computer help!

[Simon Pieman]

Oh yeah just remembered this Tans.

Try following this guide I have piked courtesy of a link from google, a good source of IT related info:

http://www.lockergnome.com/it/2004/12/15/get-it-done-recover-a-damaged-windows-xp-user-profile/

[tans]

Cheers Si

[STFC_Chris]

Rather than start another computer help thread I thought I'd try and usurp this one.

A while back my PC started turning itself off instead of 'waking up' when coming out of standby mode. Rather than get to the bottom of the problem I went to power options and told it not to go into standby mode and set the monitor to turn off after 20 minutes or something, problem sorted, or so I thought.

A month or so ago my monitor developed a flicker when woken up and it is getting worse. Quite often I have to turn the monitor off and on three or four times to stop it. It affects the whole screen, my normal desktop photo appears but in several vertical panels of colour, not as a recognisable image. Once the flicker stops the monitor works fine until it gets woken up again. The mysterious flicker also appears when playing music, particularly if there is a strong bass line and it will flick in time with the music if the volume is low-ish or goes crazy if played loud. Video might help.... http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v422/chrischadwick/?action=view&current=BrokenMonitor.flv

So... are the two problems likely to be connected, suggesting there is a problem with the actual computer or is my monitor screwed?

I've had a bit of a google and other people seem to have had the same problem with this monitor, but there was also a suggestion it could be something to do with a graphics card.

The monitor is a Compaq FP5315 (built in speakers) and the computer itself is a Compaq Presario S6800, perhaps 5-6 years old, on Windows XP.

Any ideas TEFers?

[Samdy Gray]

Probably the graphics card or PSU on it's way out.

[STFC_Chris]

Probably the graphics card or PSU on it's way out.

Hmm sounds expensive...

I don't know why I didn't think of it before really, but I just tried a different monitor and it seemed to work ok. The second monitor doesn't have speakers though, so I couldn't do the music test. Will try the dodgy one on another machine tomorrow, hopefully that will give me a definitive answer. Hopefully it is just a duff monitor, plugging in a new screen sounds a lot easier than fitting new graphics cards or PSUs.

Cheers.

[Simon Pieman]

I reckon it's the monitor, but if it's the graphics card that is just as easy to replace as plugging in a new monitor and I'm not exaggerating there.

[Talk Talk]

Monitor.

TFTs are as bad as CRTs in most respects except that it is usually dry solder joints as opposed to flaky high voltage transformers. If you give them a good whack they sometimes come back for a while.

It's all this bloody lead free solder doncha know.

[Barry Scott]

Monitor.

TFTs are as bad as CRTs in most respects except that it is usually dry solder joints as opposed to flaky high voltage transformers. If you give them a good whack they sometimes come back for a while.

It's all this bloody lead free solder doncha know.

Don't start me on this modern problem of dry solder crap.

I had an ABS Controller Unit go in my car due to dry solder joints. It would been £300+ to replace and was making my electrics go crazy, my traction control kicking in around most corners (making the steering wheel shake), my speedo periodically turning off, my car only using 3d and 4th... I could go on. Spent a day taking the fucker apart and the solder was all cracked to buggery.

I had to resolder 34 points in a circuit board i think. Was quite fun though and solved the problem at almost zero cost.

[STFC_Chris]

Cheers chaps.

TFTs are as bad as CRTs in most respects except that it is usually dry solder joints as opposed to flaky high voltage transformers. If you give them a good whack they sometimes come back for a while.

It's all this bloody lead free solder doncha know.

If that's all the is, that sounds fixable. Will have to dig out the soldering iron.

[Talk Talk]

I'm chuffed to bits that some of you peeps have soldering irons and know how to use them 

English engineering is not dead after all.

[Simon Pieman]

I need to buy a soldering iron, I want to upgrade the electronics and pickups in one of my guitars. Already changed the neck, I felt proud it didn't turn into a DIY SOS horror story type thing.

[Talk Talk]

On the training course for my first job at Harwell when I was 16 we were tasked with soldering up a 2" sided skeleton cube of 16 swg tinned copper wire. Just straight pieces, no twisting or lap joints. Corner to corner point contact.

What a fucking nightmare. It taught me the value of a 'light touch' and all of my women since have benefited.

[blinkpip]

A bit a useless knowledge, I may be shit at spelling, but I am a fully trained Surface / Conventional Mount Solderer. Woo Hoo.

And as Talk Talk say's, Lead free is thougher to solder. Get the flux pens out.