Rudolf Jager said:Built on the same principle as automobiles ... Warranty goes; car goes. Or stops going.
Reminds me of the HP desktop that I purchased at Staples a few years ago.....went belly up one week after the extended warranty expired. Talk about built in screw the consumer technology.
Shall I stir things up and say Buy a Mac? Now that I said that, it will crash tomorrow!
I must be doing something wrong. My 'puter and Vista have been running fine for almost two years now . . . . . . . . . I’m waiting . . . . . . . . . .Nope, still running.
Allen B.
Al,
If you can read this, you may have computer problems because it was never sent.
That’s OK Ric. I never received it either.
Doug Arnold said:I went back to the IMAC after numerous crashes with the wonder stiff and have had no crashes or any other major problems. I like the Force Quit if needed. Never turn off the computer sure helps too ! Old saying is true in most cases, you get what you pay for.. Okay now I know you might have a different story but this mine and I'm sticking with it !!!
Shall I stir things up and say Buy a Mac? Now that I said that, it will crash tomorrow!
TOF in Lost Wages
Doug Arnold said:You can now buy a Mac clone and save a few bucks. Ralph
Shall I stir things up and say Buy a Mac? Now that I said that, it will crash tomorrow!
The repair guy thinks that the heat is what’s killing my internal hard drive, which doesn’t have a cooling fan. I’m not so sure… we had some warm weather recently with a couple days in the low 90’s, and earlier in the summer it may have gotten close to a hundred. But I have a fan next to the computer, blowing on it all the time. And if the drives were that sensitive to heat, it seems like there would be a lot of people in San Diego having hard drive problems along with mine.
Ray,
It is a matter of airflow inside the case.
Your average store bought computer has no airflow across the hard drive.
They mount the hard drive under the DVD drive where no air circulates.
Air comes in the bottom front of the computer and exits the top rear. Totaly by-passes the drive cage.
Hard drives spin at high rpm and generate a lot of heat.
Optical drives generate a good bit of heat too.
Ralph
Ralph Berg said:Today at the local Target store I see they have these cooling pads with built in coldness that are tapered for the laptop to sit on. I came this close to buying one. Anyone have any input on these?
Ray, It is a matter of airflow inside the case. Your average store bought computer has no airflow across the hard drive. They mount the hard drive under the DVD drive where no air circulates. Air comes in the bottom front of the computer and exits the top rear. Totaly by-passes the drive cage. Hard drives spin at high rpm and generate a lot of heat. Optical drives generate a good bit of heat too. Ralph
Rudolf Jager said:Got a couple of inexpensive pads with two built-in fans at a local odd-bits store. My laptop is sitting on one; it plugs into a USB port. It does seem to keep the pooter a bit cooler, judging by the old touch test. My daughter has the other pad; she also thinks it helps.
Today at the local Target store I see they have these cooling pads with built in coldness that are tapered for the laptop to sit on. I came this close to buying one. Anyone have any input on these?
Then I guess the question is, what can I do about it? Air-conditioning the house is not an option. One of the cooling pads wouldn’t help since this isn’t a laptop.
Ray,
back in the mid- to late 1990’s when the first 1.0 Ghz Intel processor was released, the latest idea was a miniature refrigerated cooling system (similar to that used in a household refrigerator) to keep the ‘massive’ 1.0 Ghz chip cool enough. My old Compaq desktop (7 years ago) had a 2.8 Ghz Intel chip and suffered repeated shutdowns due overheating. My latest console type setup has dual 2.8 Ghz processors and has not had a problem.
It would seem that chip cooling is not an issue these days. At least that is what the engineers are telling us.Having just purchased a new CPU one of the points stressed by the guy I bought it from was keeping the unit from overheating. Plenty of space around the unit for airflow, keeping the vents clean and clear of dust and debris, etc.
Since overheating seems to be a cause of problems with these units, maybe another fan would be the way to go, just to be on the safe side.
My home network server just decided to be uncooperative.
It’s a headless system(no monitor,keyboard or mouse) running Linux.
I can access files on it, but it is refusing administration query’s and will not log on to the internet.
SOB :mad:
Ralph
Just for info’s sake, I looked inside my tower (Not hard to do since it has a clear plastic side:) ) and I have no less than 11 (Eleven!) fans running. It’s still going so I guess cooling is more than a “little” important.
Allen B.
Jon Radder said:It ran fast and never crashed because DOS wasn't a Mickeysoft product.
I'm going back to DOS. Worked fine for me. Was fast and never crashed :D
If you guys want modern graphical operating systems that actually work, run fast, are virus free and extremely dependable you need to jump ship on Mickeysoft products. As has already been stated in several responses Linux offers many flavors of graphical interfaces that work immediately after being installed. Boot times will be half what Windoze can do. You won’t need virus software and you can be relatively secure from most problems that are out there. Ubuntu is the current leader in Debian based Linux operating systems. It comes with everything you need on one disc that can be downloaded for free. It has the OS, great graphic editing software, a full office suite (compatable with all versions of Mickeysoft Office (Mickeysoft can’t even claim that with their own software)), internet browser, chat software, terminal services, games, CD/DVD burning software, music players, internet phones and everything else that Mickeysoft has ever offered. It’s all FREE. It’s 100% legal. Linux has been around for a long long time and is one of the most serious operating systems out there. If you don’t want to dump Windoze yet just download the Ubuntu ISO file, burn it to a CD and then boot your computer from the CD. You can run a fully operational Ubuntu Linux OS from the CD to try it out. It won’t be as fast as it could be if it were actually installed on your PC but it will still smack you in the face and hopefully wake you up from your Windoze induced nightmare.
I have been switching customers to Linux for about two years now with almost nobody has gone back to Windoze. One of the things I do for a lot of people is load Linux on a old PC they just replaced with a new PC. Most new PC’s come with Vista now. They buy them boot them up and are happy. Until I load their old “dead” PC with Linux. After trying it out most can’t understand why the new PC with Vista is slower than the old PC with Linux. They are actually pretty pissed most of the time. And most of them would never have believed it until after they got soaked for the cost of a new PC and Vista OS.
Ray, you are having heat issues with your PC? Is everything cleaned out? No dust in the PC? All fans are working properly? Vents are clear? Memory and processor are seated? In years past chip creep was an issue. It still pops up from time to time. As parts heat up and cool down they will expand and contract at different rates. This will cause parts to slowly creep out of their seated positions. Make sure everything is clean and snug inside your computer. Make sure there aren’t any dust balls on the components and any cooling areas like heat sinks are clean. Use a can of compressed air to blow everything out. Use Q-Tips to wipe the dirt off of all fan blades. Do both sides of the fans too. Out of the box most systems have adequate cooling. When things start to over heat its usually due to reduced air flow or dirt build up. Failed fans and dirt are the most common issue. There could be case fans, CPU cooler fans and power supply fans. Check them all. If the PC is really dirty inside take it outside to do a good cleaning. The theory of fans blowing into the case is also somewhat of an issue. When fans blow into a case they just fill it with air. The air heats up and so does the internal temperature of the case. When air is drawn into the case through vents the air flows past parts which helps to carry the heat away and out of the case via the fans. That’s why PC’s come with fans that blow out, not in. There’s a lot of engineering in most of these little PC’s. Don’t try to re-engineer the wheel if it doesn’t need to be…
Jon.
Since I have a Mac I’m not real familiar with pcs. Al says he has 11 fans. Was that machine put together for a gamer? It sounds like a machine you could heat your house with!
I would guess Al’s machine is indeed a gaming machine. 11 fans and a “window” .
I built my computer using a server motherboard and dual processors. Three hard drives and a RAID controller.
Including the cpu fans, power supply and video card fan, I have 10 fans.
The last ready built computer I bought had 1 fan, on the power supply.
They try to build quiet computers.
The easiest way to build them cool and quiet, is to use water cooling.
Ralph
Ray,
It occurred to me that I’ve been flapping my jaws and not offering definative solutions to your problem.
Not knowing what you have, here are a few solutions.
If your hard drive is mounted in a 3.5 inch bay(floppy drive size)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817122110
If your hard drive is mounted in a 5.25 inch bay(DVD drive size)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835230005
Here is a cooler that mounts on the hard drive. It will pull heat off the hard drive.
But it is not much help if you have inadequate airflow out of the case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150005
Here is a list of case fans. Several sizes are available. 80mm and 120mm are the most common sizes.
You’ll have to measure any available openings.
Case fans mounted on the rear and top of the case should push air out of the case.
Case fans mounted on the front of the case should draw air into the case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010090573%201372526580&name=Case%20Fan
Hope this helps.
Ralph