Power flickered, CPU fan(s) full...

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
16,111
Location
The Old North State
...speed and loud.

Two nights ago had a serious weather squall line come through, high winds and rain. As far as I could tell, no lightening close by. My HP desktop was on when powered flickered on and off a couple/few times. Computer power button lit when I checked it afterwards but mouse didn't bring screen up. So pushed power button, held till off then pushed to power back on. As title notes, fan(s) full speed, loud and constant but computer working. So, did some googling for issue. Finally found one that said, disconnect power from CPU and then push power button 10-30 secs. That seemed to work, at first and for awhile. Then later fan engaged again at high speed. Followed same procedure again, eventually same result.

There was another entry along the same line except it said to disconnect everything from CPU. Then push and hold button, then reconnect. Mouse and keyboard had to get recognized on reboot. So far that has seemed to do the trick, 'fingers crossed'. Without opening CPU I did some cleaning of vents and fan areas too. No idea what difference disconnecting everything makes/made, if any. While I can hear fan and know it's working perhaps because more aware, thinking it's normal now.

Thought I would share what happened, perhaps others had a similar experience. Not that tech savvy, so going into bios etc likely not an option for me. Right now just hoping for at least status quo. Any thoughts?
 
I had similiar situation during a brown out in a storm. Somehow the settings in the bios got messed up.
 
Do you have it on a surge suppressor? Not that it can prevent all power events, but just curious.

Check to see if your BIOS/UEFI settings are amiss.
 
Yes, I do have the computer on a surge protector, though it's an older one. If anything changes, then checking Bios next step. As noted, seems ok now, hoping for the best. I did also check windows update, completed installing one showing yesterday.
 
you should get a small UPS. I use cyperpower brand over the years with good results. the $100 price range (on sale) ones are good enough for most applications as long as it has enough watts to power your rig. I get power surges and blinks
 
Do a hard reset. Disconnect power (and battery if a laptop), remove CMOS battery and hold down power button for about 30 sec. Reinsert CMOS battery and power back up. Machine will boot up with default settings and resets itself. Worked for me but YMMV.
 
Originally Posted by Sayjac
Yes, I do have the computer on a surge protector, though it's an older one. If anything changes, then checking Bios next step. As noted, seems ok now, hoping for the best. I did also check windows update, completed installing one showing yesterday.


Surge protectors are generally good for about a year or two under use. At that point they are no better than an unprotected power strip.
 
As suggested above, for computer, use a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply).
When the electric is surging, the UPS can keep the computer ON.
You can turn it off manually, when that happens or just let it keeping on without the effect of the electrical surge.
It is a better version of surge protection.
 
Originally Posted by Jethro_Bob
Originally Posted by Sayjac
Yes, I do have the computer on a surge protector, though it's an older one. If anything changes, then checking Bios next step. As noted, seems ok now, hoping for the best. I did also check windows update, completed installing one showing yesterday.


Surge protectors are generally good for about a year or two under use. At that point they are no better than an unprotected power strip.


Surge suppressors are also unable to condition or regulate the power going to the computer (or other attached device). They only protect against large surges, over and under voltages are not controlled at all. Devices plugged into a UPS of appropriate capability can last a lot longer due to less stress on their power supplies.

I would buy a UPS with automatic voltage regulation at the minimum for any computing equipment I cared about. I have a whole farm of APC and TrippLite UPS around my house with AVR and true sine wave output. My gear lasts for years and years, and I recommend their use to my IT clients as well.
 
I appreciate all the replies. Still fingers crossed, but appears I 'may' have lucked out this time. Fan(s) seem to be functioning normally again. The other times I can remember the fan speeding up similarly, but not extended time, was during major Windows updates.

I will give consideration to obtaining a UPC as suggested. Thanks.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top