It Must Be Haunted

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  • #624
    Gweg
    Keymaster

    I think I might have figured out the problem.

    After I cleaned everything, and put it back together tonight.  I hit the power button and it wouldn't turn on.  Ok, so I'm thinking maybe I knocked something loose.  Opened it back up, every connection was still good.  So, I plugged it in, tired again, nothing.  So, I just start pushing the button over and over.  Finally it boots up.

    So, I'm thinking, due to all the presents left by the cat, the button on the case is shorting out, which would explain why the computer kept powering itself up and down.  I'll see how long this holds out, and if I have too, I put everything into one of the older Tiger cases I have in the basement.

    #625
    tcolvinMI
    Keymaster

    It is rather interesting to me that even though we talk about how we protect our computers from the elements by keeping them in places where the elements wont affect it, Ive really never seen anything built into the case to protect it.  For example, maybe there needs to be some kind of shield placed over the components of the case, in addition to the side panel.  The only issue I see there is air flow, as well as something else to take off.  But in all seriousness, there really should be some way to better protect a PC against elements such as pets and dust and whatnot.  We seem to make great strides in CPU power and disk space and all of that, but nothing in the ways of reducing dust, allergens, etc.  Or for that matter, preventing your cat from spraying all over the place without getting them fixed.

    Im with ya on the case swap, but I doubt it'll do any good in the long run.  The only thing I could really think of is that once you switch cases, maybe tuck it somewhere where the cat wont have such easy access to it.  I know thats hard to do, considering the room and whatnot, but just a thought.

    #626
    Gweg
    Keymaster

    Yeah, I'm surprised that cases aren't more protected than they are.  They make filters for fans, to keep most of the dust out, but that's usually the only thing I've seen.

    I've solved the problem with the cat doing what he pleases against the case, but it does look like I need to swap cases.  The thing still acts up, plus on top I'm getting a floppy disk fail on POST, and Windows keeps gripping about an unrecognized USB device.  It's driving me nuts.  I'll have to tear back into that case and do the swap here within the next couple of weeks.

    #244
    Gweg
    Keymaster

    Okay, my dad's old computer started acting up today.

    It was fine all day, then later tonight, Windows decided it would shut down on its own (not freezing, actually shutting down).  The computer would then turn off.  After about 30 – 45 seconds later, it would turn itself on.  XP would boot, and as soon as it loaded, it would shut down again.  It kept doing this over and over.  I would unplug it, wait a few minutes, plug it back it, then it would turn itself on.

    Seems like a ghost to me.

    Anyway, I'm thinking hardware issues, as Windows isn't crashing, just shutting down.  So, I pulled it out to tear it down to clean it out; maybe it's overheating.  Well, I tore into it, and years of dust and what Sylvester (cat) has done to it, I was surprised it was still running.  I tore the whole case apart, took the all the drives out, and cleaned everything with isopropyl alcohol.  Tomorrow, I need to get a couple of cans of air, to blow out all the dust.  Then I'm putting it back together and seeing what happens. 

    Hopefully problem solved.  I don't want to have to call TAPS (ghost hunters) to come in and take a look at this situation.

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