Old Computer Starts Working Again?

[geokilla]

I have an old Pentium III lying around downstairs. I got that computer from my mom's office 1 1/2 year ago because I had wanted my own computer badly. I finally got one and was very excited and happy, except for the fact that I couldn't play any games besides GB and MS.

Anyways on to the point. I got this AMD rig 1 year ago because the old Pentium III had broken down. The CPU usage was constantly at 100% even when it was sitting at the desktop. We first thought it was a RAM problem so we got another stick of RAM and tried it. The problem remained. So we then tried using RAM slot 2 instead of slot 1 because my dad's friend said that the RAM slot might be malfunctioning. The problem was solved, temporarily. After a while, I would get this slow down again and so we tried changing the RAM slot back to slot 1 and it still didn't change anything. After many hours, the computer was given a dying status by my dad and I.

The computer had become a chair in my room for 9 months before moving it downstairs into the computer room. Now I'm trying to revive this old computer. I started doing this 3 months ago. First by running Memtest for 24 hours, then running Prime for 24 hours. The computer passed both tests with 0 errors. Next I formatted and reinstalled Windows XP into it. After 20 min of playing with the computer, I never saw the CPU usage go up to 100% and the computer was responding quicker than my AMD rig!! Afterwards, I stopped fixing it because I got lazy. Now, with school and everything, I think it's about time that I try to finish what I started over the summer, and that is to fix the *broken* P-3. My sis has been complaining how slow our P4 is for MONTHS. I think it's only fair that she gets a *fast* computer because of her homework and everything.

Wow what a long post.

Anyways, was my computer dying to begin with? How come it's back to normal now?? Can a computer magically fix itself after months of inactivity?

Thanks.

Update: Please check my last post.

 

[Aluvus]

You probably had a software problem, not a hardware problem, which the reformat and OS reinstall should have resolved.

 

[Sunbird]

It was probably bad software that was giving you the problem and not the hardware. Now you have a fresh Windows on it and now it will be fine again.

Might be too much bloat (too many things in startup and more) that is giving the P4 the slowness problem...

 

[0roo0roo]

yup software. hardware errors generally never pull 100% cpu usage. if your ram or cpu is borked, u crash or don't boot up at all. corrupted windows, spyware/virus's were probably your problem.

if your p4 is slow its probably loaded with junk as well

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: geokilla
Anyways, was my computer dying to begin with? How come it's back to normal now?? Can a computer magically fix itself after months of inactivity?

The others don't know about your old P3 PC...
* The months of inactivity gave it a chance to recuperate. It basically went on vacation.
* It's back running now because it's fully recuperated from all "THOSE SITES" that you visited (or maybe your pop). The PC was originally built for general office tasks, not for "ENTERTAINMENT" surfing.
* Yes, computers can magically fix themselves. You're a witness to that. It's a semi-miricle.

 

[geokilla]

First of all. I'm 15, and no I don't go to "THOSE SITES". To me, they're stupid and gay.
Second, I had formatted the comp SEVERAL times before we gave it the dying status. We must've formatted that old P3 like 5 times within 3 days....so I doubt it can be a software problem.

 

[WoodButcher]

Have you connected the p3 to the interweb yet? I'll bet if you do that non software problem comes back quick. The software Yahoo / ATT uses is so loaded with bloat it floats,

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: geokilla
First of all. I'm 15, and no I don't go to "THOSE SITES". To me, they're stupid and gay.
Second, I had formatted the comp SEVERAL times before we gave it the dying status. We must've formatted that old P3 like 5 times within 3 days....so I doubt it can be a software problem.

The simple answer is that no, a computer cannot magically fix itself after a period of inactivity. So unless you opened it up and altered the hardware configuration immediately before it began working properly, it must have been a software issue. There is no other possibility.

 

[geokilla]

Well the hardware wasn't altered. The only thing that got altered was the floppy drive, which I took out a few months ago in order to update the BIOS for my rig.

Currently, that P3 is not conencted to the internet. I'll try connecting it to the internet today when I get home and see what happens.

 

[nick1985]

Do you believe in magic?

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: geokilla
First of all. I'm 15, and no I don't go to "THOSE SITES". To me, they're stupid and gay.

Not all of them are gay.

 

[geokilla]

=.= w/e. So it's possible that it was a software malfunction, despite having formatted it like 5 times in 2 days right? I would love to connect the P3 to the Internet right now, but I'm short on ethernet cables....Gotta go though my box of cables today.....

nick: I do not believe in magic, except for David Copperfield's magic.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: geokilla
Can a computer magically fix itself after months of inactivity?

Originally posted by: geokilla
I do not believe in magic, except for David Copperfield's magic.

:shocked:

 

[lxskllr]

Overheating can cause the cpu to spike, and stay at a high usage level. Did you blow the dust out or reset the heatsink?

 

[geokilla]

Nope. It wasn't overheating, that I know for sure because there was no dust or anything on the CPU fan. I didn't re-seat the heatsink as well. The case had VERY bad airflow though, but I'm sure it wasn't overheating.

 

[Blain]

The only possible explination is that...
> It's Magic <

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: Blain

Originally posted by: geokilla
Can a computer magically fix itself after months of inactivity?

Originally posted by: geokilla
I do not believe in magic, except for David Copperfield's magic.

:shocked:

Anybody who divorces Claudia Schiffer is Gay. That makes it "Gay Magic".

 

[geokilla]

Guys, please be serious....Can it possibly be a hardware problem that fixed itself while the computer was being used as a chair?

I have yet to find an ethernet cable in my house to test the Internet out...

 

[zagood]

You don't think we're serious? How can you not believe in magic? I've seen a motherboard work after spilling soda on it...a computer submerged in mineral oil...my friend go 39-1 on a Dust 2 server...MIRACLES HAPPEN!!

Anyway, the only hardware malfunction that could be "fixed" after a period of time (and subsequent moving of the box) would be a hard drive platter getting stuck, then unstuck when moved. Unfortunately for your questions, that would give you a different error than 100% processor usage.

Now go steal the ethernet cable from your sister and test.

-z

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: geokilla
Guys, please be serious....Can it possibly be a hardware problem that fixed itself while the computer was being used as a chair?

No, it's not.
Stick a fork in this thread... :laugh:

 

[pkrush]

I had an old Mac laptop that went completely dead one day, wouldn't boot even when plugged in. I tried to get it working but couldn't and put it away for a few months.
The next time I tried it it worked perfectly, but a few weeks later it was completely dead again.
The problem was that the clock battery was old enough that the settings would get corrupted after a few days left unplugged. When this happened, the laptop wouldn't boot until I left it unplugged and with the main battery out for a few weeks so the clock battery was completely dead again. So yes, there are situations where hardware can appear to fix itself when you let it sit for a while.

 

[geokilla]

Update: The comp's been in use for around 3 days. So far, we have not yet experience any slowdowns. Now I want to test this system thoroughly before we possibly give it to my sister. At first, I was thinking of testing the system by running Prime and Memtest again, but since it passed that before, I've been thinking of running F@H on it. Can I run F@H on the computer and try and get some points while testing the computer for slowdowns? The computer will only be around for 7 hours a day for the weekday, and possibly like 3 hours during the weekends. The CPU is only a P3 at 700+Mhz with 256MB RAM. The OS is Windows XP. There's like nothing in the computer except for Norton and Ad-aware.

Thanks.

 

[geokilla]

Open for suggestions. Thank you

 

[jmagg]

Start with a fresh format and install with SP2.
Install only what is needed for the person who will be using the machine.
Consider an alternative antivirus, as Norton is using a fair share of the already low installed ram.
Theres an excellent, perpetual antivirus/antispyware thread here at AT.

 

[HannibalX]

Originally posted by: Blain

Originally posted by: geokilla
Anyways, was my computer dying to begin with? How come it's back to normal now?? Can a computer magically fix itself after months of inactivity?

The others don't know about your old P3 PC...
* The months of inactivity gave it a chance to recuperate. It basically went on vacation.
* It's back running now because it's fully recuperated from all "THOSE SITES" that you visited (or maybe your pop). The PC was originally built for general office tasks, not for "ENTERTAINMENT" surfing.
* Yes, computers can magically fix themselves. You're a witness to that. It's a semi-miricle.

lol