Forum Moderators: phranque
I hope the "urgent" isnt too bold, but my PC has given me trouble since yesterday (shut down automatically yesterday twice after I removed an USB stick, connected a printer(exp?)). Today it wasnt going to launch at first..
So Ive gathered all the files on my home pc, that I need to save, have converted them to a RAR file which im now trying to upload to my shared hosting account (which will take another 10 hours..........if it doesnt stop, which it first seemed to do - could have just been the browser window, though).
Should I split the files or is uploading such a huge file no problem, at all? If the upload stops would it be possible to resume that upload and restart where it stopped?
Could it be faster to sign up for an e-mail account at gmail, yahoo or msn (or any other provider with > 1GB) and upload it there? Or could I expect their servers to be equally slow?
Needless to say, I'll appreciate any kind of advice, I'll receive here!
thanks!
If I follow your description on which options to tick(second one down, fourth one down, fifth one down, sixth one down), I would also tick "Put authenticity verification".
When you described it with words you mentioned 3 of thouse 4 boxes you'd suggest I tick, but not "put authenticity verification".
I assume I've understood correctly and will simply tick that one, too, if you're offline already. But if you're still online and see this could you please confirm quickly?
thanks again
create sfx archive
and
put authenticitry verification
and put recovery record
and test archived files
and then you press "ok"
g'nacht :)
Hehe gute nacht to you, too.
DVDs can be kept in a desk-drawer and USB sticks can be kept around your neck or in a pocket. Keeping backups in two formats and in two locations is about as secure as you can get.
Even if you don't have CD/DVD burning software installed, it should be supplied on disk with any CD/DVD writer or you make be able to download it from the manufacturer's website.
If you ever need to backup more than a few GB of data, a USB hard disk is your best option.
Also
1) If you're running Windows, don't panic if it goes wrong occasionally.
2) If a disaster occurs late at night - GO TO BED. You'll fix it quicker in the morning.
Kaled.
I've uploaded the most important files to my hosting account, by now...and on top of that have burned everything to CD without any problems.
I've left the PC on over night...and will try to figure out what's wrong..without having to be concerned about losing any important data :-)
I plan on shutting down the PC to do just that, and then test if I can restart it wihtout any troubles...but I am wondering: Can this really be the problem? The thing is:
The PC shut down automatically twice 3 days ago when I was messing around with USB devices ((un)plugging them incorrectly). However, the next day - after the PC had been shut down for the whole night, I wasnt able to restart it at first (I wasnt even able to turn the computer on).
Could this really be because of an overheated CPU? After all the CPU should have been cool by then..as the PC had been off the whole previous night. Right? Or can it take a night or longer for a CPU to cool off enough?
Leo also suggested I should download mint linux & ubuntu and burn it to a CD in case it's my windows that is causing the trouble. I didnt understand that fully to be honest, but do I need to do this? Is this not clearly a hardware issue (if I could not turn the PC..as in the machine...on, at all 2 days ago - can I not exclude the possibility that its a software issue if the PC didnt even "go on")?
And...in case I needed mint linux & ubuntu on a disk, I could still download them on another PC and burn them on a disk at that other PC, right?
thanks!
I don't see how an overheating CPU would be a problem if the computer were shut down overnight.
As I told you last night in private mail, I am suspicious of things like a faulty power switch, failing power supply, or failing main/mother board. None of which are things you can likely repair yourself without some level of technical expertise.
My suggestion at this point, now that you have your important files safely burned to CD, is take the computer to a competent repair shop for diagnosis.
Perhaps kaled or someone else will have a different or better suggestion.
I didnt really notice what you said about power supply earlier.
Maybe I should mention/add the following:
I have been using a plug-in timer with an additonal power outlet (it's a bit more complicated, because actually all of that is inside of a lockbox :-)) in order to help me stay away from the computer except for 1-2 hours during exam time in college (has worked out extremely well, btw ;)).
So after exams, I removed the PC power cable from the plug-in-timer and plugged it back into the normal power outlet.
I guess all of this is a bit hard to understand....but what I'm trying to say is I'm wondering if that could have anything to do with it...
That the PC wouldnt even turn on happened only one single time, btw (because you said "sometimes" - just making sure there isnt another misunderstanding :-)).
I did remove the PC cable from the plug-in-timer-power-outlet and connected/plugged in the PC as it would normally be (without any kind of plug-in timer). I think then it still didnt turn on. But then I made sure the power cable of the PC was plugged in firmly at the back of the PC (it really wasnt plugged in losely, at all, I just made sure again..)...and then if I remember correctly I was able to turn it on again.
The spot where the power cable of the PC is plugged into the PC seems a bit dusty, too (not extremely, though)...
I guess Ill see what happens...will probably turn the PC off, undust it, hope for the best and see what happens...and if nothing good happens, go to a repair shop...
It is possible (but unlikely) that the motherboard is loose and not properly grounded, but I doubt it.
Keep your data backed up and be certain to stop devices before unplugging them, otherwise continue working as normal and hope your computer behaves itself. Also perform a thorough antivirus scan overnight or while you're watching TV.
Don't stress about the CPU overheating - checking for dust in the heatsink is just one of those things that is easy to do and is thus worthwhile. You should also check the CPU fan runs correctly.
Kaled.
You say that shutting down after unplugging USB devices and a failure to launch are unlikely to be related....but....Ive been using this PC for like 3 years, now, and have never had any of those issues. Until one day (a few days ago) the PC shut down automatically when I plugged in the printer, and when I un-plugged the USB stick. The very next day (15 or so hours later), I'm trying to restart the computer and it doesn't restart.
I would be less than surprised if those incidents are related, considering neither one has ever happened to me before (not with this PC nor with another).
Im seriously starting to wonder if it has something to do with my plug-in timer / power outlet construction lol... I'll try to describe it (I dont know some of the expressions so I'll have to improvise a little:
Imagine a power-outlet with 3 spots to plug in the cable.
In the very first of those spots there is the plug-in timer - it's the first spot that the electric current should flow to.
Normally the "power cable" of the PC is plugged into the plug-in timer (to keep me from spending too much time on the PC during exam phase :-)).
However, after my exams I left the plug-in timer in the first spot (of that power-outlet with 3 spots), and plugged the "power cable" of the PC into the second spot (which the electric current, I think, should only flow to after it flows to the plug-in timer).
I had never really pluged the cables like this before. Is it possible that the flow of the electric current (sorry dont know all the right words..) to the PC could have been a little bit less efficient, because of that?
And that..because of the whole thing (2 or 3 cables, a plug-in timer possibly in the way, etc.) the power supply didnt work as efficiently as it should have?
I remember that after not being able to start the computer, I removed the plug-in timer construction and made sure the "power cable" of the PC was firmly plugged into the PC (it was not loose however)..and...something else (I basically put the cables back into place) and then I was able to restart the PC.
It is hard to describe, but Im starting to wonder if that could have caused it, as you say the most likely reason (if the two incidents were related) would be a broken power supply - and this would be kind of similar (technically).
Or is there no way this could have caused it?
More importantly:
Could a virus cause both? I mean could a virus (technically) be the reason that a PC cannot even be turned on, in the first place? (just curious).
I also started using another anti-virus program a while ago (avast)...and you mentioned I should do a thorough anti-virus check...
thanks
Could this have messed something up with my PC, that could have caused those incidents? (I understand not being more careful about it was a bad idea)
However, as with just yanking out a USB device it's not a real good idea to shutdown Windows that way.
BTW, in XP you can easily create a scheduled task to shutdown the computer. Just use the "shutdown" command with the appropriate command line switches. Let me know if you want help with this.
However, I should make sure the shutdown command is back in place again so that I see the clock ticking before the PC automatically shuts down...now that I know this kind of stuff is a bit more important than I thought it was...
Best of luck to you. I'll be curious to know what the problem turns out to be so please post when you have a diagnosis.
And of course, if you need anything else let us know.
:)
I wouldn't say I'm a hardcore computer addict, it's just that I'm insanely curious..so if I have (easy) access to the web, I'll open a search engine and type in things I'd like to know way too often (and then end up reading about them, etc.). Mostly internet marketing stuff, but also "what is the capital of (...)" lol.
In high school, that never was a problem, but in college it started to interfere with my studies (b/c it's just so much more useless material to study ;)) ..and limiting PC time like that has been a great solution for me for the past 2 semesters (especially for exam phase...).
Actually, it is kind of relieving, too, though - all of a sudden there's so much time in a day LOL.
Anyway, we're drifting off-topic. Hope to hear from you soon about the cause of this computer problem.
"Could a virus cause both? I mean could a virus (technically) be the reason that a PC cannot even be turned on, in the first place? (just curious). "
(should have put "switched on", not "turned on", I guess).
I'd really appreciate getting another reply to this question (despite already being guilty of turning this thread into something that c ould be printed out and sold as a book already...)
On desktop computers, a good indicator of whether power is available is often to be found on the keyboard - an LED is often permanently on. Also, if you have an optical mouse, this may glow if power is available. Also, if there is a critical fault that stops the computer operating, even if no LEDs glow permanently on the keyboard, they will often flash for a moment when you switch the computer on. If there is absolutely no sign of life when you switch on the computer, the chances are that it doesn't have mains power.
Kaled.
As I have more important stuff to deal with now, Ill probably just make sure I have everything perfectly in place so that I can save my new files every day and wont feel bad if anything does go wrong again.
Someone I know who is into physics (however just for fun, so no idea how reliable that information is) told me that it was a pretty bad idea to have things set up the way I have them set up here: one power outlet providing electricity for 6 "machines" (telephone, etc.)...that this was a bit too much and sometimes machines wouldnt turn on if there were too many cables, etc. (or something).
I do remember that the monitor and the speakers still had a light on so-to-speak (however they have different cables for the electricity), I'm not sure about the LED on the keyboard, but Ill make sure I have an eye on it if it ever happens again.
Is there a chance that using one s ingle power outlet (the one in the wall) to provide 7 different machines/things (just noticed its 7 because its even more complicated than I first thought - I didnt set this up!lol) with electricity could have something to do with this?
The thing is I basically moved the cables around a bit (dont know how to say it properly in English), and after I was able to switch the PC on, again? (the one time when it woudlnt switch on)
I doubt those devices draw enough amps to overload the circuit.
And if they did then all the devices connected to it would stop working, not just the computer.
Having said that, I don't recommend essentially plugging everything into one outlet. Sometimes though, especially in a small apartment or dorm room, you can't avoid it.
Ok ..why linux ( ubuntu or mint ) ? ..simple ..if it had been software fault and an OS crash ..live linux discs can be used to get you back up and connected to the net .. through to here,( and help :) let you pick up urgent emails etc ..and because you can access yout ntfs ( windows ) from linux you can add /remove/ read/write files ..and just genreally fix windows problems from the linux live disc ..
However it you'd a said that you have been using a timer on a power strip to shut down and boot your computor for a while then no-one would have looked for software or OS as the possible root of the problem ..
Reasons..computors and all the hardware and software that go up to make the computor and the system/s that run on them ..including the BIOS ..like and are designed to be "soft" booted ..and "soft" shut down ..
That means via the onscreen shut down routines ..( when shutting down )..not by pressing the power switch on the front** to shut them down ..and especially not by just cutting the power to the transformer /power supply by switching off at the mains / kicking the lead out of the wall / cutting off via timer on a power strip ..those are owner induced forced system crashes ..
and computors dont like them :)
They can result in all the problems you have had ..plus also in the mother board dying , the hard drives heads ploughing into the platters ( they dont get time to return to their original places safely ) if you just electronically drive the computor into a wall to stop it ..
This is why uninteruptable power supplies and surge protection strips were invented ..
You've been lucky not to hear the sound of your heads biting your HD plattens ..( older machines with smaller HD's actually can take more punishment than new ones ..IDE type drives can take a few "plugs kicked out of the wall" events ) ..modern sata drives with hundreds of gigs really fall over fast if you dont shut down via the GUI or the front button (** the front button on modern machines also now is a sort of combined power/reboot button and it does do a kind of "soft" shutdown ..still more risky than GUI soft power down though ..the old way with two seperate buttons was best ..and another on the back on the transformer ..lets us techies do more things ..
I have a sata drive seagate 250 gigs that was only 3 days old and in a machine when the power got cut ( it wasnt yet on an UPS nor a surge strip ..my fault for not wanting to deal with the "desk sphaggetti" ..storm struck our elctricity supplier about 5 klicks from our house ..we lost power and the heads went into the discs ..distinctive noise it makes ..sounds like the scratchy whiney sound you would expect if a robotic mouse was stuck inside the machine ..total data loss ..
As to the number of things one can put on a power strip ..depends ..in Europe ..the biggest power strips are rated to a max of 3.5 kw ..more than 3kw they get warm ..real warm ..( many are only rated to 2k watt total ) wall outlets are rated to just 2.5kw ( even if they have more than one socket to them ) max ..with the exception of the big ones for electric stoves /cooker ..the breakers at the main box are rated at 16 amps total ..max per room ( usually ) ..some times less like 16/20 amps for all the plugs in the house added together or 16/20 amps per floor ..lighting is on seperate 5 amp breakers ..sometimes not ..depends on the age of your property ..
<aside>Those in the US will not beleive how hard it is to get real power into European homes ..over 9 amps incoming needs an "upped" contract ( you pay more per month )..over 12 amps at the box anothet tarif band ..16 amps same again ..18, 24, 30 etc etc each increase means pay more per month ..and domestic supply is almost always fixed at mono phase only ..
45 amps for me is minimum ( and I like it one every phase ..I like 3 phase ) ..hard to get connected "domestically" ..I had it commercially ..and it's expensive wether you use the "ooomph" or not ..</aside>
Your average computor pulls minimum 350 watts ..older ones ( like built before 1998 may only pull 250 watts ) ..newer ones ( white box pre / builds since 2000 ) pull from 500 watts to 800 watts ..( personally I think 750 watts is the minimum you need to run even a basic machine because otherwise the tranny runs hot all the time ) ..and 1kw or above is better ..in power supplies more watts is better ..
and scanners ,desk lamps , printers ..desk fans , consoles ,etc all add on to this extra ( even on standby they still draw about 40 watts each minimum )..as does tv ( tv can be good for 500 watts on it's own even old small ones ..big ones use more again ) so .do the math ..
It doesnt take much to get near to 2 k on the same power strip ..it will get warm ..so will your power suplly ..
if your power supply gets too warm it will start to deliver unstable voltages along it's "rails" ..
You can read the voltages it's giving down it's rails from the advanced part of the BIOS ..and maybe ? from the everest home that I linked you to in sticky mail ( the home is free the one I use is $99.00 I can see the rail voltages from mine ..if they are wrong ..or fluctuate ..too much within the accepted parameters then I know a power supply is going west ..
You can also tell if your machine constantly recycles itself through POST ..or keeps only getting as far as the recovery screen / safe boot area blue screen ..
Or if diskcheck keeps failing and restarting at the third part of the sequence ( file integrity check )..
There's more to take into account about power supplies and switching on and off "nice" but I'll deal with that later ( after dinner :) ..priorities :))
Good to hear you got running today ..but bear in mind all that you read in this thread ..your brother would no doubt agree :)
I understand you have priorities - need to eat, too!;) - Ive also written an email to another friend about this stuff (who has worked in IT for ages), about the power supply stuff in particular...and I'll try to figure that out later.
Maybe I'll even only get to figure it out tomorrow - just came home from playing basketball (which I havent done in half a year b/c of college...) and am extremely tired + need to up early tomorrow.
So I'll definitely check the things youve mentioned and might come back with further questions (if I dont understand everything), if you dont mind..
but it's (hopefully) not overly urgent right now, so hope you dont mind in case Im only coming back tomorrow - I really appreciate your advice!
Had the www been around when I was programming computer games in elementary school, I might have never stopped it (only 2 people around who I could ask about problems with my (mostly) quick basic code ;) who usually never ended up finding the problem....If the www had existed back then, Im sure I wouldnt have taken too long to find out through somebody else's help!:-))
