Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: xxIENAxx on September 01, 2009, 09:22:29 AM
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Hi Guys,
i have a problem with my wife's pc.
The moment i plug the power into it, the fan goes on for sometime (fm 20 sec to 1 min), then it stops and the pc close down. After sometime it starts again, same as before, fan goes on then it stops and pc close down. And it goes on and on till i plug the pc off.
It worked till yesterday evening, she worked on it, closed it without any problems. This morning when we woke up, we found the problem.
It's an old pc, maybe 6 or 7 years old, she uses it only to surf on the net,write documents or working her pictures. One month ago she had a virus on it, got it repaired, added some RAM( fm 512 to 1 GB, after suggestion from the tecnician), the guy said the pc was good enough for what she uses it.I would like to save her pictures/documents if possible. We don't know much about pc so any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
xxIENAxx
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Try Hardware and software bbs folder - more luck there
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Try Hardware and software bbs folder - more luck there
I tought that folder should be use only for problems related to the game and not "private".
xxIENAxx
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I tought that folder should be use only for problems related to the game and not "private".
xxIENAxx
so "Open forum for the general discussion of Aces High." is more appropriate for non-AH hardware related topics? ;)
I think you can use Hardware forum for your problem. The only real alternative would be Oclub, not Aces High General Discussion
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OK ...had a similar problem on another PC of ours. Turned out to be a fault RAM stick. Suggest you check the stick is seated correctly. If it is try using the old stick to see if problem gets solved. If it does you'll know it's the new ram stick being faulty.
Our problem was constant unexpected restarts. Could crash inside 5 min or after 2 hrs. Pisser if you ain't saved your stuff.
P.S wrong forum :aok
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so "Open forum for the general discussion of Aces High." is more appropriate for non-AH hardware related topics? ;)
I think you can use Hardware forum for your problem. The only real alternative would be Oclub, not Aces High General Discussion
I'm sorry, i posted it in the Oclub, Is there a way i can cancell it from this forum?
Ty LYNX i'll try that.
xxIENAxx
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I tought that folder should be use only for problems related to the game and not "private".
xxIENAxx
From your description, you have not mentioned anything about it not running the game ... it's her PC and all she does is ... uses it only to surf on the net,write documents or working her pictures
It sounds like you have an overheating problem. I had a similar problem on my ThinkPad and what I ended up doing was taking the keyboard off to get access to the fan area and blow it out with canned air to get out all the dust that may have accumulated (in the last 7 years) in the heat sink and fan intake areas. After that, the computer has been running very cool and I have had no problems.
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power supply on the way out?
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unplug power to the unit, then reseat every single power connection, checking for dust in the pins. If so, blow it out.
After that, reseat your RAM stick, and ensure a proper seat.
Then doublecheck the little connectors on the corner of the board (the ones for the power switch and what not)- make sure they're all seated properly by reseating 'em one at a time.
Finally, take a look at your power supply. If there's a ton of dust, take it outside and give it a good shot with a can of compressed air.
That should take care of it.
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Is there any output on the monitor at all?
Defective Power Supply or Motherboard or CPU most probably if there is no output at all.
Check if all power connections are properly plugged and check if the CPU Fan has become loose.
Overheating would be highly unlikely since you said that it worked fine before.
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Could be many things but I am leaning towards ram seating problem since that was replaced recently. I would not think it is a dust problem since a tech was inside recently.
With the machine unplugged open it up. Touch the metal frame to be sure your not static charged. Static is electronic parts worst nightmare. Then release the RAM sticks and reseat them one by one. Be sure the little clips close all the way. Then close the box plug in and check it again.
If your not sure what your ram looks like you can probably ask the kid next door..... you'd be surprised what the young'uns know these days.
Post to let us know if that fixes the problem. If not we can troubleshoot more.
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Sounds like the fan is stopping first, then it's shutting down. Many PC's will run the fan on full during startup then cut it back till needed. If that's what it's doing, then that is normal. It sounds like a heat issue to me too. Blow the crud out of that thing and see if it works. I'm thinking that a badly seated ram stick would cause an issue before Windows started.
Could be many things but I am leaning towards ram seating problem since that was replaced recently. I would not think it is a dust problem since a tech was inside recently.
Post to let us know if that fixes the problem. If not we can troubleshoot more.
LOL, you really think they will clean it when they install the new ram? Only happens if you take it to a buddy to do the repairs. I've never heard of Best Buy blowing out a box.
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LOL, you really think they will clean it when they install the new ram? Only happens if you take it to a buddy to do the repairs. I've never heard of Best Buy blowing out a box.
Did he say he took it to bestbuy?
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We need a pic of the wife so that we can get a better handle on the situation. :cool:
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I would not think it is a dust problem since a tech was inside recently.
Fan and heat sink are no where near where a tech would install new RAM and then think to blow out the crud.
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Did he say he took it to bestbuy?
Sorry, I was using Best Buy generically to reference any of the usual rip off big chain stores which is where most people DO take their virused, broken down computers to for repairs.
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Thank you very much guys, for your suggestions.
I moved the RAM, tried one at the time with the same result. I couldn't used the old RAM cause i haven't it anymore.
Yes, there is power to the screen, for few sec i can see the start page of Window.
The pc seems quiet clean inside, more than mine anyway :) i do think they cleaned it when they repaired it.
I checked all the connections i could, and they seemed connected properly.
I have another pc, it's one my daughter used (now she has a labtop), do you think it's possible to move my wife's hard disk to that pc, so that she can use it?
Sorry to bother you guys, but right now i can't afford another "visit" to the technician (last costed me 500$) :( .
Thanks again.
xxIENAxx
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Did he say he took it to bestbuy?
Nope. :cool:
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You might be able to move it over to the other PC and run it as the slave hard drive if you have the correct cable and an extra power supply line.
It should be easier to find the problem and repair the existing comp though. Is it beeping at all during boot?
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Thank you very much guys, for your suggestions.
I moved the RAM, tried one at the time with the same result. I couldn't used the old RAM cause i haven't it anymore.
Yes, there is power to the screen, for few sec i can see the start page of Window.
The pc seems quiet clean inside, more than mine anyway :) i do think they cleaned it when they repaired it.
I checked all the connections i could, and they seemed connected properly.
I have another pc, it's one my daughter used (now she has a labtop), do you think it's possible to move my wife's hard disk to that pc, so that she can use it?
Sorry to bother you guys, but right now i can't afford another "visit" to the technician (last costed me 500$) :( .
Thanks again.
xxIENAxx
Your power supply is bad. Open the case and smell the power supply...if there is a blown/leaking capacitor, diode, fuse, etc...you will smell it.
There is always a slight electrical smell in a power supply but a bad one has a distinct odor.
And unless you have the same motherboard (version/series/model) in your daughters pc, your wifes hard drive won't boot properly when you put it in the other system...not with Windows XP anyway.
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You might be able to move it over to the other PC and run it as the slave hard drive if you have the correct cable and an extra power supply line.
It should be easier to find the problem and repair the existing comp though. Is it beeping at all during boot?
No, it does beep. Well, here what is happening :
1) i plug the pc to the power sup.
2) the fan start running + the on/off switch on the front of the pc flashes and i can't switch off the pc.
3) i see for few sec the start page of windows, then the screen goes black and the no signal note appears.
4) i don't hear any beeb, more like mechanical "clicks" (i'm sorry i don't know how to explain it better).
5) the pc close down and eventually starts again the same process over and over again.
6) i can't switch the pc on or off, i can do it only by plug/unplug it.
Thank you again
xxIENAxx
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Your power supply is bad. Open the case and smell the power supply...if there is a blown/leaking capacitor, diode, fuse, etc...you will smell it.
There is always a slight electrical smell in a power supply but a bad one has a distinct odor.
And unless you have the same motherboard (version/series/model) in your daughters pc, your wifes hard drive won't boot properly when you put it in the other system...not with Windows XP anyway.
My daughter pc as 2 hard disks, 1 marked as C where windows is installed and the another marked F where she has all her music and other things.
Do you think i can switch hard disk F with the one of my wife?
Thank for your reply
xxIENAxx
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My daughter pc as 2 hard disks, 1 marked as C where windows is installed and the another marked F ...
Possibly.
However, a 6 or 7 year old desktop is going to most likely be IDE, and will need to be jumpered correctly to replace the existing drive, which would also need to be IDE.
Before you do that, however, what happens if you go into BIOS? Does it also blank out and restart?
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You can put whatever hard drive you want into a system as long as you have the correct connection types. The question is what are you wanting to do?
If you are going to try and put your wife's C: drive into your daughters case and boot to it...with Windows XP it won't work unless the motherboards are the same.
If you are wanting to put the either of the hard drives from your wife's computer into your daughters computer so she has access to files on it...that will work.
Any way of changing the power supply before you go through all that?
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If you hit delete during boot up and can stay in the bios for a few minutes i'd guess your hard drive is busted. Espescially if you are hearing clicks and stuff. If its an ide drive,you should be able to hook it up to another pc. If so,then transfer all your important files to the good drive and go shopping. :aok
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Hi guys, first of all i want to thank all of you for the replys and suggestions.
I moved my wife's hard disk into my daughter's pc, (after i found out what MASTER/SLAVE ment and how to do it), and now she can see all her pictures/documents.So this problem is solved. Thank you again guys.
xxIENAxx
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Hi guys, first of all i want to thank all of you for the replys and suggestions.
I moved my wife's hard disk into my daughter's pc, (after i found out what MASTER/SLAVE ment and how to do it), and now she can see all her pictures/documents.So this problem is solved. Thank you again guys.
xxIENAxx
the problem is not solved lets fix that other tower
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back up your pictures to photobucket or create cd's just in case it happens to the new computer.
semp