Member Avatar for tancomputerlab

I have an HP Slimline S7220n with 1 gb of ram, 250 gb hard drive running vista home premium. Its been on since about March and it overheats every 20-45 minutes depending on how long its been off. Currently I am keeping it running to back up my stuff with two house fans blowing on high and so far no problem, but as you can imagine this is not what I want to keep my desk looking like. Should I go back to XP?

-TCL

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The symptoms described by — a very hot power enclosure, a burning smell and the system stopping while the front power LED stays on — point strongly toward a power-delivery or local-board overheating fault rather than a Vista-only problem. Power supplies and nearby motherboard components (VRMs, capacitors, connectors) are the usual culprits when the case or "power box" itself gets hot and electronics stop responding.

Immediate steps

  • Power the machine off, unplug it and avoid further use until it is inspected (smell of smoke is a fire risk).
  • Back up critical data (already being done) and remove the drive if you must keep working on another PC.
  • Do a visual inspection for bulging or leaking capacitors, scorched connectors or brown/black PCB marks around the CPU power area.

Basic diagnostics you can try safely

  • Try to boot with minimal parts (one RAM stick, CPU, onboard video) and watch whether it still dies.
  • If comfortable, measure PSU rails with a multimeter or use a PSU tester: +12V should be about 11.4–12.6V and +5V about 4.75–5.25V under load. If voltages collapse or the unit smells/burns, replace the PSU. If replacement PSU still fails, inspect the motherboard for damaged caps, blown fuses or overheated VRMs.

If changing the motherboard (notes for )

  • Many HP Slimline systems use small-form-factor and proprietary PSUs and front-panel connectors, so swapping to a retail ATX board can be physically and electrically awkward. Prefer a same-model HP board or a proper OEM replacement.
  • Windows Vista can survive a board swap but often needs driver repair or a repair install from the Vista DVD. Prepare by backing up, noting the SATA mode (IDE/AHCI), removing vendor-specific drivers, or using Sysprep to generalize the installation. Expect possible reactivation if the license is OEM.

If unsure or if you see smoke/burnt parts, stop and have a professional service the unit. Cleaning dust, improving airflow and using a quality PSU of the correct form factor will prevent recurrences.

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Member Avatar for tancomputerlab

Just Some clarification:

Vista has been on since March
I'm not Sure if it overheats, but the power box is extremely hot and smells like smoke. The power light remains on but everything else stops, hd, fan, cd/dvd drive, audio, etc.

Thanks in advance
-TCL

Member Avatar for Polglass

Sounds like your power supply is faulty. Any OS should have minimal impact on heat produced or workload to produce that much heat. Many off-the-shelf purchased PC's are built to tight specifications and tolerances and this could be the case with your power supply. Try replacing it with a more powerful unit.

Also, check to see if you have not blown (or partially blown) the power outputs that are available on your motherboard. This can happen if you replace something as simple as a CPU cooler with a larger cooling capacity fan. The extra power drain destroys motherboard power outputs and you never know until it is too late.

Member Avatar for Polglass

Sounds like your power supply is faulty. Any OS should have minimal impact on heat produced or workload to produce that much heat. Many off-the-shelf purchased PC's are built to tight specifications and tolerances and this could be the case with your power supply. Try replacing it with a more powerful unit.

Also, check to see if you have not blown (or partially blown) the power outputs that are available on your motherboard. This can happen if you replace something as simple as a CPU cooler with a larger cooling capacity fan. The extra power drain destroys motherboard power outputs and you never know until it is too late.

Member Avatar for tancomputerlab

It was the power supply

Member Avatar for JPFitz

I have had a VERY similar problem. I have already replaced the power supply, with a higher power version. I still have the same problem. Prior to the problem occurring, I too had been running the system non-stop for a few months.
I sounds like my next step will be to replace the motherboard.
Is there anything I should watch out for in replacing it?
Are HP systems "picky" regarding compatability of the reset of the system?
What about reconfiguring the OS (Vista Home Premium) to work with a different motherboard? ( I am *not* well versed with Vista)

Thanks in advance for any helpfull responses or comments.

-JPFitz

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