Hardware Solutions

[leon032]

My girlfriends uncle keeps bugging me about his computer problems. His computer is old don’t remember the specifics but do remember he is running XP (even thought I think that information doesn’t matter). The problem is that when he uninstalls his mouse or keyboard the computer shuts off. Sometimes the computer won’t turn on unless the mouse and keyboard are not installed. I was thinking either it had to do with the motherboard or the power supply failing but not sure which. As I stated before this computer is well over six years old. Anyone have an idea as to what might be the cause and do you think it’s more advisable to upgrade the pc. All his info is saved on a external hd so there is no problem there.

 

Thank You in Advance

[dhicks]

All his info is saved on a external hd so there is no problem there.

 

Problem solved then, really - wipe and re-install Windows XP on the machine. It's probably worth making sure you have 512MB of RAM, and check the user has install disks for any software they want to be able to use (you'd be amazed at how many times you ask "Right, where's the MS Office install disk, then?" and you get back, "Oh, I borrowed it off a friend...").

 

--

David Hicks

[mac_shinobi]

Problem solved then, really - wipe and re-install Windows XP on the machine. It's probably worth making sure you have 512MB of RAM, and check the user has install disks for any software they want to be able to use (you'd be amazed at how many times you ask "Right, where's the MS Office install disk, then?" and you get back, "Oh, I borrowed it off a friend...").

 

--

David Hicks

 

check it is not over heating ( go into bios and check cpu temp ) and google it to check to see if its a reasonable temp for the cpu.

 

Also maybe replace PSU for one with more wattage and compatable and see if that helps.

[elsiegee40]

Problem solved then, really - wipe and re-install Windows XP on the machine. It's probably worth making sure you have 512MB of RAM, and check the user has install disks for any software they want to be able to use (you'd be amazed at how many times you ask "Right, where's the MS Office install disk, then?" and you get back, "Oh, I borrowed it off a friend...").

 

--

David Hicks

 

 

Just what I was thinking... make sure he's got the disks for M$ Office or whatever his other favoured software packages are too.

 

He'll probably find a marked improvement in performance after 6 years - a full clearance of spyware, viruses and other rubbish in the HDD reformat at the same time

 

taking the case off and giving a major clean with the air-spray would be a good move too.

[leon032]

So he went ahead and bought a new pc. I couldn't make it round to his house due to a busy schedule. He left me a voice mail asking me for MS Office and other software he had. Funny, but you guys guessed it ahead of time.