# Yet Another Computer Problem \[Long\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2009, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788 "2009-06-05T06:19:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/1 "2009-06-05T06:19:06Z")
Hello all. I feel like I’m not a true Doper until I’ve gone through a checklist of things. One such thing is asking for help with my computer. That said, onto my lengthily worded problem: I have a computer. WinXP Pro SP3. A few months ago I was happily going about my business when it just died, completely. I would turn it on and it would start, but no lights on my keyboard would come on and my monitor would tell me it’s not detecing any input. With speakers on, the greeting music would not play. So obviously I check to make sure the monitor is plugged in and all that. It is and my XBOX and TV are being detected. Just not the computer. So I do a “hard” I think is the term, hard shut off and turn it on again. Same thing. A few more times of this, I manage to load a screen with a **ton** of exclamation points. I can provide pics if necessary. I am never able to reproduce this, it only happens once. Should also be noted, that sometimes the computer _will_ start up just fine. Then die in less than a minute. **What’s the problem?** I give it to a friend to fix and he says he can’t find any evidence of a virus. Eventually he gets it back to me after going for a completely clean install of Windows, losing all my info and whatnot. Now, within a fucking hour of getting it back from him, it does it again! It dies. Then, it’ll turn on, so to speak when I tell it to, but the keyboard lights won’t come on and the speaker won’t give me the greeting and the monitor doesn’t detect a damn thing. Because my friend is a huge flake, he never comes to my aid. So fast forward a few weeks to today, I just randomly turn it on and works fine. I’m composing this post on it as we speak. It’s been on for three hours. Most of which was spent running a virus scan with AVG Free. No threats found. **What the hell is going on?** Also, if you need more info, you are likely to have to tell me how to find out the info you need. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/2 "2009-06-05T06:42:59Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > **What the hell is going on?** > > Also, if you need more info, you are likely to have to tell me how to find out the info you need. In order of least to worst Bad Ram Bad power supply (my bet, we see this alot) Bad video card (unlikely) Bad motherboard ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/3 "2009-06-05T11:43:17Z")
I agree with drachillix, sounds like a bad power supply. That is not something I would attempt to change out at home. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/4 "2009-06-05T14:09:33Z")
Changing out a bad PSU is trivial these days. Especially if you use a modular one. Choosing the right one is not necessarily so simple. Dell PSUs can be slightly different, for instance; Shuttle PSUs are very different. Otherwise, just choose one from a decent manufacturer that will supply enough current for your motherboard and graphics card. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/5 "2009-06-05T14:10:55Z")
Power supplies are easy enough to replace on a desktop PC, but the task of unplugging and plugging in all of the power cables to your various components can be challenging if you don’t know what you are doing. If you attempt to do this, I would go to your PC manufacturer’s web site and see if they have any documentation on replacing the power supply. ---
**Author:** ![ClintPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@ClintPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ClintPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/6 "2009-06-05T17:25:31Z")
Agreed that most likely culprit is power supply. Second most likely is motherboard. Changing out the power supply is not difficult - just don’t open the power supply itself and poke around in it. While I don’t think it’s the motherboard, this reminds me of a somewhat similar problem with motherboards many years ago - it was bad capacitors made by a Taiwanese factory. As I recall, the dielectric in the capacitors was venting gas, causing the capacitors to swell and eventually rupture, causing failure. Symptoms that capacitors were approaching total failure were spontaneous reboots of the system after less and less time being turned on. Eventually no booting whatsoever. It was originally difficult to track down as the computers worked fine for over a year before they started to fail. Anyway, it’s definitely hardware, so don’t waste time on virus scans and the like for solving this problem. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/7 "2009-06-05T19:27:34Z")
Excellent! You guys rule. **Piggyback Question** : Why the hell do I have to hit another key after hitting the apostrophe/quotation key to make the actual character show up? If I hit that key once and nothing else, nothing will show up. No apostrophe or quotation. If I hit another key, the apostrophe and the other keystroke will show up simultaneously. None of my other keys require me to hit a second key before displaying the first keystroke, only apostrophe/quote. WTF? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/8 "2009-06-05T19:52:36Z")
Do you have some kind of international keyboard? If you tried a different keyboard, would the same thing happen? I found this, where they seem to be discussing the behavior you’re seeing: [LISTSERV - Archives - Error - LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU](http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=llti%3BiRyHpg%3B20031114165942-0500B) (towards the middle of the page, regarding typing accents) As for your original problem, it’s almost certainly hardware related, as others have pointed out, and I would have to say you wasted a lot of time and effort chasing a virus. In this day and age I think people are too quick to suspect viruses (same goes for scams, but that’s another thread …). If your friend is supposedly a computer expert and re-installed your OS because he thought this was being caused by a virus or some other operating system issue, I’m afraid I would politely refrain from asking him for computer help in the future. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/9 "2009-06-05T19:58:04Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Excellent! You guys rule. > > **Piggyback Question** : Why the hell do I have to hit another key after hitting the apostrophe/quotation key to make the actual character show up? If I hit that key once and nothing else, nothing will show up. No apostrophe or quotation. If I hit another key, the apostrophe and the other keystroke will show up simultaneously. > > None of my other keys require me to hit a second key before displaying the first keystroke, only apostrophe/quote. > > WTF? 😕 Sounds like you turned on the international keyboard somehow. I’ll bet you that graves (`), tildes (~), and carets (^) don’t appear at first either, although you haven’t noticed since no one uses those with any frequency. Follow [these instructions](http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsxp/keyboardlayout.aspx) and switch your keyboard layout to US English. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/10 "2009-06-05T20:01:37Z")
I’ll agree with the list provided by **drachillix** , just not his order of likelihood. 😉 RAM Video Card (Still RAM, just different RAM) Power Supply Motherboard ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/11 "2009-06-05T20:23:36Z")
**arseNal** : Considering how long my friend took to even get me my computer back, someone else will be providing me computer services in the future. **BorgHunter** : The instructions in your link worked like a charm! How the hell my keyboard got changed to some international settings I’ll never know. :dubious: Thanks again everyone! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/12 "2009-06-05T22:16:24Z")
Um, nothing actually changed. 😕 :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/13 "2009-06-05T22:26:37Z")
Okay, you need to check the Regional / International settings. Click Start | Control Panel | Regional Settings and check that the keyboard is the correct setting - probably **English (United States)** if you’re American - and the Location is also correctly set - again probably United States. Check all other options therein to ensure that everything is correctly set. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/14 "2009-06-05T23:01:14Z")
**Quartz** : That’s what I did. Everything is on English(US) and it’s still not working. Perhaps a restart is needed for some dumb reason? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/15 "2009-06-06T01:59:08Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I’ll agree with the list provided by **drachillix** , just not his order of likelihood. 😉 > > RAM > Video Card (Still RAM, just different RAM) > Power Supply > Motherboard I agree, I was sorting by cost to repair 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/16 "2009-06-06T04:13:56Z")
Ah… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/17 "2009-06-06T17:18:41Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > **Quartz** : That’s what I did. Everything is on English(US) and it’s still not working. Perhaps a restart is needed for some dumb reason? Ahem… Also, maybe you guys missed it in the OP, but would a bad power supply cause a million exclamation points to be shown on start up? > [@The OP](#): > > A few more times of this, I manage to load a screen with a ton of exclamation points. I can provide pics if necessary. > > I am never able to reproduce this, it only happens once. > > Should also be noted, that sometimes the computer will start up just fine. Then die in less than a minute. ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/18 "2009-06-07T13:19:20Z")
Well, go ahead and post the pic. I’ve never heard of this specifically but I would guess video card problem before power supply in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/19 "2009-06-07T13:46:29Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Ahem… > > Also, maybe you guys missed it in the OP, but would a bad power supply cause a million exclamation points to be shown on start up? Yes, if it wasn’t supplying the right power to the GPU. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788/20 "2009-06-07T18:09:52Z")
[Picture One](http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k47/B166ER2K6/Exclamations01.jpg). [Picture Two](http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k47/B166ER2K6/Exclamations02.jpg). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-computer-problem-long/498788.md?page=2)