Re: Windows machine died last night at exactly midnight

Bob,

The capacitors are /*_definitely_*/ the culprit...I've seen it scores of
times. I've had it on at least one server of mine too, and it exhibited
the odd power off issue you described as well.

(FWIW, the midnight thing is purely coincidental. I've also never heard
of any virus or such thing which could cause capacitor failure.)

The eruptions are the late stages of cap failure, meaning that the
electrolytic acid inside has already been boiling for some time and now
it's finally popped the cap. So, looking back, perhaps you recall some
odd behavior on this system? Usually I see odd crashes/lockups that
aren't reproduceable.

Anyway, the caps located adjacent to the CPU are generally those
involved in critical voltage regulators, so when they go the system goes.

You can replace them, or have it done, but on newer boards with
lead-free solder it's a royal pain, and I've had far less success
personally. I've ordered my replacement caps from badcaps.net, and the
fellow there also does repairs, if you're interested in getting this
machine back up and running without just replacing it.

Luke G.
Total Digital Consulting, LLC
http://www.totaldigitalconsulting.com/

On 07/19/2014 01:00 PM, pctech-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Another strange thing is that it wont power down,. Eg: If the pc I turned
on, fans running, etc etc, then press and hold the power switch, then
release it, the machine does not shutdown.

...
Looking at the mother board, I see a couple of capacitors that "don't look
right". You can a pic here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xffbdzwm75us9ak/DSC_0250.JPG

I had to remove the CPU fan to get to them.