weird intermittent faults

MargaretR · 22-03-2008, 12:12

For the past 2 days my computer has been acting weirdly-
1. A click of the mouse opened the same window 2 or more times.
2. I heard a brief strange 'grating/pipping' noise, as -
3. The list of my contacts in Windows Live Messenger flashed on and off.
4. The cursor moved of its own accord/was uncontrollable
5. When playing solitaire of various types the game played itself.(I lost

)
6. I had to use ctrl/alt/delete to close open pages because clicking the 'x' didnt work

My attempts to cure this-
Changed mouse
System restore back 3 weeks
Disc clean up and defrag
Removed Real player (because it was recently downloaded)
Removed Spybot search and destroy (replaced with Windows defender)
(I always Avg virus scan daily and I have used Spybot daily)
All programme and Windows updates installed (after system restore)

I suspect that the problem is due to overheating, since it doesn't happen until several hours of use have elapsed.

I hope that this PC is not signalling its imminent death because it is less than 3 years old and I dread the prospect of Vista.

It is a Dell Dimension 5100 desktop

Has anyone else had this problem? and
How did you cure it? (other than by switching off for a few hours)

panther · 22-03-2008, 18:05

sounds like to me ya have a virus margaret

but then again im no expert, it could be summat trivial

Retlaw · 22-03-2008, 19:01

Hi Margaret.

Sounds like dust iside the computer.

I get that problem every so often, my computers are under the desk,
every so often I take the covers off and blow the dust out,

take the cover off, if its an upright you will find a screw at the back, unfasten it and and side should slide off, inside on the mother board you should see a small fan ontop of the CPU, I'l bet the fan blades are mucky, hold the fan blades still with a pencil gently ,and use a small artists paint brush to clean the fan blades, make sure the air vents are clear on the power pack, and the vents on the casing, don't catch any connections but make sure they are all tightly in place. then put cover back and plug all the externals back and it should be OK.
Don't worry about having to change to vista you can always take the hard drive out and replace it with the one you are already using.
Retlaw.

MargaretR · 22-03-2008, 19:18

Thanks for that Retlaw - feel better that it is nothing 'terminal'
big sigh of relief

panther · 22-03-2008, 19:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retlaw

Hi Margaret.

Sounds like dust iside the computer.

I get that problem every so often, my computers are under the desk,
every so often I take the covers off and blow the dust out,

take the cover off, if its an upright you will find a screw at the back, unfasten it and and side should slide off, inside on the mother board you should see a small fan ontop of the CPU, I'l bet the fan blades are mucky, hold the fan blades still with a pencil gently ,and use a small artists paint brush to clean the fan blades, make sure the air vents are clear on the power pack, and the vents on the casing, don't catch any connections but make sure they are all tightly in place. then put cover back and plug all the externals back and it should be OK.
Don't worry about having to change to vista you can always take the hard drive out and replace it with the one you are already using.
Retlaw.

is that all??

told ya I wasnt a expert...lol
I wouldnt have thought in a million years that 'dust' could make ya computer do that!

MargaretR · 22-03-2008, 19:50

I find that cat hair gets into places that other muck cannot reach.

Retlaw · 22-03-2008, 20:20

O yes it will, every time I open them up for cleaning, I find a duplicate of our little dog inside, she likes sitting under my desk chair, waiting for me to stop playing with the idiot box, if I move she's up waiting to see if I change my glasses, if I do she knows she's going out.
Retlaw

Quote:

Originally Posted by panther

is that all??

told ya I wasnt a expert...lol
I wouldnt have thought in a million years that 'dust' could make ya computer do that!

MargaretR · 27-03-2008, 19:25

I never managed to get in it to clear out dust and cat hair.

I did get as far as disconnecting all the spaghetti at the back, but was flummoxed at getting it open.

I reconnected the spaghetti and went onto Dell website to read the online user manual, so know I know how, but I think I have found the cause of that grating/pipping noise-

I had been getting an error report message which was connected with 'Kontiki' (thought that was a raft!!)
Eventually identified it with that BBC download programme - so uninstalled that and have had no problems since - so the dust can stay put a bit longer.

MargaretR · 02-04-2008, 16:02

The grating noise returned so I got a new PC delivered yesterday and now it is up and running, I have had the courage to look inside the old one - very little dust to be seen - what dust there was was well away from anything looking important. I 'puffed' at the board wiring places, and puffed a lot more getting the cover back on.
I think that it was giving the first indications of dying, but I will keep it safe as a back up pc, because I can't survive without one.

Neil · 02-04-2008, 16:13

Sounds to me like you just had a software problem. Your Dell probably came with a restore disk to make it look like when it was new. That will more than likely solve all your software problems but you will loose anything you don't back up. The noise I would guess is only a fan that needs replacing or usually you can re-lubricate them. They are cheap so sometimes its best to just put a new one in. Deffinately no reason to buy a new PC if the old one was a good enough spec for what you used if for.

MargaretR · 02-04-2008, 16:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

Sounds to me like you just had a software problem. Your Dell probably came with a restore disk to make it look like when it was new. That will more than likely solve all your software problems but you will loose anything you don't back up. The noise I would guess is only a fan that needs replacing or usually you can re-lubricate them. They are cheap so sometimes its best to just put a new one in. Deffinately no reason to buy a new PC if the old one was a good enough spec for what you used if for.

I wanted a new monitor anyway - gone from 12" to 22" - WOW it's big!

Neil · 02-04-2008, 16:41

Are you sure it was 12"? was it a laptop?

MargaretR · 02-04-2008, 16:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

Are you sure it was 12"? was it a laptop?

I think it would measure 15" diagonally (as you should measure), but only 12" measured horizontally

onlyme · 02-04-2008, 16:49

If you had a intel pentium D processor, it is renowned for overheating and making the fan run to its maximum. The Intel Core 2 doe processor replaced this and eliminates the problem completely.

Its always handy to keep an eye on accumulated muck on the fan as well, especillay if the pc is in an enclosed space x

MargaretR · 02-04-2008, 16:56

Documentation
The fan is positioned behind that indented air inlet, and I regularly removed gunge from it with my electrostatic duster