Probably a dumb question...

[Cemetary Mink, MD.]

For the past few months, my computer has been crashing within moments and
even seconds of being switched on. I've tried reformatting the harddrive,
which didn't make much difference (oddly enough, the computer functioned
perfectly during and immediately after the reformat, but had resumed it's
constant crashing by the following day.)
However, on those rarer and rarer occasions when the computer lasts more
than twenty minutes after start-up without crashing, it continues to work
without problems. I've also found that if I "restart" (ie. select "restart"
from the 'shutdown' menu, as opposed to shutting down the computer and then
pressing the "power" button again to restart) the computer rarely has
trouble starting.
So, my question is, is it 'healthy' to just leave the computer running
constantly (still running a "restart" several times a day, but never doing a
full "shutdown")?

NB: I've tried leaving the computer in "standby" mode a few times, sometimes
it's crashed on returning to normal mode, sometimes it hasn't.
Also, I'm working with "Windows98," but I couldn't find a
"Windows98.hardware" newsgroup, so I've posted my question here.

 

[ferg]

No it's not a dumb question. I'm not sure what is causing
your frequent freeze-ups but if it was happening to me I
would make sure I have a backup of all inportant files lest
it is the death rattle of the HDD.
Many people believe that keeping your system running rather
than stoping and starting puts less strain on the
components because of the reduced thermal shock but you can
make up your own mind on that one.

 

[Pliers]

It sounds to me it's over-heating. Check the processor fan is running.
and there's plenty of air flow...

 

[Geoffw]

power supply problem ?


"Cemetary Mink, MD." <[email protected]>
wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

 

[ferg]

Hi. An afterthought. If you don't have a second harddrive
on your computer I strongly recommend you get one. They
are unbelievably cheap now and they are probably the best
and certainly the cheapest form of backup media.
If you take this course you may want to download HDCOPY
from the web. It is a free download and it makes HD copying
a breeze. The program is by a German guy named Zimmerman
so make sure the version you download is in English. My
memory is that the English version is about the fourth
entry on the page that the Google search produces. Cheers