Mysterious and frustrating problems/issues.

[EvilOzzness]

(First and foremost, I would like to apologize if this is the wrong place for me to post this and also if this is off-topic – as a mod to a site myself I understand how annoying things of this nature can be.)

Hi, I was wondering if someone would be able to help me out with four problems/issues I have been experiencing with my computer lately.

The first issue deals with the clock, and that would be that every other day or so the clock will jump exactly two hours, two minutes, two seconds, two days, and go from AM to PM/PM to AM unexpectedly. (I doubt whether this has anything to do with the computer’s battery because this problem didn’t begin to manifest until we dropped AOL dial-up/High Speed for Broadband – although I cannot rule this out as the culprit either.)

The reason this is such a tedious problem for me is because I do all of my schooling online and the programs I use to attend classes and take my tests/exams in are extremely sensitive to the time and date on my computer and the time and date on my school’s servers. If they do not match up near exactly, then I am unable to do what I need to do for school. If this wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t be so nit-picky about it and just deal lol.

Other information: This is the error message that keeps getting logged in the “Event viewer” of the “Maintenance” section of my system’s ACP when this occurs: The time service has not been able to synchronize the system time for 49152 seconds because none of the time providers has been able to provide a usable time stamp. The system clock is unsynchronized.

The second problem I am having is with the automatic updates function. For whatever reason, my computer has not been downloading and installing new and highly important updates like it is supposed to. The only two reasons for this that I can think of would be: 1. My firewall might be blocking content from Microsoft’s website. 2. Nod32 (my anti-junk program) is preventing my machine from doing what it is supposed to. Or, 3. There is something on/in my computer that shouldn’t be there which my anti-junk program can’t detect and get rid of. However, none of the above, as far as I can tell, is true.

The third issue would be that occasionally something will cause a currently opened window (which is in the process of being “hidden” to allow another window to become visible/or in the process of being “toggled” for another program/window), will “melt” off the screen, slowly. And sometimes this will cause the desktop icons behind it to disappear, flicker, become blank white, and then return to their rightful appearance about ten seconds (or, in some cases, longer) afterwards. Also, every once in a while I will hear a distinct singular beep when this happens (very much so similar to the beep on start-up). This does not happen very often, but it isn’t exactly rare either.

And the fourth and final issue would be that my machine will “rev up” when things load, especially at start-up. And usually following this, I will hear a low/medium crackle-buzz noise. I defragment and maintenance this machine frequently, so there is no real reason this should be happening, unless the dust within the tower has something to do with insulating the machine and making the heat-sinker over-work itself?

Any help on the above issues would be greatly appreciated.

Computer Information: 2004 Dell Dimension 3000 entry level Desktop PC with a Windows XP Home Edition OS.

System components:
Intel™ Pentium™ 4 Processor
Intel™ Integrated PCI 865GV graphics card
Standard ATA-100, 720 RPM, Hard drive
512 MB DIMM 184 pin PC3200 RAM Modules.

Internet Information:
ISP: Mediacom.
Type: Broadband.
Connection type: LAN
Router: Motorola

Other Information:
I am on this computer 10+ hours daily as I both work and do schooling on this machine, and it is more than two years old. (Perhaps some of the components within the tower are beginning to fail as a direct result of over-heating and constant prolonged use?)

[piff263]

could be the hardrive for the fourth issue did your computer always rev up how you are describing

[EvilOzzness]

Originally Posted by oreilly could be the hardrive for the fourth issue did your computer always rev up how you are describing

No, that started about seven to six months ago. When I first got this computer the entire system was really quiet and on the off chance there was any noise, it was barely noticeable (probably just the fan, I'm guessing). But when this problem was first really brought to my attention it wasn't very loud, but still loud enough to concern me.

I thought I had solved this issue a few weeks ago because I had defragmented the HD and done other clean-ups of the C drive etc. and it almost went away completely, but the noises are now just recently coming back ten-fold and can now be heard from the hallway (which is about ten feet from my office).

[Cricket]

What kind of security software do you have installed? Which antivirus, spyware scanner, spyware blocker, etc...

How often do you scan your computer for viruses and other malware?

And please don't use colored type, it's really hard to read.

Cricket

[EvilOzzness]

Originally Posted by Cricket What kind of security software do you have installed? Which antivirus, spyware scanner, spyware blocker, etc... How often do you scan your computer for viruses and other malware? And please don't use colored type, it's really hard to read. Cricket

Sorry about the font color.

I have Nod32 Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware etc. as my default junk detector and I run all tree of it's scan sectors at least three times a week – save the in-depth scanner because that can usually take up to an hour or longer - I run that once every week or every other week). And it's "background scanner" is always on for detecting bad stuff that might come in through emails or while I'm surfing the net etc. (So far it's been doing a superb job.) And I use Microsoft Firewall.

[piff263]

it sounds like the harddrive but im not sure have you recently cleaned your computer out for dust because sometimes you psu wires can get in the way of a fan and make annoying noise.

its hard to tell without being there for the third issue it sounds like you computer is catching up but for the black and white part i don't know

and second problem look at the status of your firewall on what it has been blocking i can't remember how to do it on norton but i did it before and your firewall will give you a list on what it blocks.

double click the time on you computer bottom of the screen goto internet time tab and make sure it says update automatically and try clicking [update now]

[EvilOzzness]

Originally Posted by oreilly it sounds like the harddrive but im not sure have you recently cleaned your computer out for dust because sometimes you psu wires can get in the way of a fan and make annoying noise. its hard to tell without being there for the third issue it sounds like you computer is catching up but for the black and white part i don't know and second problem look at the status of your firewall on what it has been blocking i can't remember how to do it on norton but i did it before and your firewall will give you a list on what it blocks. double click the time on you computer bottom of the screen goto internet time tab and make sure it says update automatically and try clicking [update now]

I can’t open my tower because the case has some weird bolts (the heads of which are slightly indented in a circular fashion) that I don’t have a tool for which prohibits me from accessing the inside of the tower. If this wasn’t the case I would have cleaned the dust out of it a year ago… =[

I looked at both what my firewall and Firefox/Explorer browsers have in terms of restrictions but Microsoft.com and Windows.com aren’t listed in any of the above.

When I tried to do the time Internet update thing it jumped to 12:28 PM from the correct time of 10:28 AM. Maybe the problem is in my system’s time zone settings, but I don’t know how that can be because GMT -8 is the correct time settings for the general CA, USA area, or at least I think it is.

The server it was updating from is [time-C.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov] should this maybe be [time.windows.com] instead or else another server?

[piff263]

i use time.windows.com and i live in californa and you want pacific time
i just tried the other website and they got the right time but try switching it might work do you have the right date to otherwise i think its the battery in you computer that keeps track of time

is your firewall nortan if so go to the security center and it will be in there not in the browsers
and some were there will be a list on all the connections that happend during a certain period of time like were you been on web and which programs accesed the internet for updates ext.
sorry for my poor description i use mcaffe now so its hard to remember

for your tower it sounds like a star bolt umm are you sure those are the only screws stopping you because you soppose to clean out your computer to keep it from overheating (i had a compaq computer that did that to me motherboard died compputer was about 2 or 3 years old i lived in some dusty places though. so theres no screws with the (+) or (-) or even a thumb screw i will go to dell website and see what i can find real quick

http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1076111 this shows you how to open case and it should be same model as yours. but be careful if you have a warrenty don't open it because it will have a void sticker if you open or some computers have the sticker to keep you from tampering with computer parts i don't agree with that rule because you should clean your computer out and it will run quiter if you have alot of dust on your fans makes fans run harder

[EvilOzzness]

Originally Posted by oreilly i use time.windows.com and i live in californa and you want pacific time i just tried the other website and they got the right time but try switching it might work do you have the right date to otherwise i think its the battery in you computer that keeps track of time is your firewall nortan if so go to the security center and it will be in there not in the browsers and some were there will be a list on all the connections that happend during a certain period of time like were you been on web and which programs accesed the internet for updates ext. sorry for my poor description i use mcaffe now so its hard to remember for your tower it sounds like a star bolt umm are you sure those are the only screws stopping you because you soppose to clean out your computer to keep it from overheating (i had a compaq computer that did that to me motherboard died compputer was about 2 or 3 years old i lived in some dusty places though. so theres no screws with the (+) or (-) or even a thumb screw i will go to dell website and see what i can find real quick http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1076111 this shows you how to open case and it should be same model as yours. but be careful if you have a warrenty don't open it because it will have a void sticker if you open or some computers have the sticker to keep you from tampering with computer parts i don't agree with that rule because you should clean your computer out and it will run quiter if you have alot of dust on your fans makes fans run harder

I had a look at the time, date, etc. part of the ACP and found that my system’s time zone got messed up and was set to GMT -6 somehow. Maybe that’s why window’s sever rejected my system because I’ve tried twice to make time.windows.com the server it synchronizes with, but it keeps telling me that “The time sample was rejected because: The peer’s stratum is less than the host’s stratum.” So, I’m not sure whether that server is going to work for me because the clock is still skipping around whether or not I try to use that server or another one.

No, I use window’s firewall. The only thing I can see in the “Firewall” window from the ACP is the exceptions of programs and LAN connections and not the allowed/disallowed sites. For that I have to poke around in Explorer’s stuff.

I’m pretty sure. The hexagon-like bolts in the back are what hold all of the hardware and the motherboard in place, so I don’t really want to mess with those lol. The front panel might just maybe come off but the only problem is, is that I have a ROM drive and burner in there and I am afraid that if I try to remove it to access the inside of the machine it will pull away the wires etc. to the motherboard etc. and cause more damage than good.

Yes my machine is under a four year warranty (-2 years now). That’s one of the many initial reasons I haven’t really attempted to open this thing up. The other would be that I do not have a shock wristband or “Grounder” to protect the machine from damage by means of static from myself…

Thanks for link and info. I might take my chances and open up the tower once I get one of those "Grounder" things to clean it out, but right now I can't take such a big risk as this is the only computer I have and I need it for work and school XD. Perhaps I should try and contact Dell support and ask what I should do or where I should go to have it done properly so that the warranty won't be void...

[piff263]

ya sounds like a good idea leaving the case alone but that link that i gave you should of been your type of computer but oww well i would leave it alone its a four year warrenty
and some times the company you buy a computer from such as dell compaq mac ext. can provide better support because other peaple might have same problems if you do go though dell i wish you luck i been there a couple times and its frusterating
and it shouldn't be the front panel. so just leave that part alone sense you need it for school

did you always have problems with automatic update if it worked before try clicking or opening windows firewall and go to the advanced tab and click [restore defaults]

for you clock did you ever get a message saying replace clock battery?
and is that all it said was 'The time sample was rejected because: The peer’s stratum is less than the host’s stratum.” because i was having trouble finding any support on the error

[EvilOzzness]

Originally Posted by oreilly ya sounds like a good idea leaving the case alone but that link that i gave you should of been your type of computer but oww well i would leave it alone its a four year warrenty and some times the company you buy a computer from such as dell compaq mac ext. can provide better support because other peaple might have same problems if you do go though dell i wish you luck i been there a couple times and its frusterating and it shouldn't be the front panel. so just leave that part alone sense you need it for school did you always have problems with automatic update if it worked before try clicking or opening windows firewall and go to the advanced tab and click [restore defaults] for you clock did you ever get a message saying replace clock battery? and is that all it said was 'The time sample was rejected because: The peer’s stratum is less than the host’s stratum.” because i was having trouble finding any support on the error

Yeah, what makes it even more frustrating and difficult than it already has to be is having a parent who doesn’t give a rat’s bottom about the computer’s health and “knows” for a fact that there’s nothing wrong with it because, and I quote “Dells always rev up and make noise, my old computer at work always does.” and therefore will probably take her sweet time in helping me out with the Dell Support people and getting this thing serviced properly lol. I just hope this thing doesn't explode by that time.

No it’s always worked without problems until recently when the yellow update shield appears on the mini-task bar or system tray next to the clock like it does when it’s actually downloading and installing the updates, but it keeps getting stuck on “Downloading: 0% of updates” or something similar until I reboot the computer and after that I don't see it again and there are no new updates on my system as well as no update history on the dates this happens. This has occurred at least five times in the last two months, but I am able to download and install the updates if I go to update.windows.com to download and install the updates manually though, so this is a bit weird to say the least.

I’ll try to restore the default settings of the firewall and see if this happens again, but it might take me a while to see if there is still a problem with the automatic updates function because there aren’t any updates to download and install for XP SP2 currently.

And I’ve never been alerted to swap the battery out yet. Yes, that was all it said. However I just synchronized the clock from the time.windows.com server and it worked this time without any errors or skipping, so I don’t exactly have any idea as to why it wouldn’t do it before as I tried to do it both before and after I changed the time zone on the system from -6 to -8 GMT. I’ll keep an eye out on this and take note of when and if it happens again. =]

[glc]

You will not void the warranty by opening the case, and you really should do this and clean out the dust. No tools required, just slide the latch as shown in the link.

[EvilOzzness]

Originally Posted by glc You will not void the warranty by opening the case, and you really should do this and clean out the dust. No tools required, just slide the latch as shown in the link.

Righto, so... what should I use to clean the dust out with? Would that air in a can stuff which is used to clean keyboards work?

[glc]

Air in a can is better than nothing, but it doesn't really have a lot of power. Take the computer outside so you don't fill the house up with dust and use something with more power, such as a vacuum cleaner with the hose in the outlet - use the crevice tool as a nozzle. A lot of you are going to cringe, but I've used electric leaf blowers and garage air compressors too. Be very careful with high pressure things, and compressors can do nasty things if the water isn't thoroughly drained and if it doesn't have an inline drier.

A lot of Dells have plastic shrouds over the processor heatsink - with a duct to a case fan. These can be a pain, because the first place you need to blow the dust out of is the heatsink fins. You should use popsicle sticks or coffee stirrers to wedge into fans to keep the air pressure from spinning them.

If you do not feel comfortable doing this, ask around the local small computer shops and see if they would do this for you for a nominal fee.

[piff263]

ya just ground you self before cleaning the inside ya sorry about that incorrect information on the warrenty but i now it voids some i think if the seal or sticker is broken some one tampered with you hardware before you bought you computer

for your clock don't now why it was doing it but sometimes changing things to factory setting will fix things

why don't you want your fan spinning by the air pressure the only thing that i could come up with is it might demagnitize the motor causing not to turn when you turn on computer

[sgtspector]

Because the bearings in the fan aren't designed to turn as quickly as a compressor or a vacuum with the crevice tool blowing on the fan blades. If your fan doesnt turn on when you turn on the computer thats a "bad thing".

[glc]

Exactly - you can burn out the bearings in the fan motor like that, especially cheap sleeve bearing fans.

[piff263]

makes sense

[EvilOzzness]

I'm going to go for cleaning out the dust in the tower myself soon. I just need to get a grounding strap and a few cans of compressed air beforehand. It might take me a week or longer to get the stuff and do it though. =]

And, the clock hasn't given me any trouble in the last day or so, so maybe it won't skip around on me anymore...

[piff263]

you should need only one can i use keyboard cleaner thats just (mostly) compressed air $6.00 at kmart
and it gives me about 3 or four cleans easly for my whole computer good luck with finding the Anti-Static Wrist Band most that i see come with a tool kit for about 25 dollars try a local computer repair shop