[CasilleroDelDiablo]

Hello there,
I have a bit of an annoying problem,

My Mouse Pointer is randomly freezing, and 2 out of 5 times (approximately) as it freezes my speakers quickly emit two sounds, those are the default sounds corresponding to plugging-in and unplugging a hardware device to an USB PORT. And this is happening MosTly when a new application is launched.

These sounds come one and then the other immediatly.
However I have scanned my PC with the recommended tools and have found nothing yet..
Let me know what my problem may be...

Could this be caused by bad ventilation? or overheating the processor?

Please Help me..

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Hi. Please give us some basic system specifications. How much RAM do you have? When did this start? Have you made any changes to the system recently?

[Facedown98]

Hi. Please give us some basic system specifications. How much RAM do you have? When did this start? Have you made any changes to the system recently?

[CasilleroDelDiablo]

Greetings,

Oh, I am sorry, here are my specifications:

I have an Intel Pentium 4. with 512 MB RAM, and 1.8 Ghz of Processor speed. My O/S is Win XP Pro.

My Problem Started 3 days ago.

I have one Basic Question: How many straight Hours a day could a computer worK? Does Working continuosly with just turning it off during the nights eventually damage the processor or hard drive?

Is there any maintanance that can be done to prevent hardware damage?

Well Thank you very extremely Much, God Bless you, you Computer geeks are the best !

[Facedown98]

Hi again. Sorry for the delayed response. Many people prefer to leave their computers on overnight. Studies show that the computer uses more energy to power on and off, rather than continuously running. The fans really aren't affected much to the point where they could get damaged. I would say that if you do this to make sure you set a screensaver to come on, this way you don't tire out your screen, and also have a surge protector in use. If there's a bad storm, you can do what I do, which is simply unplug it. That's probably the most assured way to keep it safe. Now, I forgot to ask earlier... Is this a USB mouse?

[CasilleroDelDiablo]

Hey there !

Thanks for the reply, don't mind if it's delayed....don't be worried.

And to respond your question, Yes, It is an USB Mouse. a Genius one.

Mind If I ask you another basic question, I hope not, here it goes...

How does continuous usage of a PC affect the Processor's lifetime? Does Continuous usage eventually damage the hard drive due to over reading/writting?

I am always concerned for overheating issues.. please let me know..

Thanks Sir.

[Facedown98]

Well, first, I suggest you try another mouse. Primarily USB... Try a friend's mouse. I want to see if it's the mouse with the issues, or the computer. Also, as far as overheating... I have not heard of there being any issues with leaving your computer on overnight, or for several days. According to some articles I've read, leaving it on doesn't seem to cause damage to any components. In fact, they seem to suggest that powering them on, and then down again is worse, becuase the system must work harder to get things moving. For one, once the computer is on, the computer fans blow the dust out of the vents. Once you turn the computer off, the fans go off, thus allowing the dust to re-enter the system, which in the very long run isn't good. As far as overheating, if your fans are working right, I don't think it's an issue. Personally, if I left it on all week, I would at least restart it 1-3 times during that week, just to let the system refresh. It's always good to get more than one opinion on this. I have personally never heard of, or experienced any issues with leaving a computer on for most/all of the week, however, someone else might have something different to say. Stick with us for a bit, someone will be around to give their thoughts.

[vinny_the_hack]

I can't add anything to the mouse issue, but you shouldn't worry about your processor's life (for any reason).

I ran my PC for about 2 years, never turning it off except when I moved and when the power went off a few times. My hrad drive eventually started getting errors, but I think it had more to do with being a very cheap drive. I bought a new drive, installed the old one as a slave and I guess the rest did it good, because I have been using it successfully for taking occassional copies of my new drive. Yes, I test the copy each time to make sure it is good.

It is true that powering off and on causes more wear and tear than leaving things on continuously. If you want, there is a setting that tells the system to stop the hard drive(s) when the PC is idle longer than some time that you can set. Right click on an open part of your desktop, then click on properties, screen saver, power. Everything stays on but the hard drive stops spinning.

Edited by vinny_the_hack, 17 August 2006 - 10:56 PM.

[CasilleroDelDiablo]

Hello There,

I Believe thanks are in order ! Thank you very much!

Well, I changed my Mouse for another USB mouse, and this one is 100% fine !, so I believe It was just a mouse problem. Tell me what you think.

I have been concerned about my hard drive specially because 4 years ago one died on me, And a technician told me it was for excesive writting/reading. Some CLusters became corrupted after continuous usage for 3 years. Now, I totally agree in that probably happens most of the times when it is a Cheap Drive, which that one was. But I have found the info you gave me about making the drives stop spinning really, really useful!.... I suppose I should perform some maintenance to my PC opening the case and cleaning the Dust inside right? any pointers on how to do that?

One last thing, Do you know about some software to monitor processor/hard drive temperature that's freeware?

Thanks in advance !

[vinny_the_hack]

You should occasionally clean the dust from the vent and open up the case and clean the dust out. I use a very low tech way--I blow...real hard and over and over again. I get my face right in the bowels (poor choice of words) and blow hard. I can't think of a better way, albeit distasteful, to get it out of all the nooks and crannies. It's probably better to do more often rather than less for reasons of your own and your computers benefit. After a few times, you'll have a good idea of how often to do it.

Getting back to hard drives for a moment...whether you have a cheap one or the best, you need to take regular backups. What you back up and how often is dependent on how much importance you place on your data, your time and your sanity. Any disk can have an unexpected, catastrophic failure. I make a complete copy of my hard drive soon after I either add or change an application or apply a Windows patch. I back up my personal data about once a week.

Before backing up my personal data (I keep it all in a one folder (with sub-folders) on my desktop), I export my bookmarks (from IE) my contacts (from outlook) and my calendar entries to this same folder.

Sorry, I've never explored temperature monitors.

[Facedown98]

We're glad to hear that everything worked out for you! In this case, your mouse is probably on its way out. Also, yes, the hard disk issue probably happened due to the drive being cheap. Sad, but is likely the issue. Also, if you want to monitor temperatures, try Everest. Download it here: http://www.majorgeek...wnload4181.html ... Enjoy, and come back if you have any more questions!