# Computer Died?



## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

Sorry if there's TMI.
For several months, once in a while when turning on the 'puter, a long green ( maybe it was blue) rectangle saying -going into energy saving mode" came on the screen, nothing else. Had to unplug at the tower, wait a few minutes then plug back in & turn on.
These times kept getting more & more frequent. Then it would not do anything except this display.
Someone suggested a new battery, did that, worked! Once. Then back to the rectangle.
Is it dead for good? Any way anything can be retrieved?
Tnx, Patty


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Do you get anything (meaning does it try to start)?

<just saw it was a desktop and not a laptop> backwoodsman below is correct the cmos battery will not prevent start-up.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Most likely it's the power supply; if not that, the motherboard is dying. Power supplies can be tested with a voltmeter, but that's not reliable as sometimes they can put out the right voltages with no load, but get flaky under load. It's better to try a known working power supply and see if it works.

This is a job for someone who (a) has a spare power supply lying around, and (b) knows what he's doing. That's not going to be the person who told you to change the battery. (On a desktop, all the battery does is run the clock and save the CMOS info; a dead battery won't stop the machine from starting up.)


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

Ah, tnx...so our clock will run forever now.
Was told by a few folks today -not 
ITs but said they were told by one, NOT to turn it off! .??
Oh,btw, it started up later today.
I'm trying to convince DH not to turn it off.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Tricky Grama said:


> Was told by a few folks today -not
> ITs but said they were told by one, NOT to turn it off! .??
> Oh,btw, it started up later today.
> I'm trying to convince DH not to turn it off.


If he meant, don't turn it off once it starts because it may not start up next time, that's probably good advice.

Now would be a good time to back up anything important that's not backed up.


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

Well, he shut it down last nite & of course it did not come on...this time it just went 'rrrrummm...'& stopped, not even the blue rectangle on the monitor saying energy saving mode...


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Last time I shut down my computer was over Thanksgiving when we were out of town, I'll turn it off again next month when we're on vacation.
I really don't understand people that turn off computers when they are not having any issues (slowness, etc or in weather that they could expect a power outage).


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

You have a fundamental hardware problem that's preventing your system from starting. Very often that can be resolved by reseating components. You'll need to open your case to do that. The usual culprits are the video adapter and memory modules, but I suggest that you reseat all cards. Just pull them out and push them back in one at a time.


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## pookford (Jan 11, 2014)

Tricky Grama said:


> Well, he shut it down last nite & of course it did not come on...this time it just went 'rrrrummm...'& stopped, not even the blue rectangle on the monitor saying energy saving mode...


That sounds like a bad power supply to me. Those can be replaced pretty easily and cost far less than a new computer.


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

Watch out if you open the case. A random static shock can destroy a lot of stuff. Discharge any static charge you may have on yourself - grabbing onto a ground source would do it (even the metal case will work). See http://blog.macsales.com/2225-discharging-static-electricity-for-safe-computer-upgrading Better bet would be to take it in someplace.


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

Dh has opened it twice. Once a while back to vacuum out dust & the other day to replace battery. It came back on yesterday & I finally convinced him not to turn it off...it seems to be ok...


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Tricky Grama said:


> Dh has opened it twice. Once a while back to vacuum out dust & the other day to replace battery. It came back on yesterday & I finally convinced him not to turn it off...it seems to be ok...


Probably a loose card.


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

A neighbor came over, there was much taking apart...a little air blow, a little vacuum, then I got bored...the got into something else...seems the 'puter was going to a disc player 1st? 
(disclaimer: I COULD be making this up as I go along)
Anyway, they designated something else for it to go to...
?
Seems fine.
I ARE a college Grad-U-ATE.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Tricky Grama said:


> seems the 'puter was going to a disc player 1st?


That shouldn't really be a problem. If the system doesn't find a bootable disk in the drive then it should advance to the next device in the boot order.


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

Of course DH turned it off last nite & it won't come on.
Did not back up our pics b/c we really don't know how.
There's a place near us that a few friends recommended, will take it in...


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Tricky Grama said:


> Of course DH turned it off last nite & it won't come on.


Whats the deal with your husband? :hammer:
Next time its working tell him to leave it alone.:thumb:


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Tricky Grama said:


> Of course DH turned it off last nite & it won't come on.
> Did not back up our pics b/c we really don't know how.
> There's a place near us that a few friends recommended, will take it in...


Reseat your cards, as I suggested above. It's free and you have a good probability of success.


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

NV, there aren't any 'cards'. Well, there was one big thing about the size of a postcard we took out & put back. I'm sorry we're so lame.
Sat am a neighbor guy who knows something came over for nearly 3 hrs. 'Bout all he did that we hadn't was use the compressed air can. 
Put it to sleep last eve instead of turning it off & it balked this am but DH got it on. We're gonna give up & take it in...can't stand such suspense.


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

Been ok til this am. I don't think DH turned it off last nite...have to take it in I guess.


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## That'll Do Pig (Jan 23, 2014)

Tricky Grama said:


> Dh has opened it twice. Once a while back to vacuum out dust & the other day to replace battery. It came back on yesterday & I finally convinced him not to turn it off...it seems to be ok...


Never ever use a vacuum on a computer!! It's probably a spent motherboard considering the abuse.

http://www.howtogeek.com/57870/ask-...rolling-multiple-computers-with-one-keyboard/


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

It ran really better after the vacuum...


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## That'll Do Pig (Jan 23, 2014)

I believe you but you need to use compressed air. You should certainly keep it clean but _not_ with a vacuum


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

There's nothing wrong with vacuuming dust out of a computer. The key is the same as anything else you do inside a computer -- awareness and management of static electricity. If you had a metal tip on the vacuum, and had it grounded to the computer's chassis, that would be best. If you don't have that, just be careful not to touch anything static-sensitive with the vacuum (that would be anything that looks like a chip or circuit board).

Actually I think it's better to vacuum than to blow dust out, because blowing it can force it into someplace that's worse than where it was, and really difficult to get to.

Of course, the best idea is to keep computers off the floor, where most of the dust is, so you don't have to clean them out nearly as often.


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