Official Computer Problems Thread

[PhishPhan]

Kind of a specific problem:

I have 5 case fans, and they all turned off simultaniously. They are not plugged into the MB, they are plugged into a front panel that also controls, CPU/HDD/Case temp (whichstill function.)

I cant imagine that all the fans burned out at the same time, and i dont think its a power supply thing.

any ideas?

[Dark_Angers]

Originally Posted by PhishPhan

Kind of a specific problem:

I have 5 case fans, and they all turned off simultaniously. They are not plugged into the MB, they are plugged into a front panel that also controls, CPU/HDD/Case temp (whichstill function.)

I cant imagine that all the fans burned out at the same time, and i dont think its a power supply thing.

any ideas?

something is lose. replug in all ur fans.

[TheHempress]

Originally Posted by Ars moriendi

have you updated spybot?

sometimes it takes a day or so to catch up to new crap since the app is free

you can also block that site in firefox as well as your localhost < google this and you'll get a nice list of blocked ad sites

We just reformatted.

[jsmak]

This has been going on for a while and it keeps persisting. My laptop keeps shutting off without warning when playing computer games. I assumed it was overheating so I freed up a lot of hard drive place, and cleaned out the dust. It meets the reqs easily for all the games I play, but it still shuts off. It can be a pretty big piss off mid instance. Any tips?

[Ars moriendi]

try setting the laptop on something like a kitchen sink rack (the kind that drain into 'em) with a decent size fan blowing at a slightly angled (think snow plow) laptop sitting on the upside down rack

if it works it's probably the gpu contact with it's sink (thermal tape usually seperates in lappy cases based on the minor twisting of the pcbs inside)

if it still crashes run at some lower res

same shit again? it's probably the graphics card drivers or some lame shit like direct x being too old and oddly sometimes too new lol

@ hemp - what os? XP I assume

[Azimuthal]

Originally Posted by jsmak

This has been going on for a while and it keeps persisting. My laptop keeps shutting off without warning when playing computer games. I assumed it was overheating so I freed up a lot of hard drive place, and cleaned out the dust. It meets the reqs easily for all the games I play, but it still shuts off. It can be a pretty big piss off mid instance. Any tips?

Either your drivers are messed up, try using some video card driver removal thing to clean them all out (sorry, don't know any off hand). Then reinstall a fresh copy of the newest ones.

or

Over heat due to dust build up, open your computer up, take out all the screws. Check for gunk around the heat sinks, fans, vents. The air needs to flow smoothly, gunk builds up. Though seems like you did that already.

or

Try a memtest, ram could be giving errors.

[the roach]

Alright, heres a simple question. Should you turn off the computer after use or should you always leave it running?

[Ars moriendi]

leave it running

the power usage is minimal and your parts will last longer with less cold starts

[Hank Scorpio]

omfg my msn wont even load. i click it on, nothing happens. i hit ctrl alt del and its on the processes there. this is really pissing me off. i need a fuckin joint to calm down but i got no fuckin money!

[Azimuthal]

Originally Posted by Ars moriendi

leave it running

the power usage is minimal and your parts will last longer with less cold starts

Disagree, for moving parts (hard drives, fans, also capacitors(tho not moving)))

Cold starts are not what what causes them to fail. It's usually that a part that is going to fail, will only fail the next time it is cold started.

The wear is overwhelmingly due to use, all rotating parts have some specified mean-time-between-failure that's determined by how long they run (ie how long they have a chance to wear). Non-moving parts don't cause wear

Power usage is not that minimal either, 75W would be a very low minimum power usage for an idle computer. I worked it out for my rates a while ago, an idle computer cost me $7 a month.

[Azimuthal]

Originally Posted by Hank Scorpio

omfg my msn wont even load. i click it on, nothing happens. i hit ctrl alt del and its on the processes there. this is really pissing me off. i need a fuckin joint to calm down but i got no fuckin money!

get trillian, or some other messenger

http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/

[Vicious]

This ones for my buddy. His mic wont be recognized for some reason. I don't know if he needs a driver or what. Mine wont work until I set the setting on microphone but he doesn't have the same sound card as me.

[Still Smokin]

So here is whats up.

I posted about this problem not to long ago but only recently found out what the problem is; Dell blows.

To make a long story short.. their laptop batteries are HORRIBLE and mine has basically taken a shit on me along with millions of other Dell laptop batteries. However, my specific battery does not fall under the millions that were recalled yet has the EXACT same problems as those that were recalled. I know.. its a fucking joke. My warranty ran out months ago so im forced to buy a new battery. The battery light flashes orange 4 times then goes back to green for a second and then the annoy 4 flashing orange lights..and it doesnt stop. It holds a charge for less than an hour..

So on to a possible short term solution.. HOWEVER, I am not so sure this method is safe to try so im gunna post the link that I found and hopefully someone here can let me know if it is. You basically take the battery out of the laptop, wrap it up in newspaper, put it in a plastic bag then stick it in the freezer all day. Ya I was thinking WTF too. Here is the link http://www.wareprise.com/2007/07/05/...ange-one-green

Is this safe to do or could it ruin the battery forever and leave me with nothing? BTW did I mention that Dell BLOWS!!!? haha.. im never giving this company a penny, EVER, again. Their customer service techs and technical support staff are idiots and couldnt help me at all because they cant speak fucking english. They have apparently outsourced all of their help overseas cause I yelled at the guy to put me on the phone with someone who could speak english and help me and 3 times I was transfered to people who spoke english at a kindergarten level and it just made me want to throw this fucking laptop over my balcony.

[Still Smokin]

GUYS I NEED HELP!!

Ok. So I found out that my parents neighbor has been using (stealing) my parents wireless internet signal for more than 6 months because he told me the other day when he was drunk...what a dumbass. The signal is not secured and doesnt have a password. I am pretty computer savvy but this problem baffles me because I can not find anything on how to set a password on the connection/signal. Can anybody help me out?? My parents have a Linksys cable modem and Linksys Wireless-G broadband router. Thanks blades

[eleven357]

Originally Posted by the roach

Alright, heres a simple question. Should you turn off the computer after use or should you always leave it running?

I leave my desktops running 24/7/365.