Problem with a cleint's PC

[aheadtech]

Hi Guys,

I don't know if I am posting in the right place or not...
I have a problem with a client's pc which has been giving us problems for a long time.

The thing is that when I try it at our workshop it doesn't give any problems at all and I'm even doing this thread through it, the last time the client got it it was giving a lot "not responding" and they couldn't do nothing but I noticed that it happened when the client was using outlook and that they had thousands of emails and it just needed to repair the mailbox (some kind of error) which now is fine but again after 1 week the client is saying that it is doing the same, that programs are showing "not responding" and she can't even use WORD because it freezes and also said system reboots. Now this system has been connected from Monday and I have given it multiple tests including WD hard drive test and also a 4 hour stress test with HEAVY LOAD and I had no problem at all and I haven't even switched off the system once to see if it maybe is overheating but it is not the case.

I asked the client to tell us what peripherals they have connected and all they have are a usb mouse, ps2 keyboard & speakers. It's not making sense and this system has been several times in our workshop and we changed the mainboard, hard drive, ram, power supply so its practically new again because it was under warranty...

The thing is that maybe we can try is you tell me if I can scan the system with a program and I'll send the results here so maybe we could determine the problem if there is one...

What do you guys think??

Thanks in Advanced...

 

[PanicMaster85]

OK here are a few things that i would try you dont have too because its working at the shop but do test all the components

1) Update bios(if possible)
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/308518-30-update-bios
2) Clear Cmos (don’t forget to unplug the computer from the wall and let it sit for few minutes, if you don’t have a jumper than remove the battery make sure the computer is unplugged and let it for about10 minutes before putting the battery back in)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdp_L5IxaNI
3) Check your psu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4
4) Make sure your computer is hooked up correctly
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems
5) Run memtest(if possible)
http://www.memtest.org/
6) Run Burnintest (if possible)
http://www.passmark.com/download/bit_download.htm
7) If all else fails then try a gpu, Ram, or psu from another computer

8) Also make sure the client tests his outlet or another one beucause it could be power flucations... you may have to get a power supply back up(in not sure what its called but it keeps a power in a battery type thing that supplys the computer with a constant stable power as its charged... so like int tekkit if you have ever played it with the msfu's[i know a bit nerdy but its the best metaphor i can give])

 

[aheadtech]

Ok I will try those that you have told me and update what happens here... Thanks for the reply

OK here are a few things that i would try you dont have too because its working at the shop but do test all the components

1) Update bios(if possible)
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/308518-30-update-bios
2) Clear Cmos (don’t forget to unplug the computer from the wall and let it sit for few minutes, if you don’t have a jumper than remove the battery make sure the computer is unplugged and let it for about10 minutes before putting the battery back in)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdp_L5IxaNI
3) Check your psu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4
4) Make sure your computer is hooked up correctly
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems
5) Run memtest(if possible)
http://www.memtest.org/
6) Run Burnintest (if possible)
http://www.passmark.com/download/bit_download.htm
7) If all else fails then try a gpu, Ram, or psu from another computer

8) Also make sure the client tests his outlet or another one beucause it could be power flucations... you may have to get a power supply back up(in not sure what its called but it keeps a power in a battery type thing that supplys the computer with a constant stable power as its charged... so like int tekkit if you have ever played it with the msfu's[i know a bit nerdy but its the best metaphor i can give])

 

[PanicMaster85]

no problem!

 

[aheadtech]

So what I've tried is BIOS Update, did the memtest and also burnintest and had no problems at all, it must be from the client's side as you said it could be power flucations but the client said that they have many more stuff connected to the power outlet.

What should we suggest or maybe something else that I can do?

Thanks

no problem!

 

[Outlander_04]

If it works at your place , but not at hers the options are

1/ her house power supply is not working as it should

2/ PEBKAC

Get her to your place and let her use it for a while and see if you can replicate the problem ?

 

[aheadtech]

Hehe ok we should try letting her use it here and see what she does

If it works at your place , but not at hers the options are

1/ her house power supply is not working as it should

2/ PEBKAC

Get her to your place and let her use it for a while and see if you can replicate the problem ?

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Dumb question. Do they have a usb printer hooked to it? I had a client with a similar situation. I did a system tuneup/cleanup on an XP machine not long ago. Anyway, the lady's husband had tried to get into the IT field before, thought he knew something about computers. HA! Complained about getting errors right after I had it, so assumed things were my fault even though I didn't have all those errors.

Long and the short was I go to his house, and sure enough they had the errors, and the computer would take a long time to come up, which should not have been happening. So I start looking at what is plugged in. They had a hitachi hard drive connected and a usb printer. I unplug the hard drive as a troubleshooting same things. Power down remove the printer, then power back up. All of a sudden the PC is running great, no errors, login is fast, runs great. Printer had gone bad.

The guy suddenly changed his tune and took my advice about the antivirus right there after I showed him there was nothing wrong with his PC. The guy didn't even offer to pay my service call fee, which keep in mind I had picked up his computer in the first place and dropped it back off to him for free. Then I went out on a Saturday or Sunday evening when he complained just to shut them up, which they should have been grateful seeing as how my wife's grandma had died and her funeral was that weekend, and they were calling bugging me knowing this after being told. The most annoying users are the ones who think they know things and have no clue, but they try to fix things before calling us, and I have to spend hours undoing what they did.

Anyway, back to the original posting. If you have changed all of the parts and it's acting strange at their site, I would check to see what is plugged in there. Take it to their site, unplug everything else at their outlet except PC and monitor and see how it acts. Don't even plug the printer in. I would plug in PC, monitor, mouse and keyboard, maybe speakers. See how it acts. If it acts ok, then start adding one item back in at a time, which should lead you to your culprit.

Another thing to note, you said that they have a lot of things plugged into the one outlet? I think it's possible that the computer may not be getting enough juice at their site. At my old house, my "man cave" as my wife called it, was in our basement, and had 2 outlets across the room from where I wanted my PC located. So to remedy this, I ran extension cords through the rafters in the ceiling like you would use for power tools to get power from one side of the room to another. On the computer I unknowingly made a miscalculation and used an 18 guage cord I think into a power strip and had my monitor, speakers, tower etc on one cord. If I started gaming, sometimes my screen would go black unless I turned it off and back on. Answer was I was pulling too much power from one outlet, ran another heavier duty cord for the PC, after separating that from the other devices, things ran great. So I think what's possible is they are overloading the outlet.

Maybe a UPS would help if their power is not great. Other question I would have is what power supply are you running in it? If you are using a power supply that came with a case, get a corsair, antec cooler master, etc. I normally for clients install a cooler master Elite Power 460 watt with 2 18 amp 12 volt rails as a basic power supply. I don't even like to bother with cheaper power supplies. I will cut corners on some things, but power supplies, don't mess with.

 

[PanicMaster85]

UPS! thats it, i heard someone talking about it once because their power went on and off...

 

[PanicMaster85]

So what I've tried is BIOS Update, did the memtest and also burnintest and had no problems at all, it must be from the client's side as you said it could be power flucations but the client said that they have many more stuff connected to the power outlet.

What should we suggest or maybe something else that I can do?

Thanks

I think the issue is almost indefinitely the power, check what ohio said and unplug everything one by one, but if they are not getting enough power to the computer and if they have some other things plugged into the computer then yeah its going to lower how much juice it gets... tell her to switch to another outlet, if it continues plug it into another room because she could be using up all the power from her room...

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Could just be the room. If the wiring in the wall is the older 110 amp wire. Is the house older? Either way if you've ruled out everything for your side, you can't really do anything except tell them they need to move the appliances or the PC.

 

[aheadtech]

Thanks for all the help guys, ohiou I will try to tell her to try it just connecting keyboard, mouse, monitor and network and also I've suggested she tried in a different room but she said that she can't cause of the network and said that her husbands laptop is connected to the same place and he has no problems but I told her that a laptop is very different and takes really a bit of power and there is nothing external connected to it...

I know that she has a lexmark printer connected to it which I will tell her to remove. They don't have a UPS either and the PC is built with a SPIRE 350W Power Supply, its a very basic tower and doesn't really need much "juice" and we use SPIRE on basic towers cause we rarely have a problem and they are quite good.

She also admits that they know that they have a problem with their electricity and they had a couple of electricians at their house but she said that they have a very sensitive surge protector plug for where the PC is connected...

I'll tell her to try it without connecting printer and any other external bits and if she still has problems i'll suggest to her to give it a go in another room.

Thanks again

 

[PanicMaster85]

if nothing works then get a ups... but no problem! keep up posted

 

[aheadtech]

Ok will suggest to client if it happens again, its back at her house to try out and we will see that maybe it goes well without the printer connected. She also told me that she will be having someone it to quote her to have a stable power because they told her it isn't stable...

 

[PanicMaster85]

ok hope it helps her... im thinking its power

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Solution. If she can try it in another room, and if she has a wireless router(due to the laptop), grab her a usb wifi card and hook it up to wireless. You can pick them up for like 5 bucks on ebay and amazon. Might be worth it to you to get her out of your hair.

 

[aheadtech]

Yeah we can try that also if again it gives us problems, its been at her home for 4 days now and she's not back yet...

 

[PanicMaster85]

OK so maybe its good... you should give her a call to see how its working