Major StartUp and Performance Problems After Blackout ???

[Megahertz07]

Surge protectors have a varistor disk that clamps the voltage a at a certain level (~190V). They have a capacity to absorb a limit amount or energy ( in Joules) and then they enter on a short circuit an blow the fuse.
So I don't think that the local computer geek is right.
Open the surge protector to see if the varistor disks are in good shape (no burns or explosions). If they are still in good shape, I would say that they are still active (and doing it's job).

 

[BuckSkin]

Maybe he was referring to this article:

Why (and When) You Need to Replace Your Surge Protector

and most likely technology is different now than then as that article will soon be three years old.

 

[Layback Bear]

I would suggest checking your bios settings.
I use Asus motherboards and in my bios their is a setting, telling the computer not to start after power loss. I do not know if Dell has such a option in the bios.

Loosing power hurts nothing except it will loose the work you are doing. What hurts is when the power comes back on. When the power comes back on you can get surges and several on and off until the power company gets things fixed completely.
That is one reason I don't want my computer to startup or reboot after a power loss.

Jack

 

[BuckSkin]

I would suggest checking your bios settings.
I use Asus motherboards and in my bios their is a setting, telling the computer not to start after power loss. I do not know if Dell has such a option in the bios.

Loosing power hurts nothing except it will loose the work you are doing. What hurts is when the power comes back on. When the power comes back on you can get surges and several on and off until the power company gets things fixed completely.
That is one reason I don't want my computer to startup or reboot after a power loss.

Jack

Thanks! ; that is good information to know; I was unaware that there was such a possibility; I will have to investigate.

I use Asus motherboards

I have never yet built a machine from scratch but am wanting to just for the experience.

I am overwhelmed when I look at all the various component choices as I only know enough to get me in trouble.

What is it about Asus motherboards that makes you prefer them ? Thanks.

 

[Layback Bear]

Asus hardware including their motherboards are not without problems.
I have found on the most part they do exactly what they are advertised to do.
They are reliable. Most of the time they cost more. To me they are worth the price.

When you do build your own system, I suggest spending a lot of time researching the hardware and the design of your system. The more time you spend on homework makes a better build.
It takes me weeks of homework before I order the parts. Then it only takes a few days to build the computer.
My last build is in 'My System Specs'.
My other computer also has a Asus motherboard with a Intel cpu. Two radiators, two water pumps and 14 fans. All hard tubing for the cooling system. That takes a lot of planning and research.

Jack

 

[BuckSkin]

When you do build your own system, I suggest spending a lot of time researching the hardware and the design of your system. The more time you spend on homework makes a better build....
Jack

I am aiming toward a photography/photo-editing machine.

Some of the photo editing programs overwhelm a lot of machines; and, if your machine isn't "quick" , it can really slow things down between procedures.

Of course, poor old pitiful me in my present financial state will have to economize as much as I can..........

 

[Layback Bear]

Photography/photo-editing done right will take some serious hardware.

Start doing your homework now so you are ready when you hit the Lotto.

Jack

 

[Megahertz07]

Photography/photo-editing done right will take some serious hardware.

Start doing your homework now so you are ready when you hit the Lotto.

Jack

What OS you're thinking to install on the new computer?

Skylake works well with Win 7. Kabylake you have to do some workaround. Coffelake is to new to know if it work well with Win 7.

Guide line
- CPU i7 6700K (skylake) i7 7700k (Kabylake) or i7 8600k (Coffelake). There is also the AMD Rysen that are very fast but I have no experience and can't advice.
- MB Z270 for i7 6700K (skylake) or i7 7700k (Kabylake) and Z370 for i7 8600k (Coffelake)
- (8+8)G DDR4 3200
- PS - Depends on the video card you are buying. Minimum of 600W.
- GPU - I would start without one. You can always add one.

 

[BuckSkin]

What OS you're thinking to install on the new computer?

Skylake works well with Win 7. Kabylake you have to do some workaround. Coffelake is to new to know if it work well with Win 7.

Guide line
- CPU i7 6700K (skylake) i7 7700k (Kabylake) or i7 8600k (Coffelake). There is also the AMD Rysen that are very fast but I have no experience and can't advice.
- MB Z270 for i7 6700K (skylake) or i7 7700k (Kabylake) and Z370 for i7 8600k (Coffelake)
- (8+8)G DDR4 3200
- PS - Depends on the video card you are buying. Minimum of 600W.
- GPU - I would start without one. You can always add one.

Windows 7 Pro

I don't understand this lake business?

Along with quick, I need several SATA connections; the case I have has ten HDD ports.
I will also need several USB 3.0 ports and a USB 3.0 ?20-pin? connector on the MB.

As of right now, I have something like nineteen cents in the fund, so it may be a while before anything concrete happens.

I am quite fond of the Gigabyte Radeon R7 240 graphics cards; I have two and they have always did anything I needed them to; I cannot say the same for EVGA invidia other than I will never spend my money on anything that says invidia on it again.

I have a Corsair 750W PSU that has an arm-load of wires and cables; I really like it as well.

I would appreciate if you guys showed me what in your own experience is compatible as I could easily spend a bunch of money on stuff that won't work together.

But don't get too excited just yet as I am destitute with a capitol D.

 

[Megahertz07]

For Intel CPU - Chipset:
Skylake (2016) - 6th gen
Kabylake (2017) - 7th gen
Coffeelake (2017) - 8th gen Coffee Lake - Wikipedia

AMD Rysen is the latest powerful AMD CPU

Normally, MB's have 6 SATA ports. To have ten, you'll have to add a add on card.
New MB have more USB 3.x ports than USB 2.0

When you ready to build the new computer, come back to the Forum.

 

[BuckSkin]

When you ready to build the new computer, come back to the Forum.

Thanks for explaining the "lake" business.

Whenever I do embark on that mission, I most definitely will be bombarding you guys with plenty of questions; I have more than my share just keeping our regular machines running.

 

[BuckSkin]

Hope not, but I think you have a disk problem.
Backup your data on another disk. Better be safe than sorry.

Alas, you may very well be right.

During this debacle, each time that I did something and the O/S would come back to life and all would seem good, then in a few hours everything would start degrading again.
I finally gave up on fixing that particular O/S and cloned the O/S of an identical machine onto the problem HDD; everything was then good as new (see post #17 of this same thread)

That was a week ago and two nights ago everything went down the drain to the point that, after sitting idle for a bit, everything was froze up again; after a forced shut-down, it would not boot past the Welcome screen; and, on the few times it did get past the Welcome screen, it would get to the desktop, load maybe half of the icons, and hang right there.
No amount of booting from the repair disk would get me any farther, not even in SAFE mode.

After I fix something, it will work for a bit and then get all corrupted again; is that typical of a damaged HDD?


At the present, I installed a different HDD that has a recent clone of the O/S and everything seems to be working as it should, although I have not as yet really put it to the test.

I have the problem HDD USB-connected and can read/write to anything I have tried so far.

I marked this case UNSOLVED as it appears that I ain't out of the woods just yet.

 

[behutchins]

first off, it's a DELL. There's your problem. lol. but no, SERIOUSLY, you do need to run chkdsk c: /f /r AND SCAN FOR ERRORS.

NOTICE: IT THE HARD DRIVE IS SEVERELY SCREWED, IT COULD TAKE HOURS OR EVEN DAYS TO REPAIR. I HAD ONE THAT TOOK 72 HOURS TO SCAN. JUST SAYING.

YOU COULD ALWAYS BOOT FROM THE HIDDEN PARTITION. MOST COMPUTERS NOW DAYS HAVE ONE. IT COULD BE ALT+F10, ALT+F11, OR ALT+F12, CHECK THE MANUAL OR LOOK ONLINE TO VERIFY.

 

[BuckSkin]

I would suggest checking your bios settings.
I use Asus motherboards and in my bios their is a setting, telling the computer not to start after power loss. I do not know if Dell has such a option in the bios.

Thanks.

I could not see any option to prevent or allow a start after power loss; maybe I didn't look in the right place.

What I did find in BIOS is an option saying "Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure."

I Google-searched that and, as best I can gather, it has more to do with an O/S crash than a sudden loss of power.

Always before, as soon as the current was off, all of our machines shut down and remained shut down; I do not know what caused this one to begin starting as soon as the power returned.

 

[Megahertz07]

"Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure." is equivalent to not to start after power loss.

 

[BuckSkin]

"Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure." is equivalent to not to start after power loss.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.