System looses power once a day

[baracuda]

I keep the computers at work functioning but I am only on site once a week. I have been informed that the machine that acts as our print server looses power about once a day. When this happens the monitor reads "no signal". I have not actually seen what happens but it sounds like the machine looses power versus it crashing. The machine is an Acer 6000 running Win98. In addition to the power issue, the machine has been locking up frequently when someone tries to print to it (most of our networked computers print to it). I updated the driver for the printer and that seemed to help but it hasn't resolved the issue completely. Does the power issue sound like a power supply problem? Any suggestions as to how to diagnose that? Also, any suggestions about the printer issues would be appreciated as well. Thanks in advance! Jan

 

[franklin97355]

I'd check the PSU first.

 

[ski]

Also, reseat the video card.
If that does not help and the PSU is ok, then replace the video card.
Other causes are an overheating/bad CPU, or bad MB.

 

[JimInKS]

Check all fans. Especially the cpu fan.

 

[dcs97]

It certainly sounds like a PSU problem or else a power brown out, is there maybe something starting during the day (an electric motor?) that could be causing a drop in power on that circut?

 

[baracuda]

Thanks to all for the help. This is probably a dumb question, but how do I know if the PSU is bad if it is powering on?

 

[jward52]

Replace with a new one, preferably not a cheap one.

 

[Budley]

Just another thought. Are there any "power option" settings setup to put the computer in hibernation? If not check the PSU like the good folks here have said. Otherwise, the system may be getting overheated from a bad fan or CPU cooler or just full of dust.

 

[ceh4702]

It would be nice if you could see that it crashes everyday when some other task is being performed like a backup that would point to the fact that normally it has enough power but on occassion it runs low and just quits. Win 98 isnt the most stable OS platform for a server. A power supply is probably not that expensive to replace.

If you open the case up you can see if the CPU cooler is collecting a lot of dust and not working as efficiently as it should. If this happens it could be an overheating problem.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.