Computer woes! Help...

I assume this is not some nasty bit of malware or spyware which is causing your machine to reboot?

Tony

Could be as simple as the CPU power supply decoupling capacitors are shot. If you own a soldering iron, it will cost you a fiver to fix.

Check if they are bulging, domed or leaking. (If they are leaking, don’t touch the fluid). You should find approximately 6 - 8 of them next to the CPU.

Tony,

My PC started that little caper and the only remedy was to reformat and reinstall windoze.

I'm pleased to say that I'm now a switcher (iMac 24"). It feels like a great burden has been lifted since getting the mac, everything is just so much easier, logical and quiet.

George.

quote:

Originally posted by GML:
since getting the mac, everything is just so much easier, logical and quiet.

George.

Unless you use tiscali.
Mac compatibility issue

I think the tiscali thing is an error between keyboard and chair.

quote:

Originally posted by fatcat:

quote:

Originally posted by GML:
since getting the mac, everything is just so much easier, logical and quiet.

George.

Unless you use tiscali.
Mac compatibility issue

Definitely not, Zen for me.

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
I think the tiscali thing is an error between keyboard and chair.

Setting up accounts, finding tiscali server settings, etc.

Macs are supposed to work straight out of the box.

You can load Windows onto a PC, connect it to a modem and away it goes. So easy.

Tony,

This chap has serviced me (ooh er missus) and several friends locally with PC problems.

He comes to you and sorts things out at a very reasonable cost - assuming you're not out of his service area.

The answer begins with an 'A' - but you knew that already.

Good luck.

John.

quote:

Can I use it as an opportunity to change to a Mac?

Any opportunity to switch is a good one Tony!

Peter

quote:

I think the tiscali thing is an error between keyboard and chair.

excellent

Thanks for the help chaps.

Jon - I've run my various spyware & virus progs, but they're giving the PC a clean bill of health.

Fatcat - I've just dismantled the blasted thing, pulled off various bits of plastic & unscrewed a dirty great big radiator-type thingy under which the CPU cowers. I spotted the capacitors you show in your photo but there's no sign of leakage. I gave 'em a good old wiggle to be sure.

So far I've resisted my usual cure-all for troublesome electricals - a bloody good riddling around with my paint-encrusted 10" screwdriver, which I usually find helps settle things down and clarifies the situation.

I did notice, however, that the cooling fan & associated gubbins were pretty clogged with an accumulation of dog fir, sweet wrappers and the odd mummified rat corpse. I've cleaned it all out with the aid of one of SWMBO's makeup brushes and stuffed everything back together. Perhaps lack of cooling might be a factor?

Anyway, by some miracle it's actually working and hasn't crashed for an hour or so. Fingers crossed!

I'll be perusing J.N.'s Mac in a couple of days and I confess I'm sorely tempted!

Tony

quote:

I've cleaned it all out with the aid of one of SWMBO's makeup brushes and stuffed everything back together. Perhaps lack of cooling might be a factor?

It could well be.....you will know in a few hours when it heats up....

Jim

I hope you mean John's MAC.

Honestly if needed and if finance permits you could buy one with your eyes shut and feel assured- IT JUST WORKS!

Tony , try this site was a great help to me as regards getting rid of Malware & Viruses Tech Support Guy

quote:

did notice, however, that the cooling fan & associated gubbins were pretty clogged with an accumulation of dog fir, sweet wrappers and the odd mummified rat corpse.

That is exactly what I found in my PCs cooling, except the rat, when I had the same symptoms as you Tony.
I had got so used to putting up with various failures with my PC that ever more frequent rebooting was just something else to put up with.

I even tried the iMac route last year with an Apple refurb. That went back in less than a week due to dead/stuck pixels and, er, oh yeah, it kept rebooting itself!

To get me by for now I have my 'vultured' PC using a mates surplus tower with added RAM and an over-sized power supply. Matched up with a new Samsung 24" widescreen and a fresh install of XP I'm happy. For now.

Tony

quote:

Originally posted by avole:

quote:

Hide Post
I hope you mean John's MAC.

Honestly if needed and if finance permits you could buy one with your eyes shut and feel assured- IT JUST WORKS!

If it's a heating problem caused by an accumulation of dust and other debris then the mac will fail just as any other brand.

In fact, macs can and do have the same problems as all other brands - kneeling at the Apple Altar does not buy immunity from computer failure.

Sorry, I did not the mac recomendation in that way - ofcourse it can fail just like any other computer because it is a computer. You could just be plain unlucky in mass produced computer land whether it be mac or pc.

Kneeling at the apple alter is such a cliche which gives the wrong impression for people that are happy with their choice and try to spread the word - because the word does need to be spread or we will all be owned by Bill Gates

The fact that the gentlemen says that he may be tempted to switch to a mac I just wanted to make a point that I did and I am more than happy.

I only have limited knowledge with using pc for around 6 years but that was enough to distinguish between the pc and mac interface and know which one looks,works and feels more stable.

Its about choice and if people weren't brainwashed to beleive that you have to buy pc for word and excel maybe more would switch. You also have to buy excel if you need proper spreadsheet compatibility in business anyway so it don't come free from microsoft as we're all led to beleive.

Same as hifi TRY BEFORE YOU BUY.

I do apologise if I have side tracked the topic and hope the ACTUAL situation does mean a small cost and bliss without an expensive outlay for new.

Bloody thing's still on the blink!

Just before it's latest crash it flashed up a "Blue Screen of Death" but given it was only there for a nanosecond I didn't get a chance to read it...

Thankfully, when it rebooted the computer kindly gave me a simple and straightforward note of exactly what the problem is, and how it might easily be rectified :-

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 2057

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 9f
BCP1: 00000003
BCP2: 88B6B028
BCP3: 88609AC8
BCP4: 85531D90
OS Version: 6_0_6001
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 768_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini020909-04.dmp
C:\Users\anthony\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-55068-0.sysdata.xml
C:\Users\anthony\AppData\Local\Temp\WERDB6F.tmp.version.txt


Anther reason to hate it!

iMac 24" duly ordered!

Something else I had to do was to remove the CPU heatsink, clean the mating surfaces, re-apply some thermal grease, and refit the heatsink.
Have you ever removed the heatsink?

Tony

tonym,
before you bin it you may want to consider any recent changes you've made such as new bits of hardware or software. Do you have a recently created system restore point you could try restarting from?

Too late Tom. Nothing's recently been added. I suspect the power supply is giving up the ghost.

Anyway, I feel as though a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

tony,
If it's just your power supply that's quite straightforward and inexpensive to replace. They're all pretty much the same size and the new one will slot in easily in place of the old one. Take some advice from your local PC shop though if you're not sure what's required.

Or maybe it's a good excuse to replace that old PC with a brand spanking new one.

quote:

Originally posted by avole:
Zorba,

Well, there is also Linux!

Only mentioned that because there does seem to be a bit of 'macs are the solution for all ills' on this forum, which isn't true.

No probs I did not mean it in that way.

Linux, all I know is that its another very stable os. It looks a little specialised for me regarding obtaining it and support. I have also heard of ubuntu too which is another os that states IT WORKS. I have an old dinosaur upstairs which I may one day give it a go. I suppose if more people with a little no how can support these formats and help bring them to a more mainstream level then it can mean more choice and maybe for the better.