After the computer has been turned-off for a period of time (a few hours) it takes more than 15 minutes to start-up again. While this is happening the computer whirrs away, but the screen is completely blank. Once the computer has finished booting-up (after the long wait) the screen is alive and everything works fine at a reasonable speed. However, if the computer is left running and goes to sleep then it can take up to another 5 minutes or more to wake-up. As you can see, it seems that the computer is a bit lethargic when waking-up from a dormant state! The strange thing is that if I shutdown the computer, and then immediately start it up again, it boots normally with all action visible on screen and is done in about a minute. Do you know why this is happening? (more…)

Upon attaching devices to the USB ports on my computer a message appears saying “This device could perform faster…” which relates to connecting the devices to a USB 2.0 port. My motherboard manufacturers documentation claims that the motherboard supports USB 2.0 and upon visiting the manufacturers website it seems that a BIOS flash update is required to enable this support. However, I am reluctant to proceed as I have heard that flashing the BIOS can render the computer unusable if something goes wrong during the process. Can you provide advice or reassurance on this matter? (more…)

My computer is a Pentium IV 3.4 GHz with 1 GB RAM and Windows XP. When using Adobe Premiere 6.0 for video editing I attempt to export a movie timeline. After about 15 minutes of processing the computer shuts down randomly. After this, the computer will not even boot-up again. However, if I leave the computer for 15 minutes I can successfully reboot. Is this a hardware problem with the computer? I am keen to get this solved, as I can’t use the computer in this current state. (more…)

I am interested in buying a second hand computer for my grandchildren to play games. Can you provide some advice on the specifics of the computer I should purchase, such as the amount of RAM, hard drive size, and the processor speed (is a Pentium 3 alright, or should I look for more recent models)? (more…)

Sometimes when I turn on the computer it does not properly come online. The monitor light goes green for a few seconds, but then goes back to amber (standby) colour. Turning the computer off and on at the power point, causes the following message to appear when the computer starts: ‘Award BIOS Setup Utility. Main Advanced Power Boot Exit’. Then all sorts of jargon appears on the screen. To get out of this menu I go to the ‘Exit’ tab and another message appears saying ‘Save configuration changes and exit now? Yes No’. Yes being highlighted, I click Enter and then, all starts as normal. What is wrong with the computer? Also, the computer tends to freeze for no apparent reason. Is there anything I can do about this other problem? (more…)