Mysterious Outages on my HP Pavilion desktop p6240f

Maybe every three weeks my PC just dies. I bring it up and it's OK. Each
time I call HP tech support they run diagnostics on the h/w. Nothing wrong.

It seems to me there might be an event log somewhere that gives a clue
as to what was happening around the time of the outage.

As far as I know, I might have kicked something under my desk that
turned it off, but connections look tight. This probably usually happens
when I'm working on the PC

Comments?

On Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:05:10 -0800, W. eWatson wrote:

> Maybe every three weeks my PC just dies. I bring it up and it's OK. Each
> time I call HP tech support they run diagnostics on the h/w. Nothing wrong.
>
> It seems to me there might be an event log somewhere that gives a clue
> as to what was happening around the time of the outage.
>
> As far as I know, I might have kicked something under my desk that
> turned it off, but connections look tight. This probably usually happens
> when I'm working on the PC
>
> Comments?

Quite possible your cord might have a frayed wire in it. When the cord gets
bumped, it shorts and the PC loses power.Buy another cord and see if it
happens again.
Or one of the pins might have worked loose enough that when you bump it, it
shuts down.

W. eWatson wrote:
> Maybe every three weeks my PC just dies. I bring it up and it's OK. Each
> time I call HP tech support they run diagnostics on the h/w. Nothing wrong.
>
> It seems to me there might be an event log somewhere that gives a clue
> as to what was happening around the time of the outage.
>
> As far as I know, I might have kicked something under my desk that
> turned it off, but connections look tight. This probably usually happens
> when I'm working on the PC
>
> Comments?

Heat? When was the last time it got a good cleaning?

"W. eWatson" <> wrote in message
news:j97lea$v3u$...
>
> It seems to me there might be an event log somewhere that gives a clue as
> to what was happening around the time of the outage.
>

Have you tried typing "event log" (without the quotes) in the Search box?

On 11/6/2011 10:46 PM, Paul in Houston TX wrote:
> W. eWatson wrote:
>> Maybe every three weeks my PC just dies. I bring it up and it's OK.
>> Each time I call HP tech support they run diagnostics on the h/w.
>> Nothing wrong.
>>
>> It seems to me there might be an event log somewhere that gives a clue
>> as to what was happening around the time of the outage.
>>
>> As far as I know, I might have kicked something under my desk that
>> turned it off, but connections look tight. This probably usually
>> happens when I'm working on the PC
>>
>> Comments?
>
> Heat? When was the last time it got a good cleaning?
That's an interesting idea. I just installed a another HD, and there was
lots of dust inside, which I blasted out. However, it was the next day
when it failed.

On 11/7/2011 3:24 AM, Seth wrote:
>
> "W. eWatson" <> wrote in message
> news:j97lea$v3u$...
>>
>> It seems to me there might be an event log somewhere that gives a clue
>> as to what was happening around the time of the outage.
>>
>
> Have you tried typing "event log" (without the quotes) in the Search box?
>
>
Ah, yes. I guess I haven't shaken my XP experience yet Good idea, and
that brings up my next post on the box.

On Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:50:56 -0800, "W. eWatson"
<> wrote:

>On 11/7/2011 3:24 AM, Seth wrote:
>>
>> "W. eWatson" <> wrote in message
>> news:j97lea$v3u$...
>>>
>>> It seems to me there might be an event log somewhere that gives a clue
>>> as to what was happening around the time of the outage.
>>>
>>
>> Have you tried typing "event log" (without the quotes) in the Search box?
>>
>>
>Ah, yes. I guess I haven't shaken my XP experience yet Good idea, and
>that brings up my next post on the box.

In XP, you're probably used to going to Start, Run and entering
eventvwr.msc to bring up the Event Viewer. In Win 7, it's exactly the
same.

--

Char Jackson

On Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:46:43 -0800, "W. eWatson"
<> wrote:

>On 11/6/2011 10:46 PM, Paul in Houston TX wrote:
>> W. eWatson wrote:
>>> Maybe every three weeks my PC just dies. I bring it up and it's OK.
>>> Each time I call HP tech support they run diagnostics on the h/w.
>>> Nothing wrong.
>>>
>>> It seems to me there might be an event log somewhere that gives a clue
>>> as to what was happening around the time of the outage.
>>>
>>> As far as I know, I might have kicked something under my desk that
>>> turned it off, but connections look tight. This probably usually
>>> happens when I'm working on the PC
>>>
>>> Comments?
>>
>> Heat? When was the last time it got a good cleaning?
>That's an interesting idea. I just installed a another HD, and there was
>lots of dust inside, which I blasted out. However, it was the next day
>when it failed.

I'm not always a fan of applying cause and effect to two events, but
it's interesting that the problem started soon after you had the case
open and did some work. Maybe you should retrace your steps and review
your actions to see if you knocked something loose. Also, take a look
to make sure you didn't lodge a cable against the cpu fan. If it can't
turn, the cpu will overheat and shut the system down.

--

Char Jackson

On Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:14:09 -0800, "Nobody > (Revisited)"
<> wrote:

>If "it shorts", there'd be sparks and/or breakers tripping.

I don't know why, but to people outside of the field, everything is a
short. Shorts, opens, loose connections, miswired components, burned
out bulbs, you name it, if it's an electrical problem, it's a short.
It's like they know only that one word for everything electrical.

--

Char Jackson

On 11/7/2011 2:37 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
> On Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:14:09 -0800, "Nobody> (Revisited)"
> <> wrote:
>
>> If "it shorts", there'd be sparks and/or breakers tripping.
>
> I don't know why, but to people outside of the field, everything is a
> short. Shorts, opens, loose connections, miswired components, burned
> out bulbs, you name it, if it's an electrical problem, it's a short.
> It's like they know only that one word for everything electrical.
>
Maybe "short" is a contraction of "short between the ears?" <G>