[Ham-Computers] RE: Heat Related?

[Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)]

Hmmmm, it may or may not be heat related, but it definitely wasn't a good sign!

What was your friend doing when the system rebooted?  This might give a clue as to whether or not it over-heated.  Additional info would be helpful - operating system, and computer specs.

Is Outlook the only thing taking longer to startup now?  Since the system spontaneously shutdown, the first thing I'd do is to check the hard drive for logical errors.  Assuming it's Windows XP:

- Open a Command Prompt (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt)
- Type "chkdsk %SystemDrive% /f" (without the quotes)
- The system will prompt if you wish to check the drive at the next boot.  Answer "Y".
- Shutdown and reboot the system.

The %SystemDrive% is usually "C:", but to be safe, I used the variable as some people might have Windows on a different partition/drive.  Once the system reboots, it should state that the system drive is being checked for inconsistencies - this is CHKDSK doing it's job.  It checks the structures of the drive to make sure there aren't any "logical" problems - if it finds any, it will attempt to fix them.  CHKDSK will not "fix" physical problems, but will attempt to work around them - if there is a physical problem, it's most likely time to replace the drive.

After CHKDSK does it's thing, it will reboot into Windows.  Check to see if Outlook is still taking a while, here are the next two things I'd do...

1.  Defrag the hard drive - heavy fragmentation will slow down the system, especially with programs that rely on a "live" open file (such as Outlook).

2.  Run SCANPST.EXE to make sure the Outlook .PST isn't corrupted or error ridden.  This is only valid if you're using the full verion of Outlook, not Outlook Express.  SCANPST is buried here:

  C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033

You'll need to close Outlook before running it as it needs access to the PST file.  Depending on the size of the PST file, it can take take a while to scan an finish.  Basically, it scans the PST structure for errors.  If errors are found, it will prompt if you want to repair them - it basically takes everything readible out of the PST and creates a new one with the same name (the old is renamed).

One more thing...older PST files (Outlook XP/2002 and earlier) have a usuable limit of 1GB and a "hard" limit of 2GB.  Once the PST file reaches 1GB, Outlook starts running into problems handling it.  Once it reaches 2GB, the PST file "breaks" and Outlook can no longer access it.  Microsoft has a utility that will recover what it can from a broken 2GB PST file, but not everything can be recovered.  If your friend's PST file is >1GB, SCANPST should be able to make it usable (and (s)he should split the PST by creating an additional PST and moving e-mails into the new one (perhaps split by date).  Then run SCANPST against both.

But, if it's >2GB, you'll need to use Microsoft's utility to recover what it can.  Once done, create additional PST files and start moving e-mails to reduce the size of the recovered PST.  Then run SCANPST against all.


  - Aaron

-----Original Message-----
From: ham-computers-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:ham-computers-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of KD7JYK
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 11:16 AM
To: Computers (or other) used for amateur radio, communications, or experimenting
Subject: [Ham-Computers] Heat Related?

A friend just sent me the following:

"My computer just spontaneously shut down and rebooted itself.  That can't
be good.

Then it took about 12 minutes to get Outlook to open, and about another 4
minutes to open a new message window.  If this keeps up, I guess I'll have
to bring a book over here to read while my computer plays with itself."

Any ideas?

Kurt

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