Computer Dies, yet appears half turned on?

[MercJones]

Hi there.

Having big problems with a computer at the moment. Every now and again the pc decided to die, and just turn off, or so it appears.

None of the fans are running, and it is as if the PC is dead, yet a press of the power button does not turn this back on again as you would expect; you have to hold down the power button, and then it properly turns off, and then you can power it back on again.

When its died, the screen is black, no movement of anything, no fans running, yet one of the case fans is still glowing blue, the keyboard lights are on, as is the usb mouse(red glow)..

Had this problem a short while ago, replaced the motherboard and cpu and its doing exactly the same thing, so Im beginning to rule out those two things. Event viewer basically just says the pc restarted abnormally or whatever it states and thats it.

Any suggestions please?

 

[LawnBoy]

Sounds like it's going into hibernation.
Control Panel - Power Options, Hibernate tab. Uncheck "Enable Hibernation" and see if that fixes the problem.

"We must fall back upon the old axiom that when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[MercJones]

Hi there, thanks for the reply.

Ive just checked on the pc, and theres no Hibernate tab available. I think its because its a windows 2000 server pc perhaps?

Any other suggestions? unsure if it would be hibernate, connections to that pc are lost aswell so im assuming its totally died, plus the cpu fan isnt spinning as far as I could tell.

Cheers

 

[BadBigBen]

Check the PSU, it may be getting a signal to cut back power...

also have you updated the BIOS? What does the manufacturer have to say about the problem?

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[MercJones]

Ive got a spare psu, so will change that if it goes down. Could that be it though, about it cutting back the power?

The bios hasnt been upgraded, but should that really be the issue? if nothings changed on it, how come it would suddenly die? Im thinking PSU though..

 

[G0AOZ]

I'm with BadBigBen on this one... Components inside the PSU can alter with age. This can result in one or more of the output rails offering a less than perfectly stable dc voltage. A minor gentle heat buildup or even a small demand from the motherboard for a little extra power pushes it over the edge, and the PSU ciruitry puts up its hands in surrender and either partially or completely shuts down the unit. Restarting the PSU is maybe "jolting" the ailing circuitry in action again. However, this often seems to work in reverse - a warmed up PSU works ok, but trying to start it from stone cold fails!

Try changing the PSU for one with either the same Wattage rating or higher than the exiting unit.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[hughejars]

Just a thought, when you replaced he MB and CPU, did you do a fresh re-install of the OS? I'm usually concerned that the ACPI's Hardware Abstraction Layer(HAL) is set up by the operating system for 1 system automatically, if you try and migrate the settings to another board they may not be configured properly and Windows settings for these can not be changed as they are low level functions. (If my memory serves me right)

Working towards my MCSE/A and CompTIA. Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[Zen216]

I would lean toward the PSU as well...
A flaky PSU will do all sorts of things,,
If you replaced the MB with the same model then you should be ok there...

 

[wahnula]

PSU...PSU...everybody!!!...P...S...U!!!

Remember that unless switched OFF on its case, an ATX PSU is always on, awaiting a signal from your mainboard to switch to full power. Your PSU is probably trickling power out and needs to be replaced.

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[MercJones]

Hi all!

Well, friday night I replaced the PSU.

It hasnt died since touch wood.

Thanks for the help and suggestions people, much appreciated

 

[MercJones]

Argh!

I spoke to soon! Its just died again, Same problem (lost connection to it, screen is black and pc is acting like dead) but the cpu fan is spinning, another fan is spinning and the motherboard lights are on, and the network port is flashing.

So now:

I've replaced the motherboard, ive replaced the psu, ive replaced the cpu..

Any further suggestions, really running out of ideas now

 

[Zen216]

virus-malware (trojan) maybe?

on the bright side,,, all you need is a ..
HD, CD-rom, memory, and a case and you got 2 computers...

 

[MercJones]

I was thinking that, its been spyware checked and virus checked(nothing) but even so, if it was that, how come it'd kill the network connection to that pc, and odbc links to that pc and half shut down the pc?

I dont know what else to try?

 

[acewarlock]

Have you replaced the monitor?




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[MercJones]

I doubt its the monitor, else it just wouldnt display, but it cuts the network connection and so on aswell

 

[acewarlock]

The only time I have seen a screen go blank as you said is if the Video card or Monitor went bad or the system went into sleep mode. You replaced the MB so that eliminates the Video card. How do you know you are losing the network connection?




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[MercJones]

because im using the pc remotely in some cases, and can access it by \\compname\c$ then when it dies, I cant access it, and it wont allow me to get to that location and so on.

 

[wahnula]

Since swapping the PSU had some positive effect, even temporarily, means something. Are you sure the PSU is powerful enough?

For sticky problems like these the last gasp would be an out-of-case bench build, using just the necessary parts to boot: m/b, one stick RAM, PSU, CPU, see if it POSTS and stays stable in BIOS. Then add the HDD and boot to OS, see how it does.

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[acewarlock]

Sounds Like the system is freezing.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[Thehigg65]

Have you changed the fan on the CPU? If the fan stops the system stops. Heat Kills. I have had 2 cases of it this week. What temp is the room the cpu is running? 68 to 70 F anything higher will cause degredation to the electronics faster than normal.

Tim