power suply
 

so i get a call from my aunt. Her coming would not read CD's. So im like ok ill come down. Now bare with me cuz i dont have all the specs. I know its a p4 1600 with 256 ram. I turn it on and for some reason this thing is slow. I check msconfig for start up and all startup options are shut off. And i run spyware software and virus scans. I then open the case and make sure cd drive is install correctly. It is. So i reinstall drivers. And then i decide to just install the xtra cd drive i brought and see if it works. Well it worked so i concluded it was probly a bad cd drive. So i leave it in. But then there is always the problem of it being realy realy slow. And it cant be spyware cuz i check that and found minimal spyware. Then she tells me that her powersupply went bad and she had someone replace it. I did not look at thw wattage of the new powersupply. But i was just wondering if the powersupply could slow a computer down?

Nope. If the PSU is too low of wattage, the computer will simply turn on for half a second and then turn off, or turn off sporatically.

The only thing I can think of is the same CD-RW issue I had with my old burner. When I turned on my PC with the burner in, everything was simply slow as hell, especially the mouse. Keep in mind this was after I installed the CD-RW, so I know that's what it was. It turns out that the CD-burner had simply shitted out on me. It would read discs sometimes and flash the LED sometimes, but if it was in my PC, it ran slow as shit. I took it out and beat it to death with a sledge hammer, and it fixed the problem ASAP.

Try taking out the old CD-ROM and see if it fixes things. If it doesn't, then I don't know what to tell ya! Good luck!

-Lasereth

Not really. If there was a power problem, it would most likely manifest itself in random shutdowns or failing to boot at all.

Did you try the spare CD-ROM on the same IDE and power lead,,,

Does sound like a broken ROM to me.

i installed the new cd on a diffrent ide slot. Cuz i figured with them both on diffrent ide it would run faster. But acording to my aunt is slowed down right after this new PS was added. it dont make sense to me.

Make sure all he did was install a PSU--I can assure you, the PSU isnt your problem. Make sure she didnt install anything that could be slowing it down.

Sounds like something may have gotten shorted out, or is the old PSU took a digger, may have taken something with it, but still allows the computer to boot. I've seen this before...had it happen not too long ago.

It doesn't matter if it's on a different IDE channel or slot. You need to completely unplug the old CD-ROM and see if that fixes it. I personally think the CD-ROM is bad.

-Lasereth

yes the old cd rom is still in the case but not plug into the ide cable or have power to it. So all it is doing is closing the slot in the case hehe.

acording to my aunt the old powersupply fuse went out(for reason unknow to me). So they tried a new fuse and it shot sparks. It could of taken something else with it possable. Is there a way to check?

It could have EASILY fucked the RAM. I know there are RAM-testers out there, anyone know of any links?

-Lasereth

www.memtest86.com works very well... I have used it to diagnose bad ram of my own before.

thanks guys ill try this.

I've seen something like this before, a PSU gets swapped out and someone knocks the fan off of the processor..

Check that..

-SF