# Weird localized computer problem

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-localized-computer-problem/345395>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 20, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-localized-computer-problem/345395 "2006-02-20T23:41:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-localized-computer-problem/345395/1 "2006-02-20T23:41:56Z")

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Two of my buddies are having a very weird computer problem. They are both roomates, and recently they have been experiencing problems, like lock ups or failure to boot at all, _but only in their apartment_. Everywhere else the computer works fine. One computer has a message that comes up saying, “check acelerometer.” The only thing I could think of to explain the issue was that perhaps a magnetic field in the apartment was disdurbing the acelerometer device which the computer uses to shut down the hard drive when it detects a sudden fall, and the computer won’t unlock the disk. Any thoughts?

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**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-localized-computer-problem/345395/2 "2006-02-20T23:55:43Z")

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If I had to take a WAG, I’d say bad wiring in the apartment, causing current fluctuations that the PSU in the computers is ill-equipped to handle. If they have access to one have them plug in a UPS and run the computer off that to see if the issues disappear.