oh god why...

here's my dilema.

my computer was re-fitted after a slight disaster last year when a power surge blew the CPU up, yup - cracked it, lots of smelly smoke - messy.
i got a new mobo (asus A7N8x dlx) new Hd (maxtor 40G) new graphics card (gf2 mx 400 - don't laugh)...and an xp2100 cpu.
I have win XP (sp1) and lots of useful programs etc to play with.
now, I noticed that it was starting to play around this sumer when I was writing up my MSc dissertation - not what you need by any stretch of the imagination...
suddenly the power would cut out losing everything i had recently written (luckily I am a bit of a wizkid and managed to restore temporary files)
I noticed severe slow downs when opening the windows, such as my documents, and compared to a lesser spec'd system it lagged significantly. it was getting unbearable.
finally it just wouldn't stay on. windows would boot up, sit for maybe a couple of mins then shut off as though plug been pulled...

I tried everything from scandisk to defrag. but it still happened. then I tried to reformat and reinstall a-fresh...
this is where it went all wrong. Win Xp got about 3/4 of the way when it suddenly anounced that a certain file could not be read or was missing and proptly shut off the install process. i tried again, and again and again!!
took it to the shop suspecting HD buggered. it has always been slow for a suposed 7200rpm...and it only got slower. they said it fine...

I have a copy of win 2000,win98 and win me i could use instead of xp if this is the prob, surely will show up any prob if its defective HD when none load up...but what would be the best course of action?

my HD is partitioned in a way that OS is in a 6G segment while files etc sit in the remaining space - the theory is that when things like this happen (i.e. 'sh*t') i can at least have half a chance of saving it to place somewhere safe...

any advice gladly taken. I want to turn this grey metal box into a functioning achine again, ta :)

p.s. it was never on the net thus could not have happened thru a bug etc...

shouldn't this be in hardware? you'll probably get better replies there.

This may seem like an obvious question but did you replace the PSU?

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Originally posted by Slick
shouldn't this be in hardware? you'll probably get better replies there.

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Yes. I'll move it.

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Originally posted by Slick
This may seem like an obvious question but did you replace the PSU?

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Funnily enough, that was exactly my first thought.

I've had two machines exhibit symptoms very similar, and in both cases eventually tracked the problem down to the PSU fan.

Mnay cheap PSU's use nasty sleeve-bearing fans. After a while, these bearings start to sieze and the fans no longer rotate properly, therefore no longer suck the heat out. As the PSU overheats, so the problems start. On both PSU's, I replaced the fan with a fairly cheap (£3-ish) ball-bearing fan and have had no problem with either machine since.

The diagnostic test for a duff fan? With the machine powered off, try to spin the fan blades. If the blades sin easily and freely, this isn't the problem. If, however, the blades show resistance and either don't spin at all, or stop rapidly, replace the fan (or PSU).


Warning - don't monkey inside the PSU unless you know what you are doing. It can be very dangerous. I do know what I'm doing, and have sat the exams and got the certificates to prove it - but if you don't, my advice is replace the PSU. If you decide the open the PSU - on your head be it if you come unstuck.

Yes PSU's can damage your hardware. I've seen it happen in a few circumstances. If you didn't replace it once you rebuilt your system then it quite possibly could be that.

Did you get a power surge protector in the end? I highly recommend everyone uses one of those since it's very easy for electric to come back up the line and frazzle your hardware.

i can only echo the sentiments above cut offs like that are almost always psu related.

also capacitors on psu's often dry out causing them to malfunction. a tell tale sign is normally seeing them bulge or leaking, in these sitauations the psu will often still function but not properly... but once again you have to open the psu, if you decide to do this make sure you leave it for a while as they can sometimes hold charge for a good while afterwards.

[cheers for the move :)]

ok, i'll open up the psu, its been off now for about 2-3 months...so I should be ok in terms of static discharge...
but still leaves me wondering why when I tried to re-install windows it was having probs. or is it merely down to the psu also by just blipping on/off/on and messing it all around?...
if this is the case what other hardware could have suffered a fate worse than death in my case?!!

had a look inside (and out) - all seems ok...

gonna try one more time to try and put xp back on. could work now after shop had a gander at it...now, where's the xp reg code - I have the cd in my hand but can't find the damn code!...

oh no!!! its doing it again! just cutting out as though someone's flicked the switch at the mains...
I don't understand it.
could it be ram? psu? windows itself?

its doing my head in - and since the computer shop said 'well, there appears to be nothing wrong with it' it strikes me as odd as to how this can be since straight away I'm faced with problems...
useless.

tried changing the psu yet?

no, strapped for cash- trying a work around. if it is psu i'll be f*d off at the shop for not finding it as a faulty one and also for not listening to my suggestions of the fact that it could be hardware - but they're convinced its software...

I put win 98 on it last night - all 'seems' ok, but still funny things happening. I got media player 9 onto it (they have a version for 98/me) and thought great, now i can play all my mp3s...but when i start them up its as though they're being played in fast forwards...? i dunno why its like this but any suggestions please

also power DVD doesn't like my graphics card, complaining something about acceleration not supported - wtf?