Home Forums Discussions Problems AC Freezes when typing notes

>>> Ok, so I am going to take that machine out of the loop, period. :-D

Finally! (LOL)

Bert's right about the "Home" edition of Vista or XP- they aren't supposed to be used on a LAN. That issue should make the connection almost impossible, but shouldn't freeze the LAN.

You've pretty much ruled out the hub as the culprit. This now leads you to look at the server itself as having an intrinsic problem which can cause it to power down or shut off. I had this issue once, but fortunately it occurred on a node computer, thus NOT affecting the whole LAN.

My theory then was that this computer was locking up due to a faulty power supply box, a relatively common occurrence which is a relatively easy fix.

It would have episodes of computer "bradycardia" where it would briefly and partially power down then power up to normal functioning. About 1 in 3 episodes would result in a computer freeze. The fix would be to just buy a new 600 Watt power supply (see http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=1&from=R10&_trksid=m37&satitle=computer+power&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=22124&sabfmts=1&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search ).

I took it home, disassembled the computer, and lo and behold, the system worked with the new power box! No more "bradycardia" episodes. I reassembled the computer, put everything back into the housing, closed it up and then the issue recurred. It turned out to be a short in the fan of the computer casing- a fan with a lot of light and other fancy stuff. Unplugging it fixed the issue and it has worked for almost 2 years now. I let the new power box in there anyhow since it's on all the time.

Another computer would freeze after 5 minutes of working. The first thing that came to mind was that it was a heat issue, but the CPU fan was working fine as was the box fan. One day in a dream it came to me (yeah, I dream about computers!!!). It was most likely a problem with the CPU conduction goo, or lack thereof, so the CPU fan was not being effective since the heat was not being transferred from the CPU wafer to the fan. I went to Radio Shack, bought a $1.50 goo tube and bingo! Fixed.

So there- you have more issues to consider, in order. Post here and we'll all walk you through it if you get stuck. Here are some good sources on computer disassembly:
* http://www.build-your-own-computers.com/5-tips-for-disassembling-a-computer.html
* http://www.pccomputernotes.com/assembly/disassembly01.htm



BTW, tonight I brought home another computer from the office to fix what may be a true faulty power supply box. The thing has had issues since I first bought it a year ago. I got it revved up yesterday only to have the thing work for a day, then only to show a black screen continuously broken by a rare occasional picture of a brief perfect WinXP screen. I'll be taking it apart tomorrow (my day off). More later on that issue...

Cheers,
Al