It's pretty common to have the outlets on one side of a room on a different circuit than the other side. If one circuits trip, lights from the other side of the room keep you from being in complete darkness. So just because only one side of the basement is out, don't assume it is NOT the circuit breaker or fuse. Check the box.

If you actually have a failure in the middle of a branch circuit, you need to know how that circuit is laid out so you can figure out the area where the fault exists. Can you identify which one or two outlets or junction boxes are the most likely causes of the failure? If not, it may be time to get a professional in there.

Two-prong versus three prong is irrelevant.

Greg

You can't just replace 2 prong outlets with 3 prong outlets. You need a proper ground or gfci recetacles.

I had the same problem in my basement and the electrician just left. I don't know if this will help, but it cost me $75 to figure out I created the problem myself. We're refinishing the basement and were very careful not to pierce wires with nails and such. After drywalling, I decided to start removing old crumbling outlets. I apparently took apart the outlet that started the circuit and capped the hot wires off seperately, so I broke the chain. Because of that half the outlets in my basement weren't live. All I had to do was replace that receptacle and voila! I have power again.

[This message has been edited by TchrMommy (edited March 03, 2003).]

My first reaction was a tripped GFCI. This is quite common in a basement. A GFCI has two buttons in the middle - test and reset. The GFCI for the basement could be located in the basement, in the garage, in the laundry room.