[Gllug] OT Computer freezes

[Mark Williams]

> [W2000 machine freezes and locks]
> 
> Some time ago, I read an article about faulty PSUs creating strange
> problems and am now wondering if this could be the culprit, but I
> don't want to go to all the trouble of changing the existing one if
> it's unlikely to be the cause.
> 
> Does anyone have any experiences similar to this problem or any
> suggestions that might help please?

It does sound like a hardware problem of some sort.  I doubt it's
possible to give a more definite diagnosis using only the information
in your post, so trying a different PSU might be the easiest means of
narrowing down the list of possible causes.  You could always try
installing a Linux distribution on your spare HD---it might yield more
specific clues.

My experience of the sort of behaviour you describe has been
exclusively due to leaking low-ESR motherboard capacitors (of the type
shown at <URL:http://www.badcaps.net/>), including one blown almost
entirely off its base.  Replacing the capacitors has eradicated the
machine instability.

-- 
Mark
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