Heat. What happens when we are mowing the lawn, it’s ninety degrees out and the heat finally gets to us? We stop. We wait a little bit and start again. After awhile if the heat gets to us again, we stop again. Finally, if the heat is too much we either stop altogether or find someone else to mow the lawn. (Martha, the hedge still needs work!)
A client had a similar problem with his computer this week. When he called he said his computer would start up, work for a few minutes and then without any warning, simply shut off. He could start it up; it would work again for a couple of minutes and suddenly shut off.
The usual suspects immediately jumped to mind. Viruses, loose electrical plugs, corrupt Windows operating system or the embarrassing one, the computer was plugged into the only wall socket in the room that was controlled by the light switch and someone was turning the switch on and off. I asked if any or what error messages appeared just before the system shut off. Strangely, there were no error messages, no blue screen, no beeps, nothing.
Fortunately, Windows tracks events that occur in several logs. The first one I like to use is the events log, found in the control panel, under administrative tools. This allows techs to review the log and see just what is happening as Windows performs its various functions. However, Don’s event log was clean. So far, the lack of errors pointed toward a hardware failure instead of a software problem.
The next step in diagnosing the problem was to check the power cables, surge protectors, wall outlets, battery backups or any other electrical connection to the computer. Everything checked out ok. Now we are narrowing it down. I suspected at this point that the power supply of the computer itself was to blame. The power supply is where you plug the power cable into the computer. The only way to confirm this was to plug my test power supply into the computer and see if the computer stayed running.
I popped open the computer case and before I even started to unhook the old power supply, the problem was obvious. The computer was having a nervous breakdown.
There are many components inside a computer tower. Hard drives, PCI boards, CPU’s, CD drives etc. Much like a human has eyes, ears, feet, arms, heart etc. all tied together by the nervous system, the computer uses something called a system board or more commonly called a motherboard as a nervous system to make sure all the components play together nicely.
On the motherboard, there are many little things that look like little aluminum soda cans. These are called capacitors and are used to store energy and discharge it when needed. They deliver a stable voltage for a wide variety of functions. In the client’s computer there were eight of these that were blown up like balloons and leaking really ugly goo. This, as you can imagine, is not normal, or as we say in the computer biz, nominal. Unfortunately, depending on the computer this can be a repair that may be more expensive than purchasing a new computer. In Don’s case the replacement board was not terribly costly and the swap was made.
Some of the symptoms of a bad board are: Computer fails to POST. (power on self test) The Memory Test fails. The computer randomly and/or constantly reboots itself. The computer fails to fully boot (or even install) Operating System. Sometimes the system randomly and frequently freezes and the system has random & frequent “Blue Screens of Death.”
Heat is the issue. The capacitors get hot, expand and finally break their casings and your computer stops working. Remember heat. Do not put your computer in a confined space without adequate air flow. Make sure that all the vents on the case are clear of dust or debris. Use a can of compressed air to clean the fan blades on the power supply. If you are brave, unplug the computer and open the case. Use the compressed air to blow the dust off the system board and other components. Do not touch anything in the case unless you have grounded yourself first.
If you have a computer problem that might be of general interest, send a description to me via email and it may appear in an upcoming column. In the meantime,
Keep cool!
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Grumbles From The Keyboard: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Computer (9781467985895): Courtland Nederveld: Books
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Epicuria: An Adventure That Really Cooks! (9781456561734): Court Nederveld: Books
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