what's up with my computer?

My PC went down, no BSOD, nothing, just like that. All lights were off . I could not reset it . I tried restarting it twice, it was like dead. It looked like someting very bad had happened. After a few minutes I started it and it worked. It did seem a little hot in the back and I don't see the fan(back) turning at all although I never really paid attention to it. Is it supposed to turn at all time? It used to be noisy at times, I just read that coud have been the fan about to die. Please help.

 

its overheating would be a good guess. (a tip: the fan is supposed to go round & round) :-/

 

You had better check those fans else you'll burn your cpu.

 

could also be a faulty power cable. once mine was loose, and the pc blacked out.

 

one time my computer went dead no matter what I did, unplug, replug, turn on, off switch, shake it, slap it. After so many tries I brought it to a PC guy, he plugged it in, turned it on and charged me $25.:

 

Precision: I am talking about the Power supply fan visible in the back not the CPU fan. I can put my hand on it and feel it's hot but not burning. Also I covered the PC with a plastic bag(lI noticed my rugs produced a lot of dust) I left the back open so it can breathe if you will, still I was wondering if it could cause problems.

 

plastic wrapper? some motherboards will not boot if the CPU is too hot ...

 

My suggestion is to have your rugs steam cleaned so you do not have to put plastic on the computer to keep it clean. That could be your problem right there.
I have 2 laptops and they get touchy if they get hot.....

 

AMDs traditionally just turn into toasters and don't shut down until there's smoke . I think they added a thermal shutdown recently.

Plastic is not going to help your dust problem - most of the dust you get in your case is sucked in by the fans. One easy thing to do to cut down on dust is to put your computer on a desk. I recently took apart my LaserJet IIp to fix it, and there's almost no dust inside - darn thing is about 15 years old. It doesn't run much, and it sits on a desk. My computers get much more dust after just a couple years. And they pick up a lot more if they are on the floor.

My power supply fan blows into my case (not out) so it's nice and cool. If yours is blowing into your case and it's warm - that would be bad.

Your symptoms strongly suggest a hardware problem, and a computer that "heals" after a few minutes does indeed suggest heat related problems. Check your CMOS, if you've got a good mainboard you'll be able to get some system tempatures from that.

 

Thanks guys for the replies regarding the plastic cover. I have these nice multicolor rugs that I got at IKEA years ago but they have always been so fluffy I have to vacuum once a week(a lot for me). My PC is also near a door so it picks up the dust from the hall too. Not good. As for the PSU fan , the problem is solved . I got a new power supply and installed it this afternoon. I think that PC can take a lot of heat. When I think of it it may have been running without the fan for weeks, it's under my desk and I never paid attention to the fan :eek: