Last updated: January 1, 2023
Is your PC starting to show signs of weakness? To avoid the breakdown, you will have to transform yourself into a computer detective and go looking for clues.
The first diagnosis, external, is essential.
Power supply
A food that "burns", it shows, but it does not necessarily feel!
The computer does not start at all, as if it was no longer plugged in. If this is your case, replacinga diet will only cost you around thirty euros. It is the most frequent failure on a PC. The main culprit in this story is fan clogging, especially if you are a smoker.
A power supply giving off a lot of heat, the clogging will have the effect of slowing down the rotation of the blades, the temperature increases and leads to the rupture of an internal component.
If your fan emits a particular noise, it is soon to give up the ghost: clean it urgently thanks to a can of dry air. If the noise persists, replace the power supply.
The other source of failure of an electrical unit is attributable to a surge from the EDF network. (lightning...).
The consequences are radical and result in the best of cases by the "death" of the internal fuse of the power supply (when it is equipped with one): it is then enough to replace it by dismantling it, otherwise direction the dustbin. You can equip yourself with an inverter to overcome the irregularity of the current.
Faults related to rear connectors
There are two kinds of connectors: those that are directly connected to the motherboard (USB, keyboard, etc.) and those of the PCI cards.
The failure of the first category comes from two sources. The most common is the breakage of a micro weld as a result of violent plugging and unplugging.
The repair is really not obvious. In the worst case, try switching keyboards and mice to a USB model.
This change of standard will allow you to use other sockets which are not damaged because the breakage of a motherboard connector means the replacement of this one.
A badly functioning card
The failure of a PCI card can have several sources before one of its components is incriminated.
After ensuring that it is correctly inserted and screwed into the "slot", enter a restart. This device may conflict with another (two cards share the same interrupt requests).
In this case, try to change its location to another. The bios will reassign new addresses and you may have better luck. If not, remove all "bad" cards. If it is still not detected by windows, it is really down.
If the system sees it, reinstall your hardware one by one, turning off your PC between each operation. You will have a clean installation and you will have good IRQs.
Crashes, blue screens, restarts
All of these signs are quite often associated with overheating of the microprocessor. As with the power supply, the fan that covers it should be cleaned regularly.
You must also check that the heatsink of the fan (the metal which is used to dissipate the heat) is well pressed against the chip. An accidental kick in the computer could move this piece and greatly reduce its effectiveness.
The consequence is that in the event of overheating, the system locks up, thescreen is blue or the PC restarts. Take the same care when attaching the memory modules, just next to it.
Squealing records
Another symptom of a nearby failure, the change in the noise emitted by the hard drive. The mechanical parts of this element wear out (the moving read heads for example, or the platters). If you notice a screeching, squealing or worsening sound level, the end is near.
Do not ask for it again, except to make a backup of your data. You will need to replace it because there are only a few ways to repair a bad hard drive.
Display concerns
Your monitor is also subject to the wear and tear of time. Some precautions should therefore be taken. Most of the time it's not LCD panel stop working, but rather the electronics responsible for interpreting the electrical signals of the graphics card.
The electron gun transformer may also be at fault. Consequently, avoid transporting your monitor when it is hot so as not to damage it prematurely.
If you find that your monitor is getting harder and harder to come out of sleep mode or is flickering abnormally, be prepared for failure.