bjf123 Posted October 31, 2003 Posted October 31, 2003 A friend's computer has starting acting strangely. Since he likes to visit less than ideal web sites, I thought he might have a virus or trojan, but everything came up clean on the scans I did for him. What is happening is the system will be going along fine for between 15 and 30 minutes and then you hear a click, the monitor goes blank, and the hard drive light stays on, but you can't hear any drive activity. The light on the monitor changes from green to orange, so it's not getting any signal. The only thing to do is hold the power button in for a few seconds to force a restart. However, if you restart the system right away, it won't reboot. You have to wait a few minutes and then restart it. The system is a couple of years old, running Win98, with all critical updates applied. It's not a name brand PC. Another friend of ours had a co-worker who built systems on the side. Any ideas? Quote
SonicDragon Posted October 31, 2003 Posted October 31, 2003 Have you tried running a program like Adaware or SpyBot Search and Destroy? What is happening is the system will be going along fine for between 15 and 30 minutes and then you hear a click, the monitor goes blank, and the hard drive light stays on, but you can't hear any drive activity.Is it the monitor that clicks or something inside your case? Quote
nlinecomputers Posted October 31, 2003 Posted October 31, 2003 Sounds like something is overheating. I'd check fans and the power supply. You may have a P/S going out or a bad video card. Could be the CPU fan has stopped and the CPU is overheating and shutting down. It may allready be ruined. Does the case feel warm to the touch? Quote
bjf123 Posted October 31, 2003 Author Posted October 31, 2003 I ran Norton's Online Security Scan, Ad-Aware, and SpyBot. I thought of overheating too, so I opened up the case. The CPU fan spins freely and consistently when the PC is turned on. The fan on the power supply is also turning. Nothing feels warm to the touch. The click sound seems to come from the monitor as it loses the signal from the PC. I also checked the cables to and from the drives. They seemed to be properly seated. Quote
zlim Posted October 31, 2003 Posted October 31, 2003 Start from easiest to harder (doing 1 item at a time and running for awhile to see if the same thing happens): 1. try another cable from the monitor to the computer, 2. switch monitors 3. try a different video card.I forgot one, try moving the power plug from the monitor to a different plug location (I've had some plugs on power supplies act up). Quote
b2cm Posted October 31, 2003 Posted October 31, 2003 Check (swap) the power supply and the video card. If you have a Via chipset (mvp3 to kt266) try latency patch and as well as recommended BIOS settings. Quote
bjf123 Posted October 31, 2003 Author Posted October 31, 2003 Thanks for the suggestions. Since we don't have access to another power supply or video card (I'm not ripping open my system to see if they'll work!), I think I'll tell him to take it to a computer repair shop, or call an on-site repair company to visit his office. Quote
Prelude76 Posted October 31, 2003 Posted October 31, 2003 "did you jiggle the cable? try jiggling the cable" sorry, couldnt resist. saw that in an IBM commercial a few years ago. two non-IBM trained techies trying to figure out a problem. Quote
bjf123 Posted October 31, 2003 Author Posted October 31, 2003 "did you jiggle the cable? try jiggling the cable"Actually, yes I did! Quote
SonicDragon Posted October 31, 2003 Posted October 31, 2003 Are you useing the latest drivers for your video card? It might be a good idea to uninstall and reinstall the driver.Could be just the monitor. Do you have an extra one (or one that u could barrow) that you could try? Quote
nlinecomputers Posted October 31, 2003 Posted October 31, 2003 Or if you have a laptop you can plug the montior into it. If it still fails then you at least know that the monitor is at fault. Quote
bjf123 Posted November 1, 2003 Author Posted November 1, 2003 I'm traveling all next week for business, so I won't be able to look at the system until after I get back. I've also suggested that he just buy a new CPU. He could get a Dell or Gateway for about $500 that would be a big improvment over the current system. Quote
SonicDragon Posted November 1, 2003 Posted November 1, 2003 I'm traveling all next week for business, so I won't be able to look at the system until after I get back.Ok, let us know when we can help I hope everything goes well on the trip! Quote
Denali Posted November 2, 2003 Posted November 2, 2003 I'm still using a 8 year old Toshiba 17" monitor. A few months ago I experienced virtually the same symptoms you give. The only difference is was that I had to unplug the monitor for a few seconds. Then it would come back on for variable lengths of time. Oh, there was also a snapping sound when it shutdown, kind of like a static discharge.I finally did a complete blow down through the vents on the case. I was kind of hoping that wouldn't work 'cause I told my wife I'd have to replace it with a TFT if/when it died . Well, I' STILL using the Toshiba. I suspect that the was just enough dust/whatever in just the wrong place causing the problem.Yes, I could have done a better job after removing the case. But, when you want a TFT what're you going to do. Quote
bjf123 Posted November 10, 2003 Author Posted November 10, 2003 I checked with my friend when I got back from my business trip. Turns out it was the power supply. All is now well with the system (except for the virii and spyware he keeps getting from visiting "questionable" sites, but that's another story!). Quote
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