replaced. However if you phone Microsoft and let them know the situation you will be allowed to use your existing copy of Windows. Again this will depend on the tenacity of the person doing the repairs for you. Whoever phones may need to be firm with them but I understand they can and do make exceptions

A higher wattage power supply offers the option of added external gadgets that would be powered through the USB connection with far less fear of failure. For anyone who might be curious about their power needs here is a chart to fill in to see your minimum needs for power. Newer and more powerful computers need larger wattage in power supplies to run smoothly. However the quality of the power supply is also important. This is one of those cases where heavier is better because you would have more substantial components in the heavier PS. A few years ago eMachines had terrible power supplies and when they failed at an alarming rate there were many that took out the motherboard with them making the computer useless because replacement motherboards were not available.

I'm including a link to a very good (although long) discussion about power vents. So you noticed that pulling a batt of insulation over the attic access/stair reduced the smell. attic vents create a negative pressure on attics. air is then drawn in through openings from the conditioned space into the attic when the fans are in use. (see why it cools off the attic!) when fans are off is when smell would be greater. Don't add insulation until you seal openings from attic into conditioned space. And avoid power vents. They cause more problems than they solve. best of luck..and happy reading! http://www.hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=166795