system just goes down as if plug is pulled

I have a 2.5 year old Dell desktop. It's always worked fine- but the
following has now occurred twice in as many days. All of a sudden, the
computer turns off- as if you pulled the electric plug. The PC and monitor
are plugged into a rather old UPS made by APC- but I have no reason to
think that's a problem- the monitor doesn't shut off.

After it goes down, I hit the reset and it comes back up OK. The only thing
I can think of is the transformer. If that's it- I'm surprised it would be
failing so quick. Can it be replaced?

--
*************
Joe Zorzin

Could be overheating are you by chance getting thermal errors ?
"Joe Zorzin" wrote in message
...
I have a 2.5 year old Dell desktop. It's always worked fine- but the
following has now occurred twice in as many days. All of a sudden, the
computer turns off- as if you pulled the electric plug. The PC and monitor
are plugged into a rather old UPS made by APC- but I have no reason to
think that's a problem- the monitor doesn't shut off.

After it goes down, I hit the reset and it comes back up OK. The only
thing
I can think of is the transformer. If that's it- I'm surprised it would be
failing so quick. Can it be replaced?

--
*************
Joe Zorzin

"Joe Zorzin" wrote in message
...
I have a 2.5 year old Dell desktop. It's always worked fine- but the
following has now occurred twice in as many days. All of a sudden, the
computer turns off- as if you pulled the electric plug. The PC and monitor
are plugged into a rather old UPS made by APC- but I have no reason to
think that's a problem- the monitor doesn't shut off.

After it goes down, I hit the reset and it comes back up OK. The only
thing
I can think of is the transformer. If that's it- I'm surprised it would be
failing so quick. Can it be replaced?

--
*************
Joe Zorzin





Have you tried plugging it directly into the wall? A short power outage
wouldn't affect a monitor, but it would the PC.

That said, probably the power supply.

Tom

I just called Dell tech support. I expected the worst- to be on hold for
hours then get someone who barely speaks English- only to hear the bad news
that I have a major hardware failure.

This guy was great! I suspect he is in India but he speaks better English
than most Americans. He very carefully and patiently led me through the
BIOS- and had me do some obscure keyboard commands while in the BIOS- which
nobody but a Dell tech support person could possibly know. All the while he
seemed totally confident that I "should not worry- no problem". I then
rebooted and noticed one thing right away- my McAfee AV came up and loaded
quickly- in a few seconds. In the past several weeks it has been taking up
to a minute or more to load- which had me thinking something wasn't right.

He said that most likely there was a hardware configuration issue- which all
those obscure keyboard commands would have rectified. I won't know for sure
until a few days go by. I first noticed the problem yesterday- then again
today. If I go a few days without the problem, then I'll believe the problem
is solved.

I used to be a bit of a nerd myself- installing hardware, helping others to
fix their problems, taught myself how to program in "C"- but for the past
3-4 years I haven't had the time for nerd stuff- other than internet and
heavy MS Office usage - and of course that much time in the computer world
makes you just about incompetent- so my self confidence had gone to zero. I
suppose if I had taken the computer apart, and reformatted the drive- it
would then have gotten itself into the "fix" that this process apparently
has done- but that would have been very painful to me- I really don't want
to do that.

So, my conclusion is that the problem is fixed- and I'm very, very pleased
with Dell. I didn't even know that I could get support after 2.5 years
without getting out my credit card! I thought this would have cost me at
least $100.

--
*************
Joe


"Joe Zorzin" wrote in message
...
I have a 2.5 year old Dell desktop. It's always worked fine- but the
following has now occurred twice in as many days. All of a sudden, the
computer turns off- as if you pulled the electric plug. The PC and monitor
are plugged into a rather old UPS made by APC- but I have no reason to
think that's a problem- the monitor doesn't shut off.

After it goes down, I hit the reset and it comes back up OK. The only
thing
I can think of is the transformer. If that's it- I'm surprised it would be
failing so quick. Can it be replaced?

--
*************
Joe Zorzin

"Joe Zorzin" wrote:

[Snip tech support saga]

"Joe Zorzin" wrote

The PC and monitor
are plugged into a rather old UPS made by APC- but I have no reason to
think that's a problem- the monitor doesn't shut off.

So, my conclusion is that the problem is fixed- and I'm very, very pleased
with Dell. I didn't even know that I could get support after 2.5 years
without getting out my credit card! I thought this would have cost me at
least $100.

While not disputing your conclusion, the quoted comment in your
OP raised alarm bells in my mind. It probably has nothing to do
with your current, solved, problem, just a FWIW in case you
weren't aware of this.

Just how old is "rather old"? Longer than ~3-4 years? How long
has it been since you've replaced the battery in the UPS, if
ever?

UPS batteries eventually start dying, and while doing so can
cause intermittent/strange happenings as a result of power
fluctuations in the feed to the computer. In my case, it was
first experienced as random, unattributable reboots of the
system. [It could be sitting there idle, nothing running other
than firewall, AV, etc., and boom.]

Since then, I've learned that ~3 years, mebbe if you're lucky
nearly four, is when you should start looking for the UPS to tell
you [most do, nowadays] that the battery is starting to go, and
it is time to lay out a C-note, give or take, for a new one.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]

Obscure Bios keyboard commands? would that be whilst in the BIOS num lock
scroll lock and cap lock on and then pressing in turn Alt E, Alt F and then
Alt B ? this just resets the NV Ram

just for those that want/need to know
"Ogden Johnson III" wrote in message
...
"Joe Zorzin" wrote:

[Snip tech support saga]

"Joe Zorzin" wrote

The PC and monitor
are plugged into a rather old UPS made by APC- but I have no reason to
think that's a problem- the monitor doesn't shut off.

So, my conclusion is that the problem is fixed- and I'm very, very pleased
with Dell. I didn't even know that I could get support after 2.5 years
without getting out my credit card! I thought this would have cost me at
least $100.

While not disputing your conclusion, the quoted comment in your
OP raised alarm bells in my mind. It probably has nothing to do
with your current, solved, problem, just a FWIW in case you
weren't aware of this.

Just how old is "rather old"? Longer than ~3-4 years? How long
has it been since you've replaced the battery in the UPS, if
ever?

UPS batteries eventually start dying, and while doing so can
cause intermittent/strange happenings as a result of power
fluctuations in the feed to the computer. In my case, it was
first experienced as random, unattributable reboots of the
system. [It could be sitting there idle, nothing running other
than firewall, AV, etc., and boom.]

Since then, I've learned that ~3 years, mebbe if you're lucky
nearly four, is when you should start looking for the UPS to tell
you [most do, nowadays] that the battery is starting to go, and
it is time to lay out a C-note, give or take, for a new one.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]

Yikes, my UPS is 11 years old- better get a new one! Even if the problem was
as I described- I'll know soon enough- if it bombs again- I had considered
that. I think the price has come way down since then. I paid almost $300 for
this one.

--
*************
Joe Zorzin


"Ogden Johnson III" wrote in message
...
"Joe Zorzin" wrote:

[Snip tech support saga]

"Joe Zorzin" wrote

The PC and monitor
are plugged into a rather old UPS made by APC- but I have no reason to
think that's a problem- the monitor doesn't shut off.

So, my conclusion is that the problem is fixed- and I'm very, very
pleased
with Dell. I didn't even know that I could get support after 2.5 years
without getting out my credit card! I thought this would have cost me at
least $100.

While not disputing your conclusion, the quoted comment in your
OP raised alarm bells in my mind. It probably has nothing to do
with your current, solved, problem, just a FWIW in case you
weren't aware of this.

Just how old is "rather old"? Longer than ~3-4 years? How long
has it been since you've replaced the battery in the UPS, if
ever?

UPS batteries eventually start dying, and while doing so can
cause intermittent/strange happenings as a result of power
fluctuations in the feed to the computer. In my case, it was
first experienced as random, unattributable reboots of the
system. [It could be sitting there idle, nothing running other
than firewall, AV, etc., and boom.]

Since then, I've learned that ~3 years, mebbe if you're lucky
nearly four, is when you should start looking for the UPS to tell
you [most do, nowadays] that the battery is starting to go, and
it is time to lay out a C-note, give or take, for a new one.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]

Yuh- that was it- what is the NV Ram? Like Ogend said, I better get a new
UPS.

--
*************
Joe Zorzin


"Fixer" wrote in message
...
Obscure Bios keyboard commands? would that be whilst in the BIOS num lock
scroll lock and cap lock on and then pressing in turn Alt E, Alt F and
then
Alt B ? this just resets the NV Ram

just for those that want/need to know
"Ogden Johnson III" wrote in message
...
"Joe Zorzin" wrote:

[Snip tech support saga]

"Joe Zorzin" wrote

The PC and monitor
are plugged into a rather old UPS made by APC- but I have no reason
to
think that's a problem- the monitor doesn't shut off.

So, my conclusion is that the problem is fixed- and I'm very, very
pleased
with Dell. I didn't even know that I could get support after 2.5 years
without getting out my credit card! I thought this would have cost me at
least $100.

While not disputing your conclusion, the quoted comment in your
OP raised alarm bells in my mind. It probably has nothing to do
with your current, solved, problem, just a FWIW in case you
weren't aware of this.

Just how old is "rather old"? Longer than ~3-4 years? How long
has it been since you've replaced the battery in the UPS, if
ever?

UPS batteries eventually start dying, and while doing so can
cause intermittent/strange happenings as a result of power
fluctuations in the feed to the computer. In my case, it was
first experienced as random, unattributable reboots of the
system. [It could be sitting there idle, nothing running other
than firewall, AV, etc., and boom.]

Since then, I've learned that ~3 years, mebbe if you're lucky
nearly four, is when you should start looking for the UPS to tell
you [most do, nowadays] that the battery is starting to go, and
it is time to lay out a C-note, give or take, for a new one.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]

"Joe Zorzin" wrote:

Yikes, my UPS is 11 years old- better get a new one! Even if the problem was
as I described- I'll know soon enough- if it bombs again- I had considered
that. I think the price has come way down since then. I paid almost $300 for
this one.

Check the manufacturer's web site before you buy a /new/ one. A
new battery costs much less than an entire new UPS. We're [my
old, now-retired boss/company owner] using Best UPSs [now bought
out by someone] from two generations, and probably at the ~ level
of yours. The newer one has some added bells and whistles, but
all even the two old ones chug away happily as long as you feed
them the odd battery every 3-4 years. Remember, there are two
styles of UPS, the standby ones, that feed off the wall current
and switch over to battery on power failure, and the ones that
operate off the battery totally, recharging it as needed from the
wall power. The latter offer power conditioning, protection from
summer cooling season "brownouts" etc., and are more expensive.
I suspect that is what you have now. At any rate, that is why I
suggested checking the APC website. You should be able to
confirm what you do have, check on replacement battery
availability, see what the new stuff in each category offer, etc.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]

Thanks for the suggestions! I just tested my ancient APC and it wasn't doing
anything. I connected a radio to it- then hit the test button, and the radio
went dead.

Last night I bought a new APC at Staples- a fairly heavy duty one with 750
volts or watts or whatever- never understood electronics. I have 2 Dells
now, so the new UPS will work with the computer I use most of the time. I
bought the second Dell more as a back up system and for copying files to it
as they're now networked- which sure is a lot better than my ancient tape
drives I used for years. I also back up "my documents" to CDROM.

I've got to start paying more attention to such maintenance needs.

Whatever the Dell tech had me do though- did fix a weird problem- the fact
that McAfee would take a minute or so to load upon boot up (a cold boot- not
a hibernation). It now loads in a second. Why those obscure commands while
in BIOS fixed that is quite the mystery. That problem has been going on for
several months and I'm glad to get it fixed.

One reason I used to be a fairly competent nerd is that I used to subscribe
to several computer magazines but haven't in years. Any recommendations on a
good computer mag?

--
*************
Joe Zorzin


"Ogden Johnson III" wrote in message
...
"Joe Zorzin" wrote:

Yikes, my UPS is 11 years old- better get a new one! Even if the problem
was
as I described- I'll know soon enough- if it bombs again- I had
considered
that. I think the price has come way down since then. I paid almost $300
for
this one.

Check the manufacturer's web site before you buy a /new/ one. A
new battery costs much less than an entire new UPS. We're [my
old, now-retired boss/company owner] using Best UPSs [now bought
out by someone] from two generations, and probably at the ~ level
of yours. The newer one has some added bells and whistles, but
all even the two old ones chug away happily as long as you feed
them the odd battery every 3-4 years. Remember, there are two
styles of UPS, the standby ones, that feed off the wall current
and switch over to battery on power failure, and the ones that
operate off the battery totally, recharging it as needed from the
wall power. The latter offer power conditioning, protection from
summer cooling season "brownouts" etc., and are more expensive.
I suspect that is what you have now. At any rate, that is why I
suggested checking the APC website. You should be able to
confirm what you do have, check on replacement battery
availability, see what the new stuff in each category offer, etc.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]