20 replies to this topic

[kobrakommander56]

So my computer kept rebooting, randomly and i would get a blue screen that would flash for a minute, sometimes it would reboot when i tried to get into windows, sometimes i would get into windows and it would reboot 5-15 minutes in.... So I decided to reformat it and reinstall windows on my raid 0 config. I Did, and i still kept getting the problem. Then i actually looked and realized that my 12v line was running at 11.39v stupid me!

[lokoike]

kobrakommander56, on Jan 19 2006, 12:19 PM, said:

Then i actually looked and realized that my 12v line was running at 11.39v stupid me!

Ah, kobrakommander56, you never cease to make me smile.

No, if it makes you feel better, I have a stupid PC repair story as well. I was trying to install some SDRAM into an old computer, and as you know sometimes RAM can be a little difficult to get into the slot. So I was pushing and pushing and couldn't figure out why in the heck it wouldn't go in right. O, that's right, I had it in backwards! Doh!

[kobrakommander56]

thats not stupid, YOU IDIOT! Everyone does that at least a million times, and when i say a million i mean twice. So let this not be just a warning to you but more like an epiphany.

oh i also just bought a new PSU, cuz obviously i need a working one.

[Andavari]

kobrakommander56, on Jan 19 2006, 01:01 PM, said:

thats not stupid, YOU IDIOT!

[lokoike]

kobrakommander56, on Jan 19 2006, 01:01 PM, said:

thats not stupid, YOU IDIOT! Everyone does that at least a million times, and when i say a million i mean twice.

Well I sure felt stupid, considering it was SD. I mean, if it had been EDO or DDR, that would've been one thing, since they only have two sections which are of similar size; easy to mistake. But SD has 3 sections, and the top section is much smaller than the other two, so it should've been pretty obvious.

Anyway, kind of a backwards argument, since now I'm trying to prove to you guys that I'm more stupid than you think I am.

[1984]

when i got my computer 4.5 years ago, i spent 40 minutes on the help line to be able to manually turn it off. apparently you have to hold the button in for a few seconds.

[kobrakommander56]

you know i was kidding right?

[lokoike]

kobrakommander56, on Jan 22 2006, 10:07 PM, said:

you know i was kidding right?

You talking to me? If so, yes, I know you were joking. You just a jokin kinda guy.

[kobrakommander56]

hahah good, im watching this epiisode of Boondocks, its simply amazing.

[krit86lr]

Lordoftheweb, on Jan 22 2006, 08:22 PM, said:

when i got my computer 4.5 years ago, i spent 40 minutes on the help line to be able to manually turn it off. apparently you have to hold the button in for a few seconds.

A few years ago I had a similar situation. Then I realized that in the Control Panel > Power Options > Advanced...the part that says "when I press the power button my my computer" it was set to do nothing. Oddly enough when I switched it to "turn off computer" I didn't need to pull the power cord any more.

[Bama]

kobrakommander56, on Jan 19 2006, 02:01 PM, said:

thats not stupid, YOU IDIOT! Everyone does that at least a million times, and when i say a million i mean twice. So let this not be just a warning to you but more like an epiphany.

oh i also just bought a new PSU, cuz obviously i need a working one.

Hey! you guys,

You are not only helpful, you are also funny. Thanks for the laughs. Glad I found ya'.

Ya'll have a good weekend,
Bama

[tsepha]

When I first got my own computer back in 2000, I thought that Gator was a good idea. To make matters worse, I installed it.

[Eldmannen]

Well power and voltage regulation and such are not simple things that people think off, so I wouldnt call it stupid.

My computer have had some unstability too, before it never had that, but lately it have had it. The 12v line reports a little over 12v (but less than 13v). You think that is the problem?

[lokoike]

Eldmannen, on Feb 24 2006, 06:59 PM, said:

My computer have had some unstability too, before it never had that, but lately it have had it. The 12v line reports a little over 12v (but less than 13v). You think that is the problem?

Highly doubt it. Your voltage will never be a perfect 12v or 13v, due to different forms of resistance such as heat produced by your PSU and cables that may have a slight imperfection, ect.

What are the problems you experience? We may be able to isolate your problem.

[Eldmannen]

Well, it started be like that everytime I started the computer, within 5 minutes it restarted itselfed. I think this was even if I didnt use it those 5 minutes.
Then after that, it worked fine all day without problem.
And it been like that for some time.

But lately, it didnt reboot after 5 minutes, and I runned many hours, but then later it restart, then 2 minutes later restart again then 2 minutes later again, was strange.

[lokoike]

Eldmannen, on Mar 2 2006, 08:22 PM, said:

Well, it started be like that everytime I started the computer, within 5 minutes it restarted itselfed. I think this was even if I didnt use it those 5 minutes.
Then after that, it worked fine all day without problem.
And it been like that for some time.

But lately, it didnt reboot after 5 minutes, and I runned many hours, but then later it restart, then 2 minutes later restart again then 2 minutes later again, was strange.

Hmm... that is strange. Usually, bad PSUs will run for maybe a 15 seconds or so before crapping out on you. Having it run for a few minutes, then die, then run fine the rest of the day is not normal (at least I've never seen it).

Does the fan on the PSU work well? Do you ever notice that it is not running? If so, there is always the possibility that the fan has a short, which causes it to periodically stop, which overheats your PSU, which causes it to crash.

Do you have any spare PSUs sitting around that you could throw in your system, just to test and see if that really is the problem (or am I the only one who holds onto old cruddy PSUs? )? That is one of the best ways to test for bad hardware; replace it with parts that you know work, so you can see if they really are the problem or not.

The only other thing I can think of that it might be is your processor overheating. What do you have for a proc? And are you using the stock cooler? Perhaps your proc's fan is bad, and it is what is overheating, although that still doesn't explain the weird timing on your crashes...

Let me know what you find out.

[Eldmannen]

Today my computer just powered down, like if the power was cut.
It did not restart.
Then I pressed the power-on button on the front of the computer, it would not power on. Then I flipped the power switch on the backside, watched TV for couple minutes, came back, flipped it back and pushed power-on button on front and it started.
I suspect PSU.

[lokoike]

Eldmannen, on Mar 4 2006, 02:08 PM, said:

Today my computer just powered down, like if the power was cut.
It did not restart.
Then I pressed the power-on button on the front of the computer, it would not power on. Then I flipped the power switch on the backside, watched TV for couple minutes, came back, flipped it back and pushed power-on button on front and it started.
I suspect PSU.

Yeah, sounds like it. Bad PSUs are no fun.

At least you can find a decent PSU for a (relatively) small price. I don't remember what your exact specs were, but they were to high, were they? If you have an AGP video card, a couple HDs/optical drives, and maybe a few PCI cards, you should be more than fine with a good 400 watt PSU.

I didn't do a real specific search, cause I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for, but here are some 3-400 watt PSUs you may want to check out. The prices aren't too bad.

[Eldmannen]

AGP video card, 1 hdd, 1 dvd, 2 pci cards. The PSU is 300w, the voltage and stuff is little higher than should, but not by much.
I guess the PSU is good enough, but is wearing out.
Yeah, I need to buy a new PSU, but so boring.

[Greenknight]

My 12v line is at 11.69v. Everything's working just fine. Which raises the question, how far off can voltage get before it starts to be a problem? I should add that 11.69v seems to be stable, about what it runs all the time.