What happened?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Daniel P
  • Start date Start date
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Daniel P

I was sitting in my chair surfing the net when my computer shutdown(the
monitor stayed on and so did my speakers) , the lights in my room flicked
twice, and my stereo's cd changer moved rotated, all basicly at once. My
lights stayed on but I looked at my comps power light was blinking. I
pressed the power button on my case and my comp didn't turn on. So I checked
the the back of the PSU fliped the switch off waited then flipped the PSU
back to on. I went to then front and pressed the power button and my comp
came back to life. BIOS didn't say anything about an error windows didn't
say anything about your computer just recovered from a serious error. It
booted nomally. I have no I idea of what went wrong this is the first time
this has happened. My PSU is a 2.5 year old Antec. I don't think it was my
power strip because I had my tv on and its plugged into the same power strip
and it didn't blink. WHAT HAPPENED!

PS My stereo was not on.
 
I have no I idea of what went wrong this is the first time
this has happened. My PSU is a 2.5 year old Antec. I don't think it was my
power strip because I had my tv on and its plugged into the same power strip
and it didn't blink. WHAT HAPPENED!
Click to expand...

You had a brownout.

The power dipped below normal, some electrical equipment is more tolerant
than others about the power going in.

Sometimes Windows will reboot OK after a power cut (or brownout), sometimes
it gets in a stress, its unpredictable.

After a storm our mains voltage went down to 190v (should be 230v), the PC
would work OK, the TV was OK, the video would not come out of stand-by and
sattelite TV had a dark band across the screen. Lights in the house were a
bit dim too. Took 4 days before we were back to full power.

Adam S
 
Adam said:
You had a brownout.

The power dipped below normal, some electrical equipment is more tolerant
than others about the power going in.

Sometimes Windows will reboot OK after a power cut (or brownout), sometimes
it gets in a stress, its unpredictable.

After a storm our mains voltage went down to 190v (should be 230v), the PC
would work OK, the TV was OK, the video would not come out of stand-by and
sattelite TV had a dark band across the screen. Lights in the house were a
bit dim too. Took 4 days before we were back to full power.

Adam S
Click to expand...

Brownouts often kill HDDs. Get an UPS.
 
I was sitting in my chair surfing the net when my computer shutdown(the
monitor stayed on and so did my speakers) , the lights in my room flicked
twice, and my stereo's cd changer moved rotated, all basicly at once. My
lights stayed on but I looked at my comps power light was blinking. I
pressed the power button on my case and my comp didn't turn on. So I checked
the the back of the PSU fliped the switch off waited then flipped the PSU
back to on. I went to then front and pressed the power button and my comp
came back to life. BIOS didn't say anything about an error windows didn't
say anything about your computer just recovered from a serious error. It
booted nomally. I have no I idea of what went wrong this is the first time
this has happened. My PSU is a 2.5 year old Antec. I don't think it was my
power strip because I had my tv on and its plugged into the same power strip
and it didn't blink. WHAT HAPPENED!
Click to expand...

Brownout, get a UPS in case/if this is/will be a regularity for you.
PS My stereo was not on.
Click to expand...

"Not on" is a relative term for modern electronics. It was probably
not active.
 
Adam said:
You had a brownout.

The power dipped below normal, some electrical equipment is more tolerant
than others about the power going in.

Sometimes Windows will reboot OK after a power cut (or brownout), sometimes
it gets in a stress, its unpredictable.

After a storm our mains voltage went down to 190v (should be 230v), the PC
would work OK, the TV was OK, the video would not come out of stand-by and
sattelite TV had a dark band across the screen. Lights in the house were a
bit dim too. Took 4 days before we were back to full power.

Adam S
Click to expand...

Does a brownout explain this part? -->
 
Matt said:
Does a brownout explain this part? -->
Click to expand...

Why the hell would windows report recovering from a software error when
it was a power supply issue?
 
Your area had a power surge from the local electrical utility company. You
DO have your computer plugged into a surge protector to prevent frying it,
don't you?
 
Well i am not sure what would have caused a brown out. The skys were clear.

PS I have had my lights blink and CD changer rotate before but it has never
effected my comp it usually turns off my tv.
 
Daniel said:
Well i am not sure what would have caused a brown out. The skys were clear.
Click to expand...

You're making assumptions about soething that you could learn about with
a quick google search.
 
Does a brownout explain this part? -->
Click to expand...

No you would have to ask Mr Gates at Microsoft why his Windows operating
system is not 100% predictable in its actions.

Adam S
 
sooky said:
Why the hell would windows report recovering from a software error when
it was a power supply issue?
Click to expand...

Gosh ... because there was an abnormal shutdown? Windows didn't have a
chance to flush its buffers and shutdown its processes before the
machine went off?

If you are running Windows and you simply pull the plug, don't you get a
nasty message next time you boot up?

I may be wrong, but I thought that that was why the hell Windows would
report an error.
 
Daniel P said:
Well i am not sure what would have caused a brown out. The skys were clear.

PS I have had my lights blink and CD changer rotate before but it has never
effected my comp it usually turns off my tv.
Click to expand...

I work for a public power utility in the USA; (luckily one that has
seldom had to "brown out".)
If you saw the movie "The Postman"; the scene with Tom Petty and
the arcysparky cablecar was filmed at one of our dams.

http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/light/tours/

There are many things that can cause 'power problems' :

"Drunk on a Stick" --
a DWI driver knocks down a pole; it will "blink" power to far more
than just the effected pole as the distribution system recovers. A
device called a "recloser" ( a very special circuit breaker) will
open and close 3 or more times as it tries to see if it can safely
deliver power to the area.

"Major fire"--
We shut down power to buildings on fire as soon as possible.
Sometimes we can't isolate it to just the building quickly and may
have to shut down large areas for speed and safety for the
firefighters. There are only a very few safe places to mix
electricity and ater; and a fire scene *ISN'T* one.
 
Matt said:
Gosh ... because there was an abnormal shutdown? Windows didn't have a
chance to flush its buffers and shutdown its processes before the
machine went off?

If you are running Windows and you simply pull the plug, don't you get a
nasty message next time you boot up?

I may be wrong, but I thought that that was why the hell Windows would
report an error.
Click to expand...

If windows was taken down by a software problem, then it would. For
example, a crap video driver.
 
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