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Zgoodgirl
Member
08-22-2003
| Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 1:28 pm
Thanks Crossfire and Bob! I'm not sure where the power supply is. I'm thinking it might be the little box that is in the back of the tower that is behind the plug for the power cord?? If it is, that's where the smell was coming from. I didn't want to go digging any further, since taking the cover off was a new thing for me. I'm at work right now, and will open the power supply box when I get home, if that is what it is and see if anything in there is burned up. Nobody was at the pc when it started popping, and yes the computer was on, and no one was on it all day. When I went into the room, the computer's power light was off. After I checked the cords and plugs, I tried to turn the computer back on, and there is nothing. Nothing kicks in at all, no fans or clicking or whirring. Nothing on the screen, and I can't even open up the cd drives. I bought the computer last March, making it about 7 months ago, but it was refurbished. Never gave me any trouble until now, and actually is the best computer I ever had. It's an HP, but can't let you know the model until I get home. Luckily I decided to fork over the cash for the warranty, and even if it doesn't cover it, at least they will be able to tell me what it is. We have an IT department here at work, I'm sure I can get one of them to fix it if it's not covered for the price of parts and some cookies. I'm just scared of hearing the words like 'motherboard', or 'hard drive', or worse yet 'better to just buy you another computer'.
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Crossfire
Member
08-07-2001
| Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 2:09 pm
Interesting. Sounds like the power supply just might be the culprit. Picking up on your story, yes the power supply tends to be the box inside the box, and as Bob mentioned, they don't suffer a stuck fan well, they can overheat fairly quickly in that event and it does usually come with a nice dollop of smelly air. Personally, I don't recommend other people to open the power supply box, but it is something I'd do myself, I'm the cat that curiosity will kill I guess. Be careful if you decide to do that, capacitors can hold a charge even after being unplugged. If that is the problem, it is an easy and relatively inexpensive repair, though powersupplys sometimes take their buddies with them when they go down for the count. Keep your fingers crossed, but odds are in your favor. For me personally, it is the kind of thing I like to fix myself so I don't have a repair shop taking advantage of me, I'd go with the IT department over a store if I was unable to do my own work. Anyway, I'm not a regular in this thread though maybe I should be, I'll not step on the resident geeks toes any further. 
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Bob2112
Member
06-12-2002
| Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 2:53 pm
I would go the warranty route first, since you have paid for it and it could be as simple as replacing a power supply or some other components that are covered. Crossfire is right that you should not open the power supply unless you know what you are doing. I was trying to say you probably won't see damage on the outside, but I didn't mean to imply that you should actually open it. Don't want the popping noise to come from you! If they identify bigger problems that are not covered under warranty (for whatever reason), then I would utilize your IT department if they are willing to help. Post whatever you find out here. Crossfire, I'm more a wandering geek than resident and only pop in from time to time. I'm more apt to pop in when it's hardware related, seeing as there are many others that are quick to answer software and configuration related questions. Don't worry about anyone's toes, unless they are opening up power supplies with them. 
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Crossfire
Member
08-07-2001
| Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 3:06 pm
Oh yeah! Warrenty...I skipped right over that, definitely, spend their money first. This moment of sanity sponsored by Bob. Heh.
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Bob2112
Member
06-12-2002
| Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 3:22 pm
quote:Crossfire Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 2:06 pm ---------------------------------------------------------------- This moment of sanity sponsored by Bob.
Now that's something you don't see posted very often!
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 11:17 pm
quote:Do you know any techy teenagers that could look at it? Juju is heading down that direction, but you'd have to wait a while before she got there. She likes to tinker and learn new things.
That Sponge is just SO darned CUTE!! Now I am trying to think if I have tinkered with anything today. I did set up my TWO laptops for extensive travel. And I do agree, you don't often see Bob and sanity in the same sentence. Oh, and Zgood, 7 months is way too early to be thinking of having to give up the ghost. Definitely go the warranty route.
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Meemo
Member
08-22-2002
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 10:57 am
Question: Since yesterday my computer has been "locking up" will I am on the internet. I hit ctrlaltdel but that doesn't work so I tried to turn it off at the CPU but it won't turn off. So I have to turn off the surge protector and restart it. This happened about 5 times yesterday. I cleaned out my cookies and defrag. but it is still doing it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 11:25 am
I used to have one that did that too, Meemo, and I never knew what it was. You probably should put in here what kind of computer you have, how old it is, what operating system, how much RAM, for starters.
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 11:43 am
Meemo, does it always happen when you go to certain sites on the internet? I have a computer that frequently stalls (for want of a better word) but will start up again if I ignore it for 30 seconds or so. Do you think it is just stalling? Have you tried to wait to see if it releases on it's own? Also my computer will lock up totally at certain sites ( I can tell the difference because I have a gauge for CPU usage. If it is at 100%, I know it is stalled and will release. If it is less than 100% I know it is locked up). When mine locks up I hit reset. Do you have a reset button? Mine will also NOT react to Ctrl/alt/delete when it is locked up. I have learned that certain websites will make mine lock up. I have no idea why. Maybe because I use Netscape? It's worth a check anyway. I have also encountered the problem where you have to unplug to turn off the system. Someone here told me that all you need to do is HOLD DOWN THE OFF BUTTON until the computer shuts down (it might take 30 seconds. Just keep holding it down and it will eventually shut off without having to turn off the surge protector. It works for me anyway) I hope some of this helps. I have never learned WHY I have the problems..just how to cope with them. I hope you have better luck with yours. 
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Meemo
Member
08-22-2002
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 12:21 pm
Thanks for responding. I haven't paid attention to which sites it locks up on but I do go to the same sites quite often. As far as computer info it's a intel pentium 111 with Windows Professional 2000. I don't know how much RAM?? (what is Ram?) But I do have 32.7 GB of free disk space, if this helps.
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 12:43 pm
You also need to run a virus scan and scan for spyware. Either of these things can cause your symptoms.
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Zgoodgirl
Member
08-22-2003
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 12:48 pm
Well, I dropped my pc off at the store. They called about 45 minutes later and told me that it was ready and that it WAS the power supply, which is covered by warranty! Whew! Thanks again Cross, Bob, and JuJu for making me not worry so much before I took it in. And for whoever was wondering about the kind of PC it is, it's an HP a320n with an Athalon 2800. It's no Pentium, but I think it's a great gaming pc.
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Bob2112
Member
06-12-2002
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 1:39 pm
Yay! Failed power supply was the best case scenario for you. Now you'll be able to impress your friends when their power supply fails. An Athalon 2800 is great for gaming. I recently built a gaming/video editing machine with a 2500 and have it over clocked to the equivalent speed of a 3200. Even without overclocking, we can run all of the latest games without turning features off or dropping frames.
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Bob2112
Member
06-12-2002
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 1:51 pm
Meemo: If you right click on the My Computer and select properties, you should be able to fine the total MB of RAM in the window that pops up. It will also tell you the MHz, but with the Pentium 3, you should be fast enough for the internet. Probably between 500-1000 MHz. What virus protection do you run? Have you scanned for Spyware and Adware? It doesn't really matter, since we are going to make you install AVG for virus protection (unless you have paid for up to date support from another vendor) and Ad Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy for spyware and adware scanning and cleaning. If your computer has never been scanned for the spyware and adware, then you can expect to find hundreds of items and many of these will slowdown your internet access. It's not uncommon to see pages load in a few seconds after cleaning that were taking several minutes to load previous. I thought we used to keep the links to all the free products at the top of this thread, but I don't see them. I'll be back in a bit and repost them. Even if you already have them, I'm sure other people will want them.
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Bob2112
Member
06-12-2002
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 2:13 pm
Mods: Would it be possible to save these and a few other links at the top of this page so they are not lost in the archives? Seems like this was done a while back, so maybe it already exists in another thare? Free anti-virus protection that is being used by dozens of TVCH'rs: AVG 7.0 Many have used AVG to find and clean viruses that were missed by up to date versions of Norton and some other pay software. Free programs for finding and cleaning spyware and adware: Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition 1.05 Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.3 Note: Always keep the definition files up to date for all of these types of programs. Even if you are just a few weeks old, you are probably missing the latest threats and those are most likely the ones you will see since they are currently most active.
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 2:13 pm
Bob, I have tried in the past to download AVG after hearing you, Juju and others talk about it but it always corrupts on me. Is that because I use Netscape? or maybe that I have Norton installed? or Zone Alarm? I can't remember the exact message I get but I know I have a tried a few times with no success. PS I should mention that I have windows 98 and free zone alarm
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Bob2112
Member
06-12-2002
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 2:18 pm
Most anti-virus programs require you to uninstall other anti-virus programs before installing the new one. The method used for actively scanning file activity for viruses requires the software to kind of integrate closely with some of the OS operations. if you have both installed at the same time, you would likely run into problems. Zone Alarm should be OK, but Norton would need to be uninstalled before AVG is installed. I don't use ZA, but I think several others use ZA and AVG without any problems. I have downloaded AVG with just about every browser without problem, so Netscape should not be the cause.
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 2:23 pm
Thanks, Bob. I doubt very much if I uninstalled Norton last time. I probably just turned it off. I don't like the idea of uninstalling in case I have a problem installing the AVG. decisions, decisions,decisions! Isn't life grand when this is my toughest decision in the day
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 6:11 pm
Another message board I go to has been giving me this page all day. Is it me or them? ____________________________________________ phpBB : Critical Error Error creating new session DEBUG MODE SQL Error : 1016 Can't open file: 'phpbb_sessions.MYI'. (errno: 145) INSERT INTO phpbb_sessions (session_id, session_user_id, session_start, session_time, session_ip, session_page, session_logged_in) VALUES ('1f96d7bdd2488baf38282cd9878821b6', 10865, 1100308249, 1100308249, '430a4a2f', 0, 1) Line : 158 File : /home/sbdiet/public_html/forum/includes/sessions.php
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Bob2112
Member
06-12-2002
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 6:30 pm
It's them. Looks like they have a problem with their MySQL database that needs to be corrected.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 7:25 pm
I tried updating my Avg a few weeks ago, the free one, and I got an error msg and the whole thing kept shutting down. Of course I can't remember what the error msg is now but I searched and found another anti virus program that I use with my Norton, it's called AntiVir.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 8:11 pm
Oh, goodie-gumdrops. Bob left me all sorts of openings for straight-dawg-talk on geek stuff.
quote:Note: Always keep the definition files up to date for all of these types of programs.
On all of these anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, the bad guys are out there inventing bad stuff about as fast as the good guys are inventing stuff to kill it. So all of a sudden, your machine goes haywire. You run your AVG free anti-virus that Bob made you download and install. Your machine is still going haywire. That is most likely because the bad guys just this morning invented some new bad stuff, and your killer only knows about stuff that was invented up to yesterday. So, before you run your anti-virus, you want to click the button that says Update Now or Live Update, something like that, while connected to the internet, and download the latest definitions. See? You can now talk geek-talk too! You can configure most of these anti-virus and anti-spyware programs to do automatic updates. Poke around on the Settings or Options or Scheduling buttons and try to find something that lets you schedule when you are going to get new updates from the parent company website on the internet. Remember, you have to be connected to the internet to download an update. I really like the new version of AVG anti-virus. It lets you schedule your update for the time you are most likely to be on the internet, but then it has an option that says, "or next time I connect to the internet", if you miss your scheduled update time. Okay, I have run out of steam for just now. Somebody remind me of what other geek talk stuff I should splain. Oh yeah, RAM, Random Access Memory. Jan, maybe you just don't have enough. RAM is important for when you want to do a bunch of things at once on your computer, as I do. 64 Mb used to be plenty. If you have a really old computer, you might only have that much. It is not enough anymore. 128 Mb is pretty much the bare minimum anymore, and that is if you are running Windows 98 or Windows ME (not sure about Windows 2000). If you have an old computer and any operating system below XP, you should have about 256 Mb RAM. With XP, you want 512 Mb or more. Everybody go check their RAM now, as Bob told you how above.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, November 12, 2004 - 10:25 pm
Thanks Bob!
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Saturday, November 13, 2004 - 7:58 am
I wish it were so, Juju. I have 256Mb RAM...I just went to My Computer to double check this, BTW, and guess what I found? a little message there says "system resources very low - less than 5% free - some programs may not run" I have exactly one window with 2 tabs open (both at TVCH) and my netscape mail window. THat's it!! Nothing else. (of course, also norton anti virus, zone alarm, tclock exec in the background but again that's it). My computer was built from scratch in April of 2001 but the builder didn't like Windows 2000 or ME so put '98 in instead. Sigh I guess I better go reboot. Rebooting always temporarily solves my problem 
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Saturday, November 13, 2004 - 12:19 pm
Jan, at least you have a starting point to talk to some of the experts here. I get those sorts of low resources error messages when I have a virus. And a disdain for Windows ME was very common back when your computer was built. All the geeks were warning other geeks to go with Windows 98SE instead. I had two computers with Windows ME at the time, and friends were warning me to dump it and get 98SE. I never did, though, and ME is running just fine. I will be gone from this forum for about a month while traveling. Ta ta, folks.
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