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Computer Repair Shop

metirish Jan 04 2013 11:10 AM

My Dell Dimension e510 will not turn on....the power light is flashing an amber color on and off. I did Google this and it seems to be a common enough issue, related typically to power.memory cards etc. Thing is I really don't know what I am doing, any thoughts? I tried taking out the memory cards...but I really was clueless as to what i was trying to achieve.

RealityChuck Jan 04 2013 11:15 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

The three main causes of this sort of thing are the power supply, the memory, or the motherboard. In all cases, they need to be replaced. Dell may be able to tell you which of the three is most likely.

metirish Jan 04 2013 11:41 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Thanks Chuck, sounding like it might be best to get a new PC......not that I even use the damn thing.....

Kong76 Jan 04 2013 06:36 PM Re: Computer Repair Shop

You can get a new or used power supply on ebay or the like for not too much I'm sure. Might be worth a small gamble and it's easy to replace. Just mind the shipping and handling, some of the vendors are swindlers.

metirish Jan 04 2013 09:11 PM Re: Computer Repair Shop

By power supply do you mean a power cord?, the cord works as I tried it on a different tower.If you mean something can you please specify?

The Second Spitter Jan 05 2013 12:31 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

metirish wrote: By power supply do you mean a power cord?, the cord works as I tried it on a different tower.If you mean something can you please specify? I think he's referring to this. If the computer isn't booting at all, it may be worth while.

Kong76 Jan 05 2013 06:20 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Right, just pop that puppy out (couple of screws) and pay attention to what you unplug inside and put new one in.

Frayed Knot Jan 05 2013 06:51 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Are a couple of thread-thin lines going vertically down your screen the sign of impending doom? We're talking about an IMac so a simple 'try replacing the monitor' move isn't an option here.

Ceetar Jan 05 2013 07:22 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Frayed Knot wrote: Are a couple of thread-thin lines going vertically down your screen the sign of impending doom? We're talking about an IMac so a simple 'try replacing the monitor' move isn't an option here. usually means graphics card or monitor. I have no idea what that means for an iMac.

SteveJRogers Jan 05 2013 08:02 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Here's one, my netbook has this nasty habit of rebooting itself. It seemed like it started when I moved it slightly, now it's doing it while completely still! Nothing seems to be wrong with the hardware, and no sign of viruses or malware, so no one knows what the problem is.

Ceetar Jan 05 2013 08:25 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

SteveJRogers wrote: Here's one, my netbook has this nasty habit of rebooting itself. It seemed like it started when I moved it slightly, now it's doing it while completely still! Nothing seems to be wrong with the hardware, and no sign of viruses or malware, so no one knows what the problem is. also could be the power supply. Netbooks seem very..poorly constructed from my experience.

SteveJRogers Jan 05 2013 08:29 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Ceetar wrote: SteveJRogers wrote: Here's one, my netbook has this nasty habit of rebooting itself. It seemed like it started when I moved it slightly, now it's doing it while completely still! Nothing seems to be wrong with the hardware, and no sign of viruses or malware, so no one knows what the problem is. also could be the power supply. Netbooks seem very..poorly constructed from my experience. Lovely. Barely two years old... You'd think these guys would be more durable than laptops due to the lightweight nature, hence people SHOULD get more mileage out of them! My Dell laptop is still kicking after roughly 5 years with the same type of travel wear and tear, and it's time to replace a friggin netbook? Tablets seem to be more durable!

Ceetar Jan 05 2013 08:40 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

it almost seems like netbooks are meant to be disposable. I've heard they've gotten better in the durability dept lately, but 2 years, yeah..which one is it? I've got an Asus (Acer? I always mix those up) one from roughly that time that likes to randomly freeze. I guess it could be the hard drive as well, hitting a bad memory sector and rebooting, but that'd come up in diagnostics.

SteveJRogers Jan 05 2013 08:44 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Ceetar wrote: it almost seems like netbooks are meant to be disposable. I've heard they've gotten better in the durability dept lately, but 2 years, yeah..which one is it? I've got an Asus (Acer? I always mix those up) one from roughly that time that likes to randomly freeze. I guess it could be the hard drive as well, hitting a bad memory sector and rebooting, but that'd come up in diagnostics. Toshiba. Disposable? At those prices? Good grief!

Ceetar Jan 05 2013 08:46 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

SteveJRogers wrote: Ceetar wrote: it almost seems like netbooks are meant to be disposable. I've heard they've gotten better in the durability dept lately, but 2 years, yeah..which one is it? I've got an Asus (Acer? I always mix those up) one from roughly that time that likes to randomly freeze. I guess it could be the hard drive as well, hitting a bad memory sector and rebooting, but that'd come up in diagnostics. Toshiba. Disposable? At those prices? Good grief! life is getting expensive! I was reading up on them recently, because my wife hates the damn netbook. Looked at the tablets/chromebooks/netbooks bit and it did seem like the tablets gave you the most for your money, even if it was a little more money. I just don't know if I, personally, could get past the lack of keyboard. I'd want to blog/write on it if I had one, and as much as I like Swype for data entry on the phone OS, it drives me crazy when I have to have even a gchat conversation on it.

SteveJRogers Jan 05 2013 08:58 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Ceetar wrote: Ceetar wrote: it almost seems like netbooks are meant to be disposable. I've heard they've gotten better in the durability dept lately, but 2 years, yeah..which one is it? I've got an Asus (Acer? I always mix those up) one from roughly that time that likes to randomly freeze. I guess it could be the hard drive as well, hitting a bad memory sector and rebooting, but that'd come up in diagnostics. Toshiba. Disposable? At those prices? Good grief! life is getting expensive! I was reading up on them recently, because my wife hates the damn netbook. Looked at the tablets/chromebooks/netbooks bit and it did seem like the tablets gave you the most for your money, even if it was a little more money. I just don't know if I, personally, could get past the lack of keyboard. I'd want to blog/write on it if I had one, and as much as I like Swype for data entry on the phone OS, it drives me crazy when I have to have even a gchat conversation on it. iPad, and by extension the iPhone drives me crazy when writing. No spell check in the word equivalent, and some sites (Facebook, I'm looking at you) are just plain wonky in the mobile Safari. Not to mention certain forums keep reminding me about their TapTalk application version. NO, I'd like to surf on the internet browser! I'm a fan of apps, but if I'm just lurking around forums I'd like to stay in the internet browser! And don't get me started on lack of an "undo/redo" function. Lost a few posts because I accidentally deleted text I was meaning to cut and paste somewhere else! Yeah, so as much as I love my tablet, I'd like that in-between tablet and full laptop for traveling and everyday use (those laptops can be heavy when walking around you know).

Ceetar Jan 05 2013 09:05 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

This is completely unrelated now, but if I was the ambitious motivated person I want to be without a billion different things I want to do, I'd teach myself to make apps and making a cranepoolforum app would be a pretty decent test product.

metirish Jan 05 2013 09:47 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

SteveJRogers wrote: Here's one, my netbook has this nasty habit of rebooting itself. It seemed like it started when I moved it slightly, now it's doing it while completely still! Nothing seems to be wrong with the hardware, and no sign of viruses or malware, so no one knows what the problem is. it's the Jeter screen saver bug thanks for the help guys....I'll take it to work Monday and have an IT look at it and probably buy those things mentioned.

RealityChuck Jan 05 2013 07:31 PM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Frayed Knot wrote: Are a couple of thread-thin lines going vertically down your screen the sign of impending doom? We're talking about an IMac so a simple 'try replacing the monitor' move isn't an option here. Not necessarily. We have a monitor with that problem and it's worked just fine otherwise for a couple of years. It does mean a problem with the monitor, but as long as you can stand it, it shouldn't be any imminent danger.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 05 2013 09:12 PM Re: Computer Repair Shop

RealityChuck wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Are a couple of thread-thin lines going vertically down your screen the sign of impending doom? We're talking about an IMac so a simple 'try replacing the monitor' move isn't an option here. Not necessarily. We have a monitor with that problem and it's worked just fine otherwise for a couple of years. It does mean a problem with the monitor, but as long as you can stand it, it shouldn't be any imminent danger. That'd be my diagnosis too but if the lines aren't necessarily a sign of impending doom, that thing is doomed anyway, because the operating system and software have so moved on now it will become slower and less useful everyday. I would start pricing and checking out new ones now.

metirish Jan 10 2013 09:51 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Looks like the Motherboard on my bum PC is shot, a guy in Bio-Med spent time on it, changed out the power supply(they had some there) etc and came to the conclusion that it's the board. I went down to pick it up and to give him a gift card....: oh no, I'm a geek, I like doing this".....haha....love that, had to persuade him to take the gift card..... Not going to invest in a new desk top, I have an older tower that I am using, really all we need it for is printing,faxing ect, so this solution works.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 01 2013 05:30 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

So I did a dumb thing the other day and "signed in" to Chrome on my work computer. Now all my work-specific bookmarks are wiped and replaced with my "home" browser setup. Signing out hasn't brought them back. These marks and where they resided on the bar, etc was a big part of my routine at work and its all f'ed now. Since then (maybe related?) I am experiencing a lengthy lag when first launching webpages in Chrome. Runs fine once it gets going but frustrating. I would imagine tryting to resolves all this integration in the cloud causes the delay but I don;t know. This crap happening to anyone else? This is a huge drawback for Chrome/google IMO.

Ceetar Feb 01 2013 05:59 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: So I did a dumb thing the other day and "signed in" to Chrome on my work computer. Now all my work-specific bookmarks are wiped and replaced with my "home" browser setup. Signing out hasn't brought them back. These marks and where they resided on the bar, etc was a big part of my routine at work and its all f'ed now. Since then (maybe related?) I am experiencing a lengthy lag when first launching webpages in Chrome. Runs fine once it gets going but frustrating. I would imagine tryting to resolves all this integration in the cloud causes the delay but I don;t know. This crap happening to anyone else? This is a huge drawback for Chrome/google IMO. yup, did the same thing. three weeks later, I was laid off. so be careful. (unrelated) It did save my bookmarks I think, just added to them. Also, once I'd signed out again it still was giving me the chrome popup for new email when I was in gmail. Clearly I can't test this myself, but there's probably a way you can 'clear data' under the wrench option somewhere and erase all those cookie type settings.

metirish Feb 01 2013 06:15 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: So I did a dumb thing the other day and "signed in" to Chrome on my work computer. Now all my work-specific bookmarks are wiped and replaced with my "home" browser setup. Signing out hasn't brought them back. These marks and where they resided on the bar, etc was a big part of my routine at work and its all f'ed now. Since then (maybe related?) I am experiencing a lengthy lag when first launching webpages in Chrome. Runs fine once it gets going but frustrating. I would imagine tryting to resolves all this integration in the cloud causes the delay but I don;t know. This crap happening to anyone else? This is a huge drawback for Chrome/google IMO. Not fully understanding this......you use Chrome at work, but you must have signed in with a google account?, just not your personal one?, then when you did you lost the other settings? are you using two sign ins?

metirish Feb 01 2013 06:20 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

Don't know if this help now but http://support.google.com/accounts/bin/ ... &ctx=topic

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 01 2013 07:11 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

I only have 1 google account. What I'm talking about is signing into the chrome browser itself, via that white head thingy on the top right (which is new to me). I thought I was signing in just to check my gmail or whatever, but instead (or in addition to) doing that it took over the whole experience, synced up my home computer/phone bookmarks, etc. I sort of resolved this issue just now by deleting the current bookmarks and importing the set I use if/when I browse with Safari. They aren;t completely up to date but better than my home setup. Hopefully when I go home tonite I won;t find google replaced those bookmarks with "work settings." I know google is trying to get people to have just 1 identity/device etc but in the real world its not that seamless. PITA I tellsya.

themetfairy Feb 01 2013 08:00 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

The flip side of the issue is that when my laptop's hard drive crashed last month, getting up to speed on the new drive was a whole lot easier thanks to the Chrome sync. But I agree that they should specifically ask your permission on each device before automatically syncing to Chrome - it's presumptuous of them to assume that you'll want the same bookmarks on each computer you use.

Ceetar Feb 02 2013 08:53 AM Re: Computer Repair Shop

you'll find your work bookmarks in your home computer settings now too probably. I did at least. They definitely should ask to import that stuff. I get the neatness of it. It's very cool i can open a link in my email in the morning and read it later on my phone or another computer.. but then again, I guess plenty of people 'take work home' with them and would like to access all their bookmarks too. Personally the seemless integration of work and home so that you're always on call and always available pisses me off to no end. but that's neither here nor there.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 02 2013 04:17 PM Re: Computer Repair Shop

I made sure I was signed out when I rejiggered the bookmarks and I am back to having 2 (or more) different personnas the way I want to.