Computer starts then stops

[Maine man]

The last two times I have shut down my computer overnight (and unplugged power supply and ethernet cable to my router) because of possible thunderstorms, when I plugged it back in and turned it on, it would give its familiar startup whine for, maybe 5-15 seconds, then die.

The first time this happened, after maybe a half dozen of these computer deaths, I unplugged it from the UPS and directly into the wall socket, and it came up and ran fine. I assumed the problem was a dying UPS that wouldn't give enough juice, so I bought a new UPS, and everything seemed to run fine.

Then I did the unplugging last night, and it did the whine/die routine several times. Then I tried the direct connect in one plug (thinking maybe I'm not getting enough juice out of ANY UPS, new or old), but this time it did the whine/die routine on that plug. Then I tried it on the other of the two wall outlets, and it came to life. Then after I ran it for a while, I plugged it into the new UPS again, and it is now running fine (but I don't dare turn it off and unplug it).

I had a wire stuck in the fan once, and it acted somewhat similarly, but the wires should all be now bundled away from the fan.

Could the damp, coolish Maine air be the problem? Was it simply a coincidence that reshuffling the outlets eventually made it work? Is it a too-cold problem rather than a too-hot problem, so that eventually after several stop-starts it would get warm enough and then start?

I'm NOT a technical person, so my ability to mess around with the innards of the PC is highly limited.

It's a white box PC, by the way, and I'm running Windows 2K

[RGPHNX]

Hi ,
from what you describe... it sounds like the problem might be in your house's wiring & not your computer.
The other most likely possibility is that your computers power supply is going bad.
Hope this helps
RGPHN

[Maine man]

Heard from the guy who built/sold the PC -- he thinks it may be the fan.

My current theory:

1. Fan is going bad (bearings or some such).
2. Damp, cool Maine air exacerbates the problem.
3. PC won't boot unless fan is running.
4. Turning it on multiple times finally warms it up, gets fan started.
5. PC thereafter runs fine (until I turn it off again overnight).

Does this make sense to anyone out there?

[JANINE]

hi. im gonna agree with rgphnx here. it definately sounds as though your house hold wiring is faulty - nothing to do with the ups. get your wiring checked first and formost and then if it proves not to be that get your pc checked out.;)

[djrivera1]

Sound like power supply going bad, bad fan bios will warn fan not attach before turning off. and if system overheat because of fan usally it will always act up all the time, checked voltage on powersupply if noticed a drop on 12v rail replace the power supply if not powersupply take heatsink fan off buy new one and use antecsilver compound and put back heatsink fan.

[RGPHNX]

Hi again ,
re:

1. Fan is going bad (bearings or some such).
2. Damp, cool Maine air exacerbates the problem.
3. PC won't boot unless fan is running.
4. Turning it on multiple times finally warms it up, gets fan started.

The fan going bad won't cause the computer not to initially start up. The power supply itself going bad OR bad house wiring .. WILL cause no startups.
AND will cause no fan movement/rotation.

Some PSU s that are thermostatically controlled don't have the fan running at all at computer startup ..the fan only runs later when the computer & powersupply have been running for a while.
It's not the fan causing the no start situation.. it's the powersupply going bad that's causing the no fan function and the no startup .
So......... get your house wiring checked (this can cause a PSU [and a UPS] to burnout prematurely) AND/OR get your PSU checked.
Hope this is clear
RGPHNX