Cant seem to fix this dang computer

[morrty]

My dad's computer is nothing but a headache, its constantly needing repair or fixing.

My latest issue started in this order:

Dad calls me, says his computer wont start up, it had long repeated beeping after you turn on the computer itself. I looked at the motherboard codes and found out that it was a Video Card problem, I reseated the video card and it worked for a day and went back to the beeping.

Next I installed a new video card, that seems to work for a while so I went to go put the side of the case back on while it was running and i just barely bumped the power cable going into the hard drive when I suddenly hear a click form the hard drive and the computer freezes. That was weird and never seen that before so I restart the computer and touched the power cable again and the harddrive clicked and froze the computer AGAIN. So I unplugged the power cable going into the hard drive and rep[lace it with another one that was free at the time. Restart the computer and tried touching it and everything went fine.. So I seem to have fixed that problem.

NOW after about a day of the computer running fine he calls me and says he they computer screen just goes black, "I hear a click and the computer screen goes black after about 15 minutes of use after the computer has been shutdown for a while. And I have to hit the restart button and it works fine".

This is where Im puzzeled... Could it be the Hard Drive again, the Video Card or the power supply?? ahhhh I picked the wrong thing to study in school for.. *sigh* so many headaches

[Snake91839]

I would guess it's your power supply, Throw a new one in there and it should run nice and smooth

[PolishPaul]

Make sure you have everything in your MOBO set tight. I had a video code once, which turned out to be a stick of memory that wasn't "clicked" all the way in. I does sound like your power supply may be faulty... Is the PC plugged into an outlet which has other heavy appliances running too? Microwaves, vaccums, fridges...

If reseating all components in the mobo doesn't help... What kind of Video card is this? Does it require you to plug in additional power supply? What changed recently to the computer? It may seem unrelated, but if there was something changed and now it happens a lot...

I would also try Snake's advice - get a decent power supply and give it a test. Last thought.. did you add any new hardware to the PC? how many Watts can the PSU dish out? Perhaps you're drawing too much current from the PSU?

[Snake91839]

Originally Posted by PolishPaul

Perhaps you're drawing too much current from the PSU?

That's what I was leaning towards

[morrty]

Originally Posted by PolishPaul

Make sure you have everything in your MOBO set tight. I had a video code once, which turned out to be a stick of memory that wasn't "clicked" all the way in. I does sound like your power supply may be faulty... Is the PC plugged into an outlet which has other heavy appliances running too? Microwaves, vaccums, fridges...

If reseating all components in the mobo doesn't help... What kind of Video card is this? Does it require you to plug in additional power supply? What changed recently to the computer? It may seem unrelated, but if there was something changed and now it happens a lot...

I would also try Snake's advice - get a decent power supply and give it a test. Last thought.. did you add any new hardware to the PC? how many Watts can the PSU dish out? Perhaps you're drawing too much current from the PSU?

Ok thanks, Ill try reseating everything later tonight. The old video card was a ati radeon 9800, I then replaced it with a geforce 5200 (downgrade yes I know but this is what I had on me) Uninstalled drivers, ran driver cleaner and Installed nvidia official drivers. No added hardwhere to the PC and not recent changes. ALL thats running from the PSU is 2x dvd+-rw drives, 1x 120gb ide harddrive, 1 sound card (no additional power needed other than from mobo) and 1 vid card (no additional power needed other than from mobo)

Its a P4 3.2ghz /w XP pro OS

Guess im going to have to buy a new PSU

[Snake91839]

If you don't need a high performance PSU, then you can get a fairly cheap one.

Newegg.com - COOLMAX CP-500T EPS12V 500W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CSA, TUV - Retail

That is the PSU I put in mine, and it's running absolutely perfectly, and after the MIR, it's an unbeatable price.

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER eXtreme RP-500-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 500W Power Supply 90-132V/180-260V Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSMI, FCC, CCC - Retail
Newegg.com - Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC ATX 430W Power Supply 115/230 V - Retail

Those look good also, and after the MIR, an absolutely outstanding deal

Good Luck

[superdave1984]

You might also check your temps. Maybe it is shutting down due to overheating. Just a thought.

[killians45]

try disable APM features, too.