We thought it was a problem with heat. Internal diagnostics were not accurate, and the fan setup was suboptimal. It took five hours of my friend’s time to figure that out. Computer ran for 45 minutes without failure by the end of my visit.
Once I brought it home, it fails within five minutes of boot-up, usually even quicker. Always the same mode of failure — screen freezes up, cursor also.
Can somebody recommend competent help in Nashville? This is extremely frustrating and spending six hours just driving back and forth made it worse. At this point, this is the most expensive and least functional computer I’ve ever had.
Have you tried reinstalling your version of windows? It sounds like you may have some corrupted system files if all your hardware settings are good and drivers are up-to-date.
If that’s the case “sfc” from the command prompt of the recovery environment might fix that. The exact command line would be something like “sfc /scannow /offbootdir-c: /offwindir=c:\windows”, and note that your c: drive in windows might not be c: in the recovery environment.
A “repair install” of windows doesn’t work the same way as it did with XP. You have to have win7 up and running, then run an in place upgrade to the same version.
Oleg, check the location the PC sits in. I spent an hour diagnosing my sister’s PC. I had her remove it, open it up, clean the dust, etc… and it still kept failing. Turns out that she kept the PC in an enclosed spot MADE for a PC and the opening was directly in front of a heating duct.
Please consider the environment the PC is in. Temperature in the room? Are there wooden panels on both sides of it? To the rear? Air needs to flow in ONE DIRECTION. Typically, this is from front to rear. The fans will draw the heat across the motherboard. Is this happening? This is not unusual for people to just set up every fan to blow inwards towards the PC. I don’t think this is necessarily happening, but it’s something to consider.
Got a second graphics card you can swap out to try to use? Got an on-board graphics chipset that’s usable, instead? No, not awesome for games or anything else 3D related, but in determining if it’s the cause, it’s a useful tool.
Tango’s comments about location and thermal issues there are spot-on.
Also, did you plug any USB devices into it that weren’t there during your successful testing?
if you’re bored, could you post or email me a high-res photo of your motherboard, preferably out of the computer chassis. Front and back would be useful.
Another option might be to just cut your losses and pick up a new corporate made PC. You should be able to get something with a Core i7 and 8+GB ram from Lenovo for a fairly decent price.
If nothing else think about it in terms of what your time is worth, and how much more time are you willing to spend on it?
Tango ha a point.
Also, if it works someplace else and not at home… is it on a power conditioner?
If not, you might try that.
(ChrisJ also has an excellent point; at some point one just has to cut losses and move on.)
FWIW… I checked with a friend from high school who lives in Nashville now and he said his company has had some luck with Eagle Computers. Doesn’t sound like they’ve needed anything complicated but EC did satisfactory work for a decent price.
Your experience parallels mine exactly. Ran. Didn’t run. Ran. Turned out to be a fugitive but fatal fault in the motherboard which, while failing, presented itself as everything but what it really was. The suggestion above by reader jfw may be your best bet.
Works good at your friends house, but barfs at yours. Uh, call teh Electric co and have your power checked for spikes and noise.