My Computer Freezes! Yikes!

[Kid Charlemagne]

And of course, my PC dies again immediately after I post. So it looks like the PS is the problem... Is there a way to get the fan running again, or am I stuck buying another PS and unplugging everything (again) and replugging it all in? This would be the 3rd PS for this PC - perhaps there is an underlying problem causing them to go bad? I've got a Antec TPS 550EPS 12V power supply - I figured that would be enough - its not like I've got a whole lot running off it - the graphics card is the most likely to be a large draw, but its not that fancy of a card (and of course I can't get the details on it until I get home).

 

[Rackhir]

And of course, my PC dies again immediately after I post. So it looks like the PS is the problem... Is there a way to get the fan running again, or am I stuck buying another PS and unplugging everything (again) and replugging it all in? This would be the 3rd PS for this PC - perhaps there is an underlying problem causing them to go bad? I've got a Antec TPS 550EPS 12V power supply - I figured that would be enough - its not like I've got a whole lot running off it - the graphics card is the most likely to be a large draw, but its not that fancy of a card (and of course I can't get the details on it until I get home).

The insides of power supplies are not designed to be worked on. It's possible that you could do so, but I wouldn't recomend it.

It going bad is unlikely to have anything to do with the power draw on it. I'm assuming you have a surge protector at least? You might want to look into replacing it, especially if you've had it for a while (their protection can be worn down over time I've read someplace for what that is worth). Perhaps getting a new UPS wouldn't hurt. You might want to look for one that does automatic voltage regulation, which not only protects you from surges and blackouts, but can help maintain a proper 120v sine wave on the ac power (ie. protect you from brownouts).

 

[WhatGravitas]

The insides of power supplies are not designed to be worked on. It's possible that you could do so, but I wouldn't recomend it.

Ditto. Do not touch it... the voltages in the capacitors can be deadly. It costed me only a voltmeter... but that was fair price for not touching 240+ V - now, I'm replacing these things wholesale, without even looking to hard at it.

For "killing power supplies" - from my experience, these things kill'em (at least in my old PC, I've shredded three, until I've found out this... but that's just my experience):
1) Everything like multi-sockets. Power supplies have to be plugged directly to the grid.
2) Dust. Clean it from the outside with a vacuum (carefully, without opening it or removing it from the PC) at least once a month.
3) Too much components, but in your case it shouldn't be a problem.

After watching out for these three things, I've never killed a supply again (it's now 3+ years, so it works for me).

EDIT: Concerning surges: I've lived until Sept in Germany, and never had problems with surges, but this may vary from region to region, depending on your local grid.

 

[Merkuri]

Ditto. Do not touch it... the voltages in the capacitors can be deadly.

For those who aren't as elecrically inclined, capacitors can store an electrical charge even after the item in question is unplugged. Do not attempt to repair an item like a power supply without professional training, even after it's unplugged as it can still carry a deadly charge.

 

[XCorvis]

And of course, my PC dies again immediately after I post. So it looks like the PS is the problem... Is there a way to get the fan running again, or am I stuck buying another PS and unplugging everything (again) and replugging it all in? This would be the 3rd PS for this PC - perhaps there is an underlying problem causing them to go bad? I've got a Antec TPS 550EPS 12V power supply - I figured that would be enough - its not like I've got a whole lot running off it - the graphics card is the most likely to be a large draw, but its not that fancy of a card (and of course I can't get the details on it until I get home).

Antecs are usually pretty good, and it sounds like you replaced it recently. Is it still under warranty?

The power supply still works, so it's probably not a power problem. It's probably dust or pet hair. Is the computer in a dusty area? Do your cats like to rub against it? Or, the fan just might have been bad.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I wasn't planning on opening it up! Incidentally, on closer inspection the fan in the power supply does appear to at least be turning, so I'm no longer sure that's the issue... It also froze up much faster today. Further digging is warranted. I may end up going with a new PC since I'm getting close to that point anyway - luckily I have a laptop from work that I can use.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Antecs are usually pretty good, and it sounds like you replaced it recently. Is it still under warranty?

The power supply still works, so it's probably not a power problem. It's probably dust or pet hair. Is the computer in a dusty area? Do your cats like to rub against it? Or, the fan just might have been bad.

The computer has been much dustier in the past than it is now - it doesn't seem bad to me. I'll blow out the dust and see if that helps. Right now its staying on for less than 5 minutes before locking up; the power supply doesn't even have time to get warm to the touch. I'm wondering if it might be the graphics card, though I don't have a spare graphics card any more to swap out to test that theory.

I did pull one memory chip out to see if it was bad memory (haven't really had a chance to swap out the other chip to see if it makes a difference - its kind of tough to troubleshoot when you're limited to 5 minutes a day due to locking up) and its locking up sooner - I wonder if a non-chip related memory issue could cause this kind of freeze up...?

 

[XCorvis]

Could be... Since the problem isn't obvious, you'll probably have to test individual components. Try the other stick of RAM, borrow a graphics card (even a crappy old one), etc...

You might try going into the BIOS (F2 or DEL right away when computer boots up) and see if there's a built-in temp monitor. If it is a temperature problem, it might show up there.

 

[SteelDraco]

Have you re-seated the processor yet? Might check and make sure the thermal paste stuff between the heat sink and the processor is all right.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Well, I thought I was out of the woods Saturday - I got the thing running long enough to upgrade the drivers on my graphics card (a PNY GeForce 6600 256 MB card) and it ran for about 6 hours - then it froze again. This time I saw an error message that didn't seem related to anything I was doing at the time - a Quicktime error window popped up. However, since the system was frozen I coudn't tell what the content of the error window was.

In any case I rebooted, and it came up right away (this has not usually been the case). I upgraded Quicktime, just to make sure there wasn't any version oddness going on there, and it ran for another two hours. Then it froze again, and wouldn't restart - last night, or this morning. It turns on, but the monitor doesn't recognize that any signal is coming to it, as it doesn't seem to be really starting up - just powering on. One time this morning it got as far as the initial windows boot-up screen, and then froze (before the login screen comes up).

So now I'm wondering if its the graphics card. I could replace that, as the card is a little old and slow, and I could always swap it into any new system I buy if I end up going that way, but I could also just tag that on to a Dell system and save myself the trouble.

Thoughts? And thanks for all the help so far!