| |
| |
|
Hardware Information |
|
|
|
Learn How To Diagnose Power Supply Problems
The Power Supply convert's your regular household current into low DC voltage used by the computer. When this component fails,there is simply no activity going on wih your computer.Remember to do the easy troubleshooting first.Inspect the Power Supply for any damage.Double-Check all connections. Learning how to check your power supply and how to replace it when needed can be a life saver if you're a computer buff or in business with the trusted PC.Don't take for granted the simple pleasure of turning on your PC and everything works just fine. We turned on one of our computers recently and in about one hour,it just re-booted itself.And it continued doing so about 10 times a day until we found out the power supply was the culprit.Things to look for when your power supply is going bad or just dies on you are the following. NO POWER TO THE COMPUTER Here you must first check the wall outlet for power by connecting another device such as a radio or lamp to be sure power is present.If the computer is connected through a surge protector,check it as well. If the wall out has power,check the power cable going to the PC to see if AC voltage is making its way to the system unit.Do this with the use of a multimeter. If there is power,you will have to open the PC and check for power from the power supply to the motherboard. When using a multimeter to check voltage,be sure you have a good ground for the black lead of the multimeter. RE-BOOTING PROBLEMS One main problem you may face with an ailing Power Supply is that it may re-boot the computer without any warning.All information is lost and it seems as though this happens at the worst possible time. Booting errors when the computer first start's up is another indicator of this component going on the blink. POWER DISTRIBUTION PROBLEMS When the power supply begins to fail,you may receive power at one device and not another.For example,the Hard Drive may receive power but the CDROM Drive has nothing at all. Another headache with would cause re-booting is the intermittent power going to the drives or the motherboard itself.Follow the steps below to check your power supply should you experience some of the above problems. CHECKING THE POWER SUPPLY If the wall outlet,and the power cord are good,make sure the connection at the motherboard is secure.Then you may have to face the fact that the power supply itself is bad.If you have a Multimeter you can test the power supply output before purchasing a new one.Simply follow these steps. Turn off the PC,but do not unplug it,open the system unit. Set the multimeter to read DC volts in the next range higher than 12 volts.Locate a power connector similair to the hard drive,or cdrom drive connector that is unused and turn on the PC. You can also unplug a drive connector and use it as well.Turn on the PC and insert the BLACK probe into the power connector on one of the BLACK wires.Touch the RED probe to the YELLOW wire on the power connector. The multimeter reading should be +12 volts Now touch the RED probe to the RED wire and the reading should be +5 volts.If no readings or different readings occured,you'll have to replace the power supply.If the readings were correct,you should check the P8 or P9 connectors at the motherboard. These connectors may also be named P4 and P5.To check these connectors,perform the following... Insert the BLACK probe into P8 at one of the BLACK wires. Insert the RED probe into the P8 connector at the RED wire. The reading on the multimeter should be +5 volts Check the power going to the Motherboard connections by inserting the RED probe into P8 at the YELLOW wire and you should get +12 volts.Leave the BLACK wire touching the black wire at the P8 connector.Check the BLUE wire and the reading should be a -12 volts. Now move the BLACK probe to the BLACK wire on the P9 connector.Test the WHITE wire by inserting the RED probe and the reading should be -5 volts.Check the RED wires on the P9 connector and you should get +5 volts on each red wire.You won't get exactly 5 or 12 volts but the readings will be very close, such as 5.02 volts. If the Power Supply is a couple of volts off,in either direction,such as when the RED wire should be reading -5 volts but it reads -8 volts,or if there are no readings,replace the power supply. DO NOT remove the power supply from the system unit case when performing these tests.DO NOT perform these tests if you do not feel comfortable.Be sure to remove any and all electrical static build-up from your clothes and body BEFORE touching any parts inside the system unit.And NEVER open the power supply case for any reason,since high voltage may be present. About The Author Otis F. Cooper is solely dedicated to boosting the knowledge and confidence of every computer user that is serious about knowing computers.Use his informative articles and videos to understand every aspect about the PC. Read more about his formula for pc training at http://www.ultimatepcrepair.com
MORE RESOURCES: Microsoft: Still Leading In Quantum Hardware Seeking Alpha Nvidia confirms it is investigating RTX 50-series BSOD and black screen troubles, no timeline for a fix Tom's Hardware Forestport’s hardware store under new ownership Rome Sentinel Hardware Wildlife Education Center Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Ray tracing is quickly becoming inescapable and I think it's time we bit the bullet and embraced it PC Gamer Nvidia explains the missing ROPs — defective silicon in 0.5% of RTX 5090 and 5070 Ti GPUs Tom's Hardware Chinese chipmaker unveils Optane-like storage class memory Tom's Hardware Enermax Revolution D.F. 12 750W ATX 3.1 power supply review Tom's Hardware Leaker claims Ryzen 9 9950X3D embargo lifts on March 11 Tom's Hardware Luminkey Magger 68 HE Review: Small and speedy Tom's Hardware Polestar 3 benefits from software and hardware updates Motor Authority Circana: US hardware revenue down 45% in January, with overall game spending down 15% to $4.51 billion Game World Observer Microsoft CEO says there is an 'overbuild' of AI systems, dismisses AGI milestones as show of progress Tom's Hardware Chinese chipmaker claims new Loongson 3B6600 CPU could hit 13th-Gen Intel performance Tom's Hardware Trump to introduce 25% and 'higher' tariff on imported semiconductors, timing unclear Tom's Hardware Loggins Hardware celebrates 50-year milestone in business Highlands Star Crosby Courier U.S. software/hardware charts for Jan. 2025 GoNintendo Retailer held RTX 5080 ransom unless buyer paid more after the sale had been completed Tom's Hardware Intel 8th, 9th and 10th Gen processors absent from Microsoft's Windows 11 24H2 CPU support list for new OEM systems Tom's Hardware Intel principal engineer bemoans potential TSMC takeover, touts company's 18A tech advantage Tom's Hardware Elon Musk's Grok 3 is now available, beats ChatGPT in some benchmarks — LLM took 10x more compute to train versus Grok 2 Tom's Hardware Quincy takes large team to Mat Classic, hopes for hardware Columbia Basin Herald Dual Raspberry Pi Picos power this portable mini PC Tom's Hardware Lady Wolves bring back hardware and Alex Wahl is State champion Cut Bank Pioneer Press Chinese-made gaming GPUs get up to 120% FPS boost — new drivers and stability fixes for MTT S80 and S70 cards Tom's Hardware Kioxia's new 10th gen 332-layer 4.8 GB/s 3D NAND flash is 33% faster than its 8th gen ICs Tom's Hardware Residents flock to hardware stores ahead of winter storm for snow salt, shovels CBS 6 News Richmond WTVR Some RTX 5090s are shipping with missing ROP units, leading to less gaming performance: Updated Tom's Hardware Glasgow High School Wrestling Brings Home Hardware Glasgow Courier Wildcats clinch Capitol South hardware Monroe Times AMD's game-changing Strix Halo APU, formally known as the Ryzen AI Max+, poses for new die shots and gets annotated Tom's Hardware The Surface you know and love (or hate) is dead — Microsoft's Windows hardware enters a new era Windows Central Apple picks up pace in replacing hardware with in-house solutions: Kuo (AAPL:NASDAQ) - Seeking Alpha Is Richelieu Hardware (TSE:RCH) Using Too Much Debt? Simply Wall St Musk announces Grok 3-powered xAI gaming studio to develop 'AI games' with photo-realistic graphics Tom's Hardware Montech Titan Gold 1200W ATX 3.0 power supply review Tom's Hardware PV Hardware solar trackers and foundations now 100% U.S. made pv magazine USA Asus continues fragrant device trend with an aromatic mouse Tom's Hardware Framework may release AMD Strix Halo Gen 2 hardware as Team Red joins February 25 Gen 2 launch event Notebookcheck.net RTX 5090 supplies to be 'stupidly high' next month as GB200 wafers get repurposed, asserts leaker Tom's Hardware 12VHPWR adapters sporting heatsinks and thermal pads show how problematic the connector is Tom's Hardware In-Depth Analysis: Apple Versus Competitors In Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals Industry Nasdaq AWS Cloud Revenue Hits US$330bn as AI Hardware Drives Growth Data Centre Magazine Fujitsu celebrates 50 million laptops produced with one-off exquisite kumiko wooden lid model Tom's Hardware TSMC and Broadcom explore deals to split Intel's foundry and chip design wings, says report Tom's Hardware |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Obsolete Is A Dirty Word (Intel Pentium 64 Bit Microchip) Get ready everyone, home computers are about to set new LAN speed records! The Intel 64-bit microchip will soon be powering the new line of Pentium 4 computers. This long awaited sizzling fast release will be heading to store shelves across America just in time for the new blazing fast Windows 64-bit operating system. Ten Tips to Safeguard Your Laptops The following is a list of tips to help safeguard your laptop while traveling or conducting business.1. Digital Camera Prints - Getting the Most for Your Money Digital cameras have really taken off in popularity in recent years. It's not uncommon anymore to see several people at an event with a digital camera. Alternatives to Tape Backup You may ask, isn't tape an anachronism in the age of optical disks, removable hard drives and a plethora of whiz-bang, random-access storage media? In many ways it is, but because of the nature of backup it doesn't really matter that tape is slow and sequential-access. Remember, tape is cheap. Learn How To Diagnose Power Supply Problems The Power Supply convert's your regular household current into low DC voltage used by the computer. When this component fails,there is simply no activity going on wih your computer. How To Buy The Perfect Student Laptop If you are like most student's, money isn't exactly growing on trees. Choosing the right laptop can be a matter of saving yourself a lot of heartache and money at the same time. Video Cards: Is AGP Dead? If you've been looking to upgrade your computer video card you've probably heard a great deal about PCI Express and SLI. Don't run out and buy a new computer just yet and take that AGP motherboard you just threw away out of the trash. HIPPA Goes Mobile and Wireless for Hospitals and First Responders It appears we need to further streamline health care and HIPPA now in effect is quite a nightmare trying to comply with and implement without making a mistake and possibly being sued as the trial lawyers testing the law. The Malpractice insurance rates may go up again. Printer Cartridge Economics -- Four Ways To Make Your Ink Last Longer Printer cartridge overheads can be a major expense for any busy office -- and even if you're working at home, it's important to factor in the amount you spend on your printer ink when assessing the cost of running a home-based business. And what you spent on that bargain-priced printer may turn out to be only a fraction of what you pay annually in printer supplies. Is A Laser Printer Right For Me? The average home computer user definitely does not need a laser printer. Sure laser printer prices have fallen considerably in the last couple of years. Getting A New Laptop At A Great Price With all the wheeling and dealing that seems to take place on the internet at all times of the day, it can sometimes get confusing just trying to find your own deal. Finding the best price on your new laptop is most likely your highest priority at this point, but there are other important factors as well. Pixel Disruption To Cause Nausea From User of Computer Screen As we study the issues associated with teaching kids in the classroom we find that fluorescent lighting can plague the learning abilities. A slight flicker from such a light can cause disruption in normal brain patterns. Buying / Selecting Computer Components This is the step takes the most time and consideration. Which parts do I buy? Which are best?There are many good places to buy computer parts. Selecting a Laptop Small Can Be BeautifulWhen purchasing a new computer, you may be better served by a laptop than a traditional desktop computer. Recently, laptops with capabilities similar to desktops can be purchased for a comparable price. Printer Ink Cartridges - The History You are working at your computer and trying to print out important documents and all at once you find you are out of ink. Years ago that would have presented a big problem. Do You Have Dead Pixels? Take a good look at your notebook computer screen. Do you find some tiny dark spots? You could have dead pixels. What You Should Know Before You Buy Computer Equipment You will have many factors to consider when deciding on which computer equipment to buy. The bewildering amount of choices can seem overwhelming. Basics of RAID A couple of the recent Tech Tips from www.geeks. Types Of Laptop Batteries Throughout the years there have been many technologies involved with notebooks, and laptop batteries are no different. There are actually three distinct notebook battery types on the market today. ABCs Of DVD Drive Abbreviations The number of different formats available in DVD drives can be confusing to anyone in the market for one. The list is much longer, but to address a few of the common formats, we have DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM ,DVD+R DL and DVDRW.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |