Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Poorly PC

Methinks this is not good. It's a shot of my PC desktop I managed to send to my laptop (and to the guy who fixes my PC) having watched a youtube video linked to from a blog I follow (not blaming you David!)

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8 comments:

Steve said...

Gulp. Wasn't me, was it? The one day I link to YouTube videos...!

28 September 2011 21:55
David said...

Looks like a video issue. While it could be a corrupted driver or, less remotely, a failing display, it looks more to me as though it is the signal from the vidcard.

One thing to check first: the cable. No, seriously. :-) Often, I've brought computers with similar issues around simply by making a better connection. Yes, connectors do develop oxidation or other deposits over years of use.Sometimes, simply unplugging and plugging a connection back in a few times--carefully!--is enough to make a cleaner connection. Anymore, though, I go straight to DeoxIt--spray or liquid.

Next step: try a different video cable. If a known good replacement cable (I have "a whole lotta" spares around here but emailing them to you wouldn't work :-)) with solid connections at either end doesn't bring it around, then I'd pop in a replacement vidcard to test the video card possibility. (Yes, emailing you one of my spare vidcards would also be problematic :-)).

(Yes, a multimeter and a few other tools could tell the tale on the connection and even some of the vidcard output possibilities, but cable/vidcard substitutions are easier and quicker in almost all cases.)

It looks like your desktop's running XP, so it's likely more than 4 or 5 years old. Replacing the vidcard--or substituting a vidcard for the onboard video, if that's how the computer's currently configured, is an easy-peasy task that can, in any case, even result in a snappier performing computer for very little outlay.

One thing to watch out for is motherboard issues. Here's a quick (and not at all definitive, but possibly merely indicative) test: with the computer off and the case open (GROUND YOURSELF WELL BEFORE MESSING AROUND INSIDE IT!!!), do the "Lucas, prince of darkness 'smoke' test" to see if any essential "electronics smoke" has "escaped" from the motherboard *heh*. Nah, really, it's just sniff to smell for burnt electronics and if possible where any such odor is coming from, generally. If from the area of your video chipset, then there you are (maybe).

From the image--again, that's all I have to go on--I say again: probably connection between vidcard and display or (more likely) the vidcard/video chipset. Either replacement is well within your own capabilities (again, as long as you are WELL GROUNDED before messing about in the computer and follow all other general safety guidelines--for protection of the electronics. You're hardly likely to suffer any damage to yourself from anything inside the case, if you stay away from the power supply).

29 September 2011 05:29
David said...

Oh, BTW, in case you couldn't tell directly from my previous comment, I know the Mamas and papas YouTube video could not have caused the problem. But thanks for the note of assurance. :-)

29 September 2011 05:31
Marginalia said...

Nice beach shot. Microsoft's or your own?

Looks like a dodgy graphics card. How old is your computer? My 8 year old is displaying similar aberrant behaviour. I just re-boot and that seems to settle it.

29 September 2011 11:54
Tenon_Saw said...

Steve: You are in the clear.

David: It is far more complicated. When it went off I had trhe option to restart in safe mode,or using the most recent known working configuration - no success. After and hour of cooling down it restarted ok in windows but was VERY slow and, after 3 minutes of running a prgramme it went blue screen again.

Marginalia: I downloaded it from a website, not sure where now, but it was one of the blogs I follow/visit I think.

1 October 2011 08:47
Marginalia said...

I've now ordered a new desk top PC.- Spontaneous shutdown and over heating hard drive warnings have convinced me that my venerable Sony is, like me, heading for the final shut down.

1 October 2011 12:00
David said...

"When it went off I had trhe option to restart in safe mode,or using the most recent known working configuration - no success. After and hour of cooling down it restarted ok in windows but was VERY slow and, after 3 minutes of running a prgramme it went blue screen again."

Yep. This is almost definitive: Hardware. Of course, I'm not onsite (and have no remote access), so I can't do any direct testing, but I'd

1. Do a "dusting" routine. The linked page is moderately complete, although it lacks proper notation of grounding yourself well before opening the case. If you've never done this before, a tip: do it outside, because the dust will certainly fly.

2. DO test (swap out) the vidcard. 80% orbetter chance that this is the culprit. "Good Enough" vidcards are really inexpensive nowadays. I just recommended a $35 vidcard upgrade to my Son-in-Law that has 1GB of DDR3 video memory and HDMI-out, along with the standard analog D-Sub and DVI.

Tools for the job: grounding strap, phillips screw driver (most likely); some manufacturers use hex head screws that don't accept phillips head screwdrivers, but, around here at least, they're few. I'd strongly recommend using DeoxIt cleaner/conditioner on any new installation as well. JMO, of course.

One other issue I've seen more commonly than you might think is a poor physical connection between heat sinks and high-temp processing chips, such as CPUs or GPUs (graphics processing units). Once in a while, I've been able to solve issues similar to yours simply by disassembling the CPU or GPU heatsink from the CU or GPU, cleaning the processor and the heatsink (carefully, while well grounded) by scraping them gently with a plastic "blade" (an old credit card is OK), then reapplying some Arctic Silver heatsink compound (very small amount) and reassembling the GPU/heatsink.

I don't generally recommend most folks do such things themselves, but you're a pretty handy guy. Tutorials for applying heatsink compound abound on the web. Aside from the demonstrator's lack of a grounding strap, this video demonstrating replacement of heat sink compound on a CPU shows that this also really is an easy-peasy task. :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdAnonti6tw

1 October 2011 12:59
Tenon_Saw said...

Thanks for all the comments

3 October 2011 12:26

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