AFemaleProdigy

Hello! I could sure use some insight right about now and am not sure if I am putting this in the right category or not (not sure what is happening).

Over the last several years, I have been experiencing a strange occurance with my computers in my home office. It all started with the first computer. I had it for a long time and never had any problems, then it started to, every once in a great while, die. I mean complete power failure or something to that effect. It does not go through the shut down process, it just dies. I can't confirm that this is an actual power failure or an hardware failure because I am not sure how to. So, I would hit the power button and it would turn back on ok. It would work for a month or so, then shut down again. Over time, this powering down became more and more frequent until it was every couple of days, then every day. At that point, when I would try to power it back on, it would start to run for 1 to 2 seconds and then die immediately before booting up or just as it got to the login screen. If I left it for a while and came back later, then it would start back up and run ok for a while. Eventually, it would not turn back on again and I was unable to figure out was wrong with it. I just wrote it off as being old and finally quitting on me.

So, I got another computer. At this time, I had my computer on one wall outlet and my grandma's computer on another wall outlet (both desktop pcs). Then her computer started to do the same thing. Started to randomly shut down until it just wouldn't start anymore. So we bought her a brand new computer and she ended up moving out.

In the mean time, after a while, my new computer started doing the same thing. This is the computer I am on now. It's starting to shut down nearly every day and I am afraid I won't be able to turn it back on one of these times.

Here is what they all have in common:

1. All PCs running Windows XP
2. All used in the same room of my house
3. All were connected to power surge strips
4. All showed the exact same symptoms of working fine for a good while, then occasionally shutting down, then frequently shutting down with re-power failing occasionally, to complete power failure and system cannot re-power.


I also noticed that if I try to turn them back on immediately after they die, they will not restart. If I wait a while, come back, and try to restart, it's usually successful. Until it won't restart anymore of course. I thought maybe they were over heating so I took the side panels off. No improvement.

With the first computer that completely died, I tried swapping out the power supply. That did not work.

I also have a lap top computer, running XP, used in this room that has never had a problem. I keep it plugged into the wall, but it also has a battery. Maybe something to consider there?

I have also replaced my power strips to see if maybe they were faulty. They have surge protection. It did not help as I did that before connecting this computer for the first time and it ended up developing the problem anyway.

All of my computers have always used Norton Antivirus too. Scans show no viruses. No adware either.

All of them were different in terms of maker and hardware. Current PC having the problems is running a P4 3.0 Ghz dual processor with 2GB of RAM 2 good sized hard drives.

I am suspecting maybe it has something to do with the electricity in my house? I was having some problems with my cable tv a while back and the cable guy said it was electrical interference. Maybe the computers are getting fried some how?

Any ideas as to what might be happening, how to prevent it, and how to repair my computer from the damage... would be sooooo greatly appreciated! Thanks everyone!

~Jessica

AFemaleProdigy

Oh, want to add that I never have any error messages or blue screens.

Also tried unplugging everything else in the room and making sure I wasn't running any large appliances in the house. That didn't help either.

dai

it sounds like you don't do any cleaning maintanence to the computers and they are overheating
no bsod error message usually relates to heat or power or a combination of both causeing the problem

what are you running
video card
cpu
m/board
ram
power supply
brand
wattage

check the listings in the bios for voltages and tempretures and post them

get a can of air and blow the dust from the inside of the computer
paying paticular attention to the h/sinks and fans
then we will see where we are at

NextGen

what are h/sinks??

dai

heatsinks
what the fan sits on top of
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

AFemaleProdigy

Thanks, Dai. I had suspected that after reading some other posts on here, then seeing in my bios that I was peaking at high temp so I went and got a can of air. You are correct, the hardware was REALLY dusty. The fan on my video card and my heat sink, plus the vents on the power supply were caked in dust. I used my vacuum on it first, then the can of air. I took the heat sink completely off and cleaned everything. I will see how things run now.

Bios readings during power down:

System Temp 51c
CPU Temp 84c (shut down temp was set for 85c)
vcore 1.36V
3.3V 3.26V
+5V 5.08V
+12V 11.97V
(not sure what vcore and the remainder means)

Mcninjaguy

your CPU temp is about 40C too warm

did take off the thermal paste on the CPU and not reapply anymore?
if youdid clean off your cpu you may need to buy this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100012

instructions for re applying the thermal paste
info on thermal compound

dai

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

NextGen

is a heat sink a special type of fan? or what the fan is mounted on.

dai

the fan sits on top of the h/sink and clamped down

magnethead

Also, the power supplies may be of suspect, especiallt with dust amount.