View Full Version : Bloody computers
I can tell summer is on it's way as my firkin PC keeps shutting down every 10 minutes :steam::steam::steam::steam:
I have to switch it off at the mains and wait for 10 minutes before it will power back up again and even have the case sides off plus a 6" fan blowing at it makes little difference.
Bastid thing will be liquid cooled soon with a one way trip to the canal :steam:
time for a new one by the sound of it, Frank.
It's hot outside. Imagine how much hotter the inside of your PC is. If there is anything preventing its cooling, it will freeze and shut down like that. Check that all fans are working and clear of dust. Check and/or re-make the heatsink compound bond between CPU and CPU heatsink.
If all else fails, replace the power supply.
What's causing this? is the processor too powerful for the heatsink, or is the thing over-clocked? This laptop has the maximum processor it can take (it's an old AMD) and if it's doing a scan, or trying to load all my photobucket shots in one go, the cooling fan goes bananas. On a long scan when used in the upstairs office with four other drives USB linked to it, it overheated repeatedly and all but ruined the data on one drive. Fortunately I had backups and removing some of the corrupted data enabled the drive to re-index itself..
Make sure you have enough coupling between processor and heatsink. Don't overdo it, but a full covering thin smear should help...
P.S. taking the sides of the case off may just make things worse, as the airflow inside a PC case has been worked out by the designers I believe...
I give it a clean with a paint bush and hoovering every week because having the outer case off means more dust gets in. All the fans are working but maybe the processor fan could do with being replaced with a bigger one and perhaps some fresh compound on the heatsink too.
I can't say that my laptop is noticing the heat, as I'm sitting here in the garden typing this in the sunshine and fresh air, whilst sipping a glass of chilled Chablis, over lunch! :eyebrows:
Sorry to hear of your woes, Frank. Buy a laptop instead, mate, as they don't seem to suffer from what you're describing, and have numerous other advantages, too!
Unless you're involved professionally with computers, or run a major business from home, I don't see the need for any ordinary person these days to use big, bulky PCs.......
Marco.
Buy a laptop instead, mate, as they don't seem to suffer from what you're describing
Oh they do, they do :eek:
Unless you're involved professionally with computers, or run a major business from home, I don't see the need for any ordinary person these days to use big, bulky PCs
I love my lappy but sometimes you really need the big beast for doing complex stuff.
If you leave the outer case of then you'll have improper and inadequate airflow over the mother board, any PCI cards, disk drives etc. Put the cover back on! :eyebrows:
It doesn't get much more "complex", for me, than posting on here and buying music and hi-fi bits on-line! :eyebrows:
In terms of overheating, I've owned umpteen different laptops, over the years (mostly Sony Vaios) and never once have they overheated, bearing in mind that my laptop is switched on continually, from when I wake up in the morning (usually around 8.30-9am), until I go to bed, which can be anything from 10.30pm to the wee small hours of the morning, 7 days a week, all year long!! ;)
Marco.
I use an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (http://www.ebuyer.com/176157-arctic-cooling-freezer-7-pro-rev-2-socket-775-1156-1155-1366-ac-frz-7pr2) to keep my Intel Core2Duo processor nice and cool in my desktop machine Frank and it has never let me down. Check that there are no cables infringing upon the airflow through your case too as this can have a much bigger effect on cooling efficiency than you might think. Tuck them away to the sides or corners if you can. Check that there is nothing sitting in front of the fans reducing airflow. If the power supply is getting on a bit, order a modern, energy efficient type as they run much cooler ;)
I use an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (http://www.ebuyer.com/176157-arctic-cooling-freezer-7-pro-rev-2-socket-775-1156-1155-1366-ac-frz-7pr2) to keep my Intel Core2Duo processor nice and cool in my desktop machine Frank and it has never let me down. Check that there are no cables infringing upon the airflow through your case too as this can have a much bigger effect on cooling efficiency than you might think. Tuck them away to the sides or corners if you can. Check that there is nothing sitting in front of the fans reducing airflow. If the power supply is getting on a bit, order a modern, energy efficient type as they run much cooler ;)
+1 for the arctic freezer pro thingy - quiet and much better than the std unit.
I have them on my work and home PCs.
If you go to http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html you can download a utility that shows you the temps for your cpu and chipset.
Also check that your heatsink is properly seated on the cpu with decent thermal paste.
Cheers and good luck,
anthonyTD
25-05-2012, 15:39
I can tell summer is on it's way as my firkin PC keeps shutting down every 10 minutes :steam::steam::steam::steam:
I have to switch it off at the mains and wait for 10 minutes before it will power back up again and even have the case sides off plus a 6" fan blowing at it makes little difference.
Bastid thing will be liquid cooled soon with a one way trip to the canal :steam:
Realy gave me a chuckle did that.
Seriously though, i wonder if something is breaking down and causing it draw more current than usual, or there could be a solder joint problem crack etc, on the power supply board or..., and when it gets hot, its losing its contact and thus no power ?
Either way Frank i think we can all sense your frustration, maybe its time for a new laptopamabob...:)
A...
...or he could just put the case back on like its supposed to be and see if the correct airflow is adequate to cool it! ;)
Just take a hammer to it, Frank. You'll feel much better afterwards - promise! :D
Marco.
Unless you're involved professionally with computers, or run a major business from home, I don't see the need for any ordinary person these days to use big, bulky PCs.......
That really does depend on what you want from your home PC Marco, I do work in IT but for home use I wouldn't be without a desktop PC. I really can't live without a 24" screen now, but my main thing is storage and as I'm 100% file based audio, a laptop for me just wouldn't work.
If all you ever do is shop online, browse the web and forums then yes, a laptop will do nicely, but go beyond that and they struggle to keep up with a well built desktop...... IMO of course ;)
Stratmangler
25-05-2012, 23:36
but my main thing is storage....
I now run LMS (Logitech Media Server) on a Zyxel NSA310, and it has a 2TB HDD installed.
Pretty well all of my extensive file based collection is FLAC @ compression level 5, so not exactly a small bunch of files.
The Zyxel can also run a DLNA server.
You could use your laptop as a controller :eyebrows:
Hi Tim,
That really does depend on what you want from your home PC Marco, I do work in IT but for home use I wouldn't be without a desktop PC. I really can't live without a 24" screen now, but my main thing is storage and as I'm 100% file based audio, a laptop for me just wouldn't work.
If all you ever do is shop online, browse the web and forums then yes, a laptop will do nicely, but go beyond that and they struggle to keep up with a well built desktop...... IMO of course ;)
I wouldn't argue with you at all; indeed I'm not technically qualified to do so :)
The most important thing for me is portability.
If, like today, the weather is fabulous, and I feel like retiring to garden, and sitting on the porch outside the summer house, in the shade, whilst browsing the web, and sipping a nice glass of wine, or ice-cold beer... Or, in the winter months, if I feel like relaxing in bed, staying nice and cosy, sipping a hot cappuccino, whilst posting on here, then I can hardly do either by lugging around a PC 'computer station'..... :eyebrows:
My use of computers is almost 100% leisure-orientated, so a quality laptop (run wirelessly), where I can move it around the house, wherever I want it, fits in perfectly with my lifestyle.
Marco.
Werner Berghofer
26-05-2012, 11:31
Tim,
I really can't live without a 24" screen now
I do a lot of image editing, graphic design, typesetting and book production work, and a 27" screen (2650 × 1440 pixels) feels just right. Wouldn’t want to do this kind of work on my 17" laptop (1920 × 1200 pixels), because I also prefer a dedicated keyboard located within a certain distance from the screen. When talking about portability and leisure, in my opinion nothing comes close to the comfort and ease of use of an Apple iPad.
Werner.
My use of computers is almost 100% leisure-orientated, so a quality laptop (run wirelessly), where I can move it around the house, wherever I want it, fits in perfectly with my lifestyle.
Yep, I get you, Marco. My usage, like Tim, spreads to some fairly serious work-oriented things too and I like my big screen and powerful processor.
The laptop is great for casual things, agreed. Personally, I wouldn't be without either. Or the phone, which is the ultimate in portable computing and allows me to get a remarkable amount done even if I'm sipping a mocha on the high street :)
Absolutely, mate. At the end of the day, it's whatever fits in best with your lifestyle :)
*But* (touch wood), I've never had a lappy overheat on me yet, despite mine being powered up, solidly, for 16+ hours a day! ;)
Marco.
Thanks for all the helpful tips and advice chaps :)
Methinks I have cured the problem though. I was on the PC last night when things had cooled down a bit and the old service engineer instincts kicked in once more in actually studying the symptoms in detail before making a rash diagnosis. I just sat in front of the screen playing solitaire and keeping eyes and ears open, then I noticed the tone of the CPU fan changing to a slightly slower speed, which got slower and slower over about a minute and a half until the PC finally shut down. I bunged in a new CPU fan smartish so touch wood it has been on for around 5 hours or so today and thus far it's been behaving itself impeccably :eyebrows:
Good news, Frank, I thought it was overheating.
bobbasrah
27-05-2012, 09:17
Thanks for all the helpful tips and advice chaps :)
Methinks I have cured the problem though. I was on the PC last night when things had cooled down a bit and the old service engineer instincts kicked in once more in actually studying the symptoms in detail before making a rash diagnosis. I just sat in front of the screen playing solitaire and keeping eyes and ears open, then I noticed the tone of the CPU fan changing to a slightly slower speed, which got slower and slower over about a minute and a half until the PC finally shut down. I bunged in a new CPU fan smartish so touch wood it has been on for around 5 hours or so today and thus far it's been behaving itself impeccably :eyebrows:
Surprised Frank, most modern motherboards have both temp and fan speed monitoring from BIOS which can be customised to alert to such issues.:scratch:
Good you spotted the cause and resolved it though....:D
Absolutely, mate. At the end of the day, it's whatever fits in best with your lifestyle :)
*But* (touch wood), I've never had a lappy overheat on me yet, despite mine being powered up, solidly, for 16+ hours a day! ;)
Marco.
I did over heat a Toshiba Satellite a couple of times and shut it down.
I used to run 2 or 3 different security scans at once.
Mac Affee ,Malware bites and spybot.
I was using all the prosseser had for 5 to 6 hours of 275 gigs of files on a full scan.
I was able to do it by putting the laptop on a cooling fan pad. " HAY!!THIS WAS MY 2000TH POST AND I HAVEN'T BEEN BANNED! "
Laptops are hardy but can be over worked.
I'm happy it's working Frank, I have dropped nearly $1,000.00 in both of our cars this month and wish I could have spent that money on nearly anything else.
The older I get the less thrilled I am to embrace a new operating system or computer for that matter. My next computer will only be a another Think Pad with Windows 7.
Till I am forced to leave it,screw Windows 8 another load of rubbish if you ask me.
Humbug!
Keep your old one going and buy a load of steaks and BBQ instead! Keep Technology in prospective I say...
Surprised Frank, most modern motherboards have both temp and fan speed monitoring from BIOS which can be customised to alert to such issues.:scratch:
Rarely works in actual failures.
Rare Bird
27-05-2012, 20:03
I hate Computers chuck the piece of shyte in the canal Frank, like you sugested, i don't let them give me headaches anymore, i dumped my desktop early on in the year for a laptop, when this starts acting the goat maybe mine & your could meet up for a bit of synchronized swimming
I hate Computers chuck the piece of shyte in the canal Frank, like you sugested, i don't let them give me headaches anymore, i dumped my desktop early on in the year for a laptop, when this starts acting the goat maybe mine & your could meet up for a bit of synchronized swimming
Funny as Hell:cool:
I hate Computers chuck the piece of shyte in the canal Frank
The thing is, computers are so modular that they're easy to repair if you know what you're doing. Very rarely is a computer completely scrap.
Reid Malenfant
27-05-2012, 21:42
<snip> when this starts acting the goat maybe mine & your could meet up for a bit of synchronized swimming
Cheers Andr'e for giving me the biggest laugh of the evening :D
walpurgis
01-06-2012, 20:58
Nothing's been right since Windows XP. I hate Vista and 7. All that slowness, hanging and fuss. On other peoples computer mind you, I'm sticking with XP to the death! May play about with Linux again though. Geoff.
Reid Malenfant
01-06-2012, 21:05
Nothing's been right since Windows XP. I hate Vista and 7. All that slowness, hanging and fuss. On other peoples computer mind you, I'm sticking with XP to the death! May play about with Linux again though. Geoff.
I have never had the pleasure of anything beyond XP :D
All three of my PCs have XP Pro loaded, it'll still be supported until 2014 apparently. Maybe I might need to learn new stuff after that, but at least it won't be me trying out the operating systems :eyebrows:
Sorry guys, but you need to base your reasoning on facts. On any hardware with at least 2GB RAM, Windows 7 is faster than XP (Vista was shite and need not be discussed). For >4GB RAM, Windows 7 64-bit is very fast and stable indeed. It's not up for debate. More subjective but still fairly obvious is that 7 has a richer user interface.
However, stand by for change as Windows 8 is a whole lot different again. Better different, I think, but it takes some getting used to. If you have a Windows Phone 7 you'll feel right at home. For tablets it'll be a no-brainer.
Reid Malenfant
01-06-2012, 21:29
Well ignore me as I have never used anything beyond XP Pro :eyebrows:
Therefore I don't know any facts about newer operating systems Martin :)
I just like what I have at the end of the day.
Will be such a shame when I have to change it :rolleyes:
Sorry guys, but you need to base your reasoning on facts. On any hardware with at least 2GB RAM, Windows 7 is faster than XP (Vista was shite and need not be discussed). For >4GB RAM, Windows 7 64-bit is very fast and stable indeed. It's not up for debate. More subjective but still fairly obvious is that 7 has a richer user interface.
However, stand by for change as Windows 8 is a whole lot different again. Better different, I think, but it takes some getting used to. If you have a Windows Phone 7 you'll feel right at home. For tablets it'll be a no-brainer.
IMHO windows 8 will be a catastrophe for Microsoft (at least in its current form). I wonder how long it will take for the start Key to reappear?
It's less efficient for desktop productivity use for a start and its not an evolution of windows, its a completely new design. If people have to re-learn how to use their computer, they may as well look at the alternatives to windows.
People talk about the huge and expanding tablet market but there is no tablet market - its the iPad market!
RIP Microsoft.
walpurgis
01-06-2012, 22:18
[QUOTE=MartinT;331961]Sorry guys, but you need to base your reasoning on facts. On any hardware with at least 2GB RAM, Windows 7 is faster than XP
I've not had the need to change from XP, but having used a number of other people's computers with Windows 7 installed from new and with 2 Gig or more of RAM, I can't say I'm impressed so far. This may just be down to processor abilty, but I haven't checked.
People talk about the huge and expanding tablet market but there is no tablet market - its the iPad market!
Mmmm, at one point people were saying that about the iPhone market. Now look at the global market share for Android phones and the incredible market share in China for Windows Phone 7.
Let's wait and see, I'm not sure that Windows 8 will be a success myself but kudos to Microsoft for being brave and doing something different rather than just another evolution of the NT platform.
This may just be down to processor abilty, but I haven't checked.
Much more likely to be a combination of loads of installed crapware that the machines come with and the accumulation of temporary files that users don't clean up with the cleanup function. That's the benefit of building the PC yourself and installing exactly what you need and nothing else.
Mmmm, at one point people were saying that about the iPhone market. Now look at the global market share for Android phones and the incredible market share in China for Windows Phone 7.
Let's wait and see, I'm not sure that Windows 8 will be a success myself but kudos to Microsoft for being brave and doing something different rather than just another evolution of the NT platform.
I don't know about china but I see that the only reason for choosing an android device is price.
For android phones, it's easier because a salesman is involved in the sale. He gets a bigger commission for selling an android phone than an iPhone. Also, there is much more choice of android phone at the budget end.
For tablets, its not the same scenario, so its much harder to sell an android unit. If you compare the iPad and galaxy tab, side by side at currys, chances are that you'll buy the iPad.
Neither android or windows phone have the infrastructure behind them that apple enjoys, so it's a bit like having a new car with no roads to drive it on.
I bought a top of the range Galaxy SII smartphone only because it was offered to me at £10 per month for 2 years. Bear in mind that this is the best that Samsung/android can do at present, my experience is that it's nice but nothing special.
Anyway, only time will tell and it's good to have choices.
I'm running both Xp Pro and Windows 7 Pro on my machines and on balance, prefer Xp.
My work machine is running Xp Pro because some of my business software doesn't work on Windows 7. It is a home built budget unit and is completely stable.
My home machine is a higher spec home built unit and runs windows 7 pro 32 bit. We have many problems with this machine in terms of stability and it frequently needs restarting to sort this out.
The only thing that I prefer about Windows 7 is the search bar on the start menu.
Negatives include the new control panel, windows live mail nightmare, libraries etc. To me its not really worth upgrading from Xp unless you have to.
At the budget end, Microsoft has no credible competition and for that reason they will continue to sell products, even if Windows 8 is a failure.
At the top end though, another so-so version of windows will push still more customers to apple.
Now, if apple were to bring out a budget Mac, that would be interesting...
Ali Tait
02-06-2012, 07:14
Sorry guys, but you need to base your reasoning on facts. On any hardware with at least 2GB RAM, Windows 7 is faster than XP (Vista was shite and need not be discussed). For >4GB RAM, Windows 7 64-bit is very fast and stable indeed. It's not up for debate. More subjective but still fairly obvious is that 7 has a richer user interface.
However, stand by for change as Windows 8 is a whole lot different again. Better different, I think, but it takes some getting used to. If you have a Windows Phone 7 you'll feel right at home. For tablets it'll be a no-brainer.
My subjective experience agrees with you Martin. My laptop uses i5 chip with 6gig and it is fast as a bag full of fast things. 7 is by far my favourite windows OS so far.
My subjective experience agrees with you Martin. My laptop uses i5 chip with 6gig and it is fast as a bag full of fast things. 7 is by far my favourite windows OS so far.
+1 ;)
Neither android or windows phone have the infrastructure behind them that apple enjoys, so it's a bit like having a new car with no roads to drive it on.
I'm running both Xp Pro and Windows 7 Pro on my machines and on balance, prefer Xp.
It's horses for courses if we are to be completely honest and platform agnostic.
For instance, I am not a fan of iOS but I demonstrated my iPad to my partner's elderly deaf mother last weekend because it is the ideal method of communication by e-mail to her grandchildren and doing a bit of browsing and shopping. The 3G version is ideal for her because there would be no infrastructure of installing broadband etc. After an hour, we took a priceless photo of her typing her first e-mail to her grandson and getting a reply.
My needs are different, though, and the iPad is far too limited. My W7-64 Lenovo ultraportable goes with me everywhere so that I can do forum moderating and tend to my servers at work.
Phones are the same and I see a divide at work between those who want an Apple phone because of its iconic status and those who choose Android because it's more technical and they can get at the OS more easily. I really don't see it as a price issue and the Samsung Galaxy IIS is a very nice piece of hardware no matter which platform you like. I personally love WP7 because of the enormous integration with Microsoft services, such as SharePoint, SkyDrive, the way contacts assemble all of your own data and that from FB, LinkedIn and Twitter together etc.
The only platforms I see that are truly struggling are RIM/Blackberry phones (they have the most godawful interfaces) and Google Chromebooks because of its browsy nature and the need to store everything in the cloud.
bobbasrah
03-06-2012, 09:27
Small progress I guess...
http://www.petapixel.com/2011/12/27/what-5mb-of-storage-looked-like-in-1956/
Mark Grant
03-06-2012, 09:35
My subjective experience agrees with you Martin. My laptop uses i5 chip with 6gig and it is fast as a bag full of fast things. 7 is by far my favourite windows OS so far.
+2 :)
The problem with most laptops and PC's bought with windows 7 pre built is all the crapware that is installed.
A fresh install is usually excellent on even a modest PC or laptop.
Having recently reinstalled windows 7 on my Lenovo laptop it is much more speedy than when it was new with the Lenovo windows 7 build.
Not tried windows 8 yet.
Rare Bird
03-06-2012, 10:58
I use 'XP' at home & 'W7' at work, when the time comes that i ever have to use 'W7' at home i'll probably throw myself in the canal aswell
Not tried Windows 8 yet.
I think its going to be a struggle for Microsoft to get people onto this one Mark. With so many people still using XP, moving to 8 is going to be tough for them I think - Windows 7 is as you have stated excellent when you do a clean install, Windows 8 however is rather different. Steve Ballmer has admitted its Microsoft's biggest gamble so far.
Steve Ballmer has admitted its Microsoft's biggest gamble so far.
Microsoft's surest bet would be to get rid of him.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2026 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.