The Official Computer Tech Support Thread

[Key]

I've run into an issue, and i'm hoping somebody can help me out. I put this on facebook as well, so i'll just paste it here:

So, I use a panasonic tv for my computer monitor, and it's worked perfectly until I ran into an issue just now. I'm able to turn my tv on when my computer is off, and I can turn my computer on when the tv is already on.

However, when I turn the tv off when my computer is on, I can't turn the tv back on, and the remote stops working.

I'm not exactly sure what the issue is, because both my computer and my tv seem to be working fine perfectly.

I'm going with the assumption that my tv overheated and tried to cool itself down. But I don't know.

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by Ki

I've run into an issue, and i'm hoping somebody can help me out. I put this on facebook as well, so i'll just paste it here:

So, I use a panasonic tv for my computer monitor, and it's worked perfectly until I ran into an issue just now. I'm able to turn my tv on when my computer is off, and I can turn my computer on when the tv is already on.

However, when I turn the tv off when my computer is on, I can't turn the tv back on, and the remote stops working.

I'm not exactly sure what the issue is, because both my computer and my tv seem to be working fine perfectly.

I'm going with the assumption that my tv overheated and tried to cool itself down. But I don't know.

That's probably the weirdest support issue I've ever heard of.
My first instinct is to call foul on video drivers, but if what you say is legit, then there are factors that would be unrelated.
My second instinct is to call foul on video card hardware itself, but again, there are factors here that rule it out.

Ultimately, I'd need a lot more information, but if I were to do a blanket, assumptive diagnosis, I'd have to say it's probably software related if you haven't had problems in the past, but it could be hardware related if your video card is flaking out itself, or the TV's interface with it is. There isn't any way to be sure without doing elimination tests.

At this point, all there can be is speculation. But, as a general rule of troubleshooting, you should always attempt the easiest fixes first, so if you were to do any troubleshooting, think of the simplest possible cause and verify whether it is one or not, then progressively move forward.

That's about as much as I can tell you with the information you've provided.

[Key]

^I appreciate the reply

I found that if I shut my computer down when i'm done using it, and turn the tv on before I turn my computer back on, it seems to work just fine.

However, the only reason I never shut my computer down is because I heard that it's not good to turn it on and off. Though I just read that leaving the computer on is wasted energy.

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by Ki

^I appreciate the reply

I found that if I shut my computer down when i'm done using it, and turn the tv on before I turn my computer back on, it seems to work just fine.

However, the only reason I never shut my computer down is because I heard that it's not good to turn it on and off. Though I just read that leaving the computer on is wasted energy.

Seems like an issue with the TV and how it handles the input from your computer at some step. Are you using VGA or DVI as a connection? (Cable with blue ends or white ends)

As far as turning your computer on and off, these days it doesn't matter. The only legitimate reason to turn your computer off when you're not using it is A) to save on electricity, and/or B) to provide less of a likelihood that a power surge will mess something up if you don't have a surge protector, in which case you'd also be unplugging the computer as well.

The act of turning it on and off on a daily basis has no negative effect. In fact, if we want to look at it objectively, over time, there is more wear on a computer the longer it is on, obviously, because the fans will be constantly running, and all the parts are still operating, even at a baseline load of just being ready to respond to any input.

[Key]

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

Seems like an issue with the TV and how it handles the input from your computer at some step. Are you using VGA or DVI as a connection? (Cable with blue ends or white ends)

I use a VGA cable, but I'm willing to bet that they may be the issue.

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

As far as turning your computer on and off, these days it doesn't matter. The only legitimate reason to turn your computer off when you're not using it is A) to save on electricity, and/or B) to provide less of a likelihood that a power surge will mess something up if you don't have a surge protector, in which case you'd also be unplugging the computer as well.

The act of turning it on and off on a daily basis has no negative effect. In fact, if we want to look at it objectively, over time, there is more wear on a computer the longer it is on, obviously, because the fans will be constantly running, and all the parts are still operating, even at a baseline load of just being ready to respond to any input.

That's what I read so seeing you say the same thing gives me more comfort with that. I'll see if I can get my hands on a DVI cable in the near future to test it out. Because it worked perfectly fine with my old VGA cable, and I bought a new one yesterday, and that's when the problems occurred, so that could very well be it. Thank you for the help by the way I can usually figure these things out, but this one had me stumped.

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by Ki

I use a VGA cable, but I'm willing to bet that they may be the issue.



That's what I read so seeing you say the same thing gives me more comfort with that. I'll see if I can get my hands on a DVI cable in the near future to test it out. Because it worked perfectly fine with my old VGA cable, and I bought a new one yesterday, and that's when the problems occurred, so that could very well be it. Thank you for the help by the way I can usually figure these things out, but this one had me stumped.

Just make sure your TV actually has a DVI input first, otherwise you might just look into going back to the cable that didn't give you any issues, or buying a new one that's longer, if that's what you need.

[Key]

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

Just make sure your TV actually has a DVI input first, otherwise you might just look into going back to the cable that didn't give you any issues, or buying a new one that's longer, if that's what you need.

Well the problem with the old one was the wiring was all messed up, so that's what prompted me to buy a new one. I know that my tv has an HDMI port and my computer also has an HDMI port, I wonder if an HDMI cable would solve the issue.

[Burning Down]

Hey guys, I'm wondering if you can help me (or rather, help my dad with his computer lol). It's a 5 year old Dell Inspiron Laptop, running Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit. 3 GB RAM and 250 GB HDD that is only about 50% full. All drivers are up to date and no new software or hardware has been installed in the past 6 months. He uses Avast security on this computer and there is no malware or viruses according to that program.

I was using my dad's computer last night (just the Internet), and it started up fine and everything. Then after about 20 minutes, the BSOD appeared and the computer restarted itself automatically so I had no time to read what it said. The computer did a System Restore and everything was okay for a bit. Then about 30 minutes later, another BSOD and I restarted the computer manually in Safe Mode, shut it down, and restarted it normally again.

And then maybe 10 minutes later, a 3rd BSOD and then the computer rebooted with this screen:



I let the computer finish it's disk check or whatever the **** it was doing, and it shut down again completely. Now it won't restart at all - I can't turn it on!! It's plugged into AC power, so no dead battery or anything. It just won't turn on.

Tell me, has this computer finally died? Did I break it?

[Plankton]

First I was thinking a RAM chip might be wonky, but actually it sounds like the motherboard died.

[TheBig3]

I attempted to send this in to Tom's Hardware but they want an account, so I figured I'd ask here first. I mentioned this awhile back and Freebase was able to help but a new issue has come up that I don't think I can get around.

As always, and help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

About 3 or 4 months ago my computer started having startup issues. I would need to restore it to a previous point 2 out of 3 times. After awhile it seemed to happen less frequently, though once in awhile no restore point would work and I would have to not use it for 2 or 3 days. At that point, it would come around.

Maybe a month ago I was going through this same process and the keyboard and mouse stopped working. They still work, and I've tried them on my work laptop, but they don't function on this computer. They're both USB, and I've tried every port but nothing works. I had ready that attempting to use a PS2 connection might help but there isn't a port for that.

I'm living on borrowed time with this machine since I got it free from a guy who reformatted it for me, but I'm really hoping there is a solution since buying a new computer isn't high on my financial list.

Assuming this is more technical than my limited understanding can handle, is this beyond reproach? Can I bring it to a tech and have it wiped/reformatted?

Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. Even if its "yeah go get it wiped and don't pay more than X"

Using the Windows 2007 OS as I recall but I haven't been on the thing in about a month and I'm going stir crazy.