Quote:
Originally Posted by mklynds
If you know someone with a UPS and you could borrow it, there is a good chance that is your problem. There are some higher end power bars that will regulate the current to keep it nice and even. Monster Cable is a brand I highly recommend. They also make voltage regulators and UPS units as well so you should be able to find a power sollution that is in your budget.
If you can borrow a UPS for a test and find it doesn't help I would pursue getting warranty coverage. If it is a heat issue, and you are not over clocking, then it could be from a faulty fan or even from a bad component on your MoBo (mother board) that is creating excessive heat. I would also recommend getting some one to look at it with your warranty coverage before you try anything that might void any warranty you have.
In my experience problems like these are not always easy to diagnose, not even in a workshop. If you do take it in for warranty work it is likely they'll just replace parts rather then spend too many man hours trying to fix it.
Hope that helps. |
i can't borrow a ups from anyone, if i get one i'll have to buy one myself. what you say about the difficulty of diagnosing is precisely my problem, i can't predict the failures so of course i can't reproduce them. it's just trial and error so far. for all i know it's not the electricity at all, but that seems the most likely to me given other circumstances. i may have to look into warranty coverage but that's going to be a last resort because i don't really have the time / desire to drag my computer all the way across the city to the shop where i bought it, and then (presumably) be without it for possibly several days. i have work to do on it and it's my only one (this is another of those times when i start thinking that maybe i need a portable computer after all, as backup).
i don't think Monster Cable is available here. i have found some others :
MGE PROTECTION STATION 500 FR
or
protection station 800
APC BUT it got horrible reviews by users, and i'm not sure whether it's just a bad model, or a few defective units, or a bad manufacturer...
this one intended for home offices (that is my case) but it's the same brand as got very bad reviews on the other model...
APC ONDULEUR BACK-UPS ES 550 VA - 8 CONNECTEURS
or
here
and suggestions about particular brands are welcome.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kazbates
With my secretary's computer, we just plugged it into another outlet. David did say that there are inexpensive voltage detectors that you can purchase at the hardware store. He did think it was a power issue, either with the internal supply, the battery or the outlet. Good luck. Computers can be so incredibly frustrating!!  |
arg !!! worse than frustrating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm
Do you have another socket (that's completely seperate to the one it's currently in) you can plug it into? It won't make any difference if all the cabling's unreliable, but it might indicate if the problem is just with the wiring to that socket?
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not really. none nearby, anyway ; i would have to move the whole outfit into the other room, and i would also have to free the other socket, since this appartement has an infuriating shortage of them and they are all currently occupied.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LazyScot
To (partially) check out the outlet, do you have any item of electrical equipment that will tell you if it has been switched off. For example, I have a mains alarm clock that when the power fails forgets the time, (and another radio that does the same over programmed stations as its internal battery has failed). Plug them into the same outlet as the computer (via some form of multi-plug adapter), and if it is the power failing then there is a reasonable chance they will fail as well.
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carp !! i thought i did, and was going to thank you for that elegant solution (well, i can still thank you) but i've just discovered that my stupid clock-radio which i don't currently use as an alarm clock is unkillable ! i went and wrestled the plug out from behind the furniture in the other room, which took me several seconds at the least, and then came and plugged it in over here, and turned it back on, and it's still showing the correct time !! *smack* and before you ask, yes, i *did* first remove the batteries i had forgotten were in there. so it would be totally undisturbed by the hypothetical voltage flicker that may or may not be affecting my computer. that'll teach me to buy a decent brand clock radio (it's a philips, in case anyone needs a recommendation). i might just go to the hardware store and see whether they have something.