# Computer on the blink question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2002, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961 "2002-10-19T11:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/1 "2002-10-19T11:49:50Z")
About a month ago, I could no longer restart windows from the start menu-\>shutdown sequence. At the windows screen (with “Windows is shutting down” at the bottom) my computer would always freeze and I would have to do a hard boot. I think there is also something wrong with my power supply. I will hit the on button and the computer will start to boot only to die a second later. Typically it takes 3 attempts to get it to boot. Today I had a scarier problem - my computer froze overnight (which it often does) and I rebooted (three times) as usual. This time however, when windows loaded all that came on the screen was the color of my active desktop- no start bar, no icons, nothing. When I hit ctrl-alt-del, there were no programs at all in that window that typically comes up with that sequence. It took me three reboots to finally get it to work. Scared me to no end. Besides get a new computer, what can i do? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/2 "2002-10-19T13:13:22Z")
Hard to say without a closer look but a re-build of Windows might be in order (hardly an unusual thing to have to do to Windows every so often especially with 95 and 98). Before that however go to [Windows Update](http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com) and click on Product Updates and see if there are any patches for your system (there almost always are). If you’re doing this via modem expect it all to take a LONG time to get everything you need (note…you may need to go back several times to get everything you need). NOTE: Windows Update barely works for Windows 95, does a decent job with Windows 98 and is best with the rest of the versions (not sure about ME but XP is all over it). You can replace your power supply, assuming it’s flaking out, fairly easily. You can buy one at most computer supply stores. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/3 "2002-10-19T13:58:15Z")
I’m with **Whack-a-Mole** , but I’d be even less ambivalent about it: if you’re running Win95, it’s _definitely_ time to blow away the hard drive and start over. I used to run a 200-user network, with everyone running Win95, and when we started to see the “won’t shut down” problem on someone’s PC, it was always a sign that it was reformatting time. We never found any less painful solution. It tended to behave like a cancer, as well: for a while, it would just be a shutdown problem, but soon, it would turn into a “won’t boot without a few tries” problem. All downhill from there. Win98, in my experience, was better able to repair itself, so the Windows Update route is worth a shot, given how laborious it is to do a disk format and reload of everything. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/4 "2002-10-19T14:52:35Z")
I’m running 98. Will the Window’s Update do a repair as well as an update? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/5 "2002-10-19T15:04:00Z")
Not needed. In the RUN box just put: SFC then do what it says, its the system file checker. Sounds more like heat related to me, so I suggest you be sure there is no dust on the vents & all the fans are working. etc ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/6 "2002-10-19T17:25:04Z")
Two recommendations: Format your HDD and reinstall W98 from scratch. Do not leave your computer on overnight. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/7 "2002-10-19T19:28:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KidCharlemagne \* > \*\*I’m running 98. Will the Window’s Update do a repair as well as an update? \*\* The Windows Update won’t actually do any repairing, but some of the software patches that it will apply to your OS might replace some of the weak code that allowed the problem to start in the first place. (This is really tough to explain!) Something else to try, after getting all the updates: bring the machine up in Safe Mode, shut it down completely, then restart normally. I’ve seen cases where that magically made problems go away. Not a high probability, but hell, it can’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/8 "2002-10-19T20:08:11Z")
For the shutdown problem, here is something easy to try. From Start/Run enter msconfig Under the General tab click the “Advanced…” button Check “Disable fast shutdown” This will often resolve the problem of Win 98 freezing on shutdown. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/9 "2002-10-19T21:25:18Z")
Do you have any mapped network drives? There is a known problem with Win98SE that causes it to hang on shutdown with certain configurations of mapped drives. There is a fix on the Windows update site, and it worked for me. It is very unlikely that this problem is hardware related. It’s just one of those things that Windows does :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/10 "2002-10-19T21:29:52Z")
Do not leave your computer on overnight. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/11 "2002-10-20T00:27:53Z")
If a computer isn’t being used for anything and it is going to be left unattended for more than a few hours, go ahead and shut it down. Bearings wear out eventually, and the power usage isn’t really accomplishing anything. It also gives dust time to build up on the fans and system components. If you have something for the computer to do while its idle, such as downloading or running a distributed computing program, by all means, leave it on. But if its not accomplishing anything, there’s no reason not to turn it off. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/12 "2002-10-20T17:43:29Z")
Thanks for your help all, at least the problem with windows is solved. The power supply is another matter. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/13 "2002-10-20T17:46:59Z")
Buy a new power supply. A good, heavy duty one lasts a long time, and you can use it for your next computer. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/14 "2002-10-20T22:05:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KidCharlemagne \* > \*\*I think there is also something wrong with my power supply. I will hit the on button and the computer will start to boot only to die a second later. Typically it takes 3 attempts to get it to boot. \*\* I had a similar problem recently. My comp. would work fine when powered on, but once I switched it off it would give me trouble coming back on. Typically, when I switched it on, the power led would glow and the cd-rom drive lights would glow and then before the beep or display it would die out. Keeping my power button depressed for about 3 seconds would sometimes help getting it started properly. My problem seemed to be with the switch and not the power supply unit, because i replaced the SMPS with two other working pieces and the problem persisted. Replacing my cabinet resolved the issue. You might need to replace your cabinet if it’s a switch problem. This is relatively cheap to do. In the meantime, you can leave your comp. on 24/7. Just configure the stand-by settings before doing so. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-on-the-blink-question/132961/15 "2002-10-20T23:30:10Z")
SFC does a repair for system files…