Desktop acting strange

[Master Chief]

Ok, this is really getting on my nerves. This has happened to me three times now and I was wondering if someone knew what was going on. When I go away for the summer, I leave my desktop at home. Everything is conected and its plugged in, but its off. So basically, the desktop does not get turned on for 2-3 months. After the 2-3 months, when I turn it on, it goes crazy. It frezzes, is extremly slow, basically, the only thing I can do is reformat it. And if thats not wierd enough, even when the system is off(this is when its acting wierd), the num lock key on the keyboard is on. Whats going on here, can I not leave a desktop just sitting for a long time without it going nuts? Help me please.

 

[birdpup]

We find things have changed after returning home from a deployment ...

Possibly power fluctuations due to electrical storms and such that may harm the power supply. What brand power supply is in the system? Maybe this needs to be replaced. Read more about power supplies. It may help to unplug the system before leaving but you may then need to replace the battery in the motherboard after returning.

The system may be in hibernation rather than powered down or off. The hibernation utility is bug ridden in my opinion and the system often performs slowly and unreliably when re-awakening from hibernation. Maybe you are not allowing the system time to recover after hibernation. This can easily take 10-15 minutes depending on your system speed.

With the light on the keyboard, there is still a small amount of electricity running through the system when it is off but still plugged in. There is a small green light on the motherboard for this purpose to remind techs that even though they have shut the computer off, it is still plugged in and therefore there is still electricity running through the motherboard. I am sure that some keyboard manufacturers create a similar LED light in the keyboard for similar purposes. This is not a problem

 

[Master Chief]

Originally posted by: birdpup
We find things have changed after returning home from a deployment ...

Possibly power fluctuations due to electrical storms and such that may harm the power supply. What brand power supply is in the system? Maybe this needs to be replaced. Read more about power supplies. It may help to unplug the system before leaving but you may then need to replace the battery in the motherboard after returning.

The system may be in hibernation rather than powered down or off. The hibernation utility is bug ridden in my opinion and the system often performs slowly and unreliably when re-awakening from hibernation. Maybe you are not allowing the system time to recover after hibernation. This can easily take 10-15 minutes depending on your system speed.

With the light on the keyboard, there is still a small amount of electricity running through the system when it is off but still plugged in. There is a small green light on the motherboard for this purpose to remind techs that even though they have shut the computer off, it is still plugged in and therefore there is still electricity running through the motherboard. I am sure that some keyboard manufacturers create a similar LED light in the keyboard for similar purposes. This is not a problem

Thanks for the tips. My power supply is a Enermax and it seems to be working fine. I guess from now on, I will unplug the system all together when going away for a long period of time.

 

[birdpup]

I am not completely certain these issues are your problem. I hope someone else may come along with better information.

EDIT:
The electrical circuitry in computers is very sensitive and easily damaged by power fluctuations. The hard drives are especially prone to electrical damage. But irregular power physically damages the hard drives rather than just making the system perform strangely. Many people obtain UPS (Uninteruptible Power Supplies) with low voltage regulation to protect their sensitive electrical components.