I had 2 KVM switches stop doing their job last night. I don't have the time or space to troubleshoot them. I've had problems with certain computers that I'm servicing in my office not see any monitor through any KVM switch that I've had. Generally, I'm just looking to see if these devices are conveniences rather than reliable tools.\nThank You for your insights.
215757
I've never had a problem with a KVM switch. As far as I'm concerned, there pretty reliable. I use them for the multiple servers located here.\n\nI guess it also depends on who makes the switch. I personally like Belkin. You should give them a shot.\n\nGood luck!
353279
Could be a bad monitor - sometimes that happens.\nOr there could be something that's causing interference such as a cell phone charging nearby, a fan running etc...
574494
i swear to god... if you goto Cnet!!!\n\n\nwww.Tomshardware.com \n\nis where you go for real reviews. where they really test the hardware.\n\n\nlol last month they took all the hottest power supplys.. and ran them at 100% for 14 days. day and night. \n\n1 caught fire!!! \n\n2 smoked!!!!\n\n\nsupertech has a point too.
384500
Sounds like the CMOS battery is about to die (because of the CMOS checksum error). They cost under $20.\nIf you are generally happy with the computer and it is performing all the functions you need you might want to keep it. If you need more speed, better graphics, etc.. you may consider a new one.\nOff the shelf units (Compaq, HP) from chain stores offer great systems with lcd monitors for under $600. Good Luck.
166355
Reset CMOS. Better still, remove and replace the CMOS battery.  If that does not work, then you need to have the motherboard tested to see if the back panel connectors are working properly.\n\nEdited- PN   she said she already checked the keyboard on another pc, besides if the CMOS battery dies, it can do so quickly so you would not be able to tell if time was kept properly.  This is from years of experience with PC repair, so before you answer, read the question.
93074
Very cute getting other people to do your IT support for free :D\nGuess I am the 1st sucker to come along :&#92;\nIn theory this is a question you should be asking emachines support - this is part of the price you payed for buying a branded machine.  You could have got better components for the same money if you had bought components & pieced them together yourself & then relied on YahAns. for tech. support XD\n\nI searched for your model on the site & it says that your gfx is indeed built-in, 'on board' or 'integrated' as this is often called, since the chips are soldered onto, & part of the mainboard construction.\n\nGraphics chip used:\nIntel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (GMA900)\nUp to 224MB DDR shared video memory\n\nHere is the rest of this machine's *default* configuration:\n\nCPU: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 516 (64-bit with Intel® EM64T) (1MB L2 cache, 2.93GHz, 533MHz FSB)\n\nOp. Sys.: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition (SP2)\n\nChipset: Intel® 915GV\n\nMemory: 512MB DDR SDRAM (2 × 256MB), 400MHz Dual Channel\nExpandable to 4GB\n\nHard Drive: 200GB Serial ATA (7200rpm, 8MB cache)\n\nOptical Drive: 16x DVD±RW multiformat double layer drive\n\nVideo: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (GMA900)\nUp to 224MB DDR shared video memory\n\nSound: Intel® High Definition 6-Channel (5.1) Audio\n\nNetwork: Intel® PRO 10/100Mbps integrated Ethernet LAN\n\nModem: 56K ITU V.92-ready Fax/Modem\n\nPeripherals: Standard Multifunction Keyboard, 2-Button Wheel Mouse, Amplified Stereo Speakers\n\nPorts/Other: 7 USB 2.0 (2 in front, 4 in back, 1 in Media Reader), 1 IEEE 1394, 1 VGA external connector, 1 serial, 1 parallel, 2 PS/2, 5 audio ports (2 in front, 3 in back)\n\nDimensions: 14.25"H x 7.25"W x 16.00"D\n\n(You don't clarify as to whether you have done any upgrades or payed to have some added yourself).\n\nSadly the one component we are interested in is not mentioned at all - the mainboard.\nYou have to ensure that you disable the onboard graphics chips (the Intel GMA900 chip in your case) if you can & do purchase a graphics card that is CORRECT for the slot your motherboard has.  I would imagine it has the more recently introduced PCI-Express graphics connector or at the very least one of the older style AGP connectors.  The mainboard could come with both, though this is perhaps less likely.\nEither way a card designed to interface via AGP is physically different to a card connecting via PCI-Express (commonly abbreviated to PCI-E).\n\nI will try & get the spec on the mainboard used by your machine (though emachines may change this depending on what deals they can strike with their supplier over what number of units - they are primarily trying to end up with as large a profit as possible of course), so it could be something that can only be ascertained with diagnostic software.\nYou could find out exactly what motherboard it is by running some official discovery/diagnostic software such as the free edition of 'everest' which used to be known as Aida32 before.\nWhats particularly good about it is that it does not need to be installed the exe unpacks the archive to a directory & you just run it from there.\n\nDownload it here.\nhttp://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html\n\nThen run the mainboard/motherboard (different terms for the same thing) info section & come back here with the complete text for the boards model.\n\nYou can right click the text & then paste it in Yahoo Answers.\n\nThe icon you want to select is in the left pane of Everest & is labelled "Motherboard".  On my machine this gives:\n\nField:\nMotherboard ID\n\nValue:\n08/19/2003  nVidia-nForce A7N8X2.0C-00\n\nSo my motherboard(mainboard same thing)'s serial is A7N8X (Revision or version)2.0C.\nWhen I look that up online I can see the full specification for all the features of the board.\n\nWith yours we will then be able to look it up on the board manufacturers website & arrive on precisely
406580
well on most computer the HD has its own display light. If it is messed up you can usually hear it clicking wierd or feel it and see if it is spinning. Something can often fry in a comp without any external evidence and the most likely thing to go is teh power supply. BTW dont buy another emachine. they are dangerous. My friend's caught on fire one day. it sucked anyways.
235621
As well as the other answers...\n It sounds like one or more keys on the laptop are being\nshorted out, and the problem is getting worse. I have had this\nhappen on a few keyboards, for various reasons. \n If you can go to the Compaq website and find how to remove the keyboard, often just releasing two or more slid buttons \nat top or botom, or sliding keyboard up or down, and gently lifting, to expose a ribbon cable, which you usually snap out a wedge release and pull out cable, etc.\n THEN, you can examine the keyboard, or plug in an external\nkeyboard, without interference from the "suspect" keyboard.\nSince the touchpad, and the self-suspend mode are also\nmalfunctioning ( these may be keyboard controlled ! ), there\nmay be a larger problem with the I/O connctor from the laptop top, to the motherboard. I suspect mechanical problems. Could the keyboard have been squished, and had buttons pressed too hard, which had caused contacts to \ntouch at random? There is a number of keyboard -design peculiarities I have run across with DRY contamination- whereby the traces on the circuitboard itself, particularly\nsilver painted ( probably multi process electroplating )\nor black carbon paint traces, will produce a fine powder,\nwhich drifts across the circuitboard, gradually shorting the\ntraces, causing random inputs. This dry silver, or black powder can be virtually invisible to the naked eye, and must\nbe cleaned off with a damp cloth, gently... It is the exact same powder that shorts out many remote controls for TV etc. and shorts out many game pads...\n Based on the behaviour of the keyboard, and the fact that nothing is wet, this would be my first bet.\n Laptop keyboards are "one-of a-kind " and there are no rules, as manufacturers boldly try every new idea to make them thinner and lighter... \n I dont think that the keys themselves are at fault, and that you have to look at the actual traces UNDER the keys...\nIt is a bit difficult, and you must proceed slowly and carefully...\n With ordinary Desktop keyboards, my advice on this ANSWER \nforum, is as follows... and some of the same advice still applies...\n\nMost of the answers already have some merit.\nI have a couple of older keyboards that I really like\nthe key action, the placement, and the key sizes.\n(the backspace is two keys wide, The ENTER is two buttons wide and two buttons tall, such as an IBM Selectric, etc.) \n There are about 5 different kinds of keyboard construction.\nThere are also dozens of rare models, and depending on what\nkind it is, you either can take it apart fairly easily,\nor you should not even open the case! One type of IBM board\nhas a coil spring under each key with a rocker arm. The spring is like the one in a ball point pen, and all are loaded, so that if you take the top and bottom halves apart, you end up with hundreds of springs and parts flying all over the room.\n However. 99% of keyboards are not as complicated. Many keyboards have screws on the back. If so you can use a phillips screwdriver (star) and remove them. The top and bottom of the keyboard usually have snaps that generally open from the front first, and hinge on the back. Gently pop the two halves.  If there are no screws then the halves just pop.\nUse a flat screwdriver to pop along the seams. Every couple of inches there will be a snap.\n You will generally see one of 2 basic types today.\nThere will be a green cirucuit board with copper traces on it, covered by a rubber sheet with buttons in it, or you will find each key has a tiny rubber button -- open the keyboard upside down, so the keys and buttons are held\nin place...\nNote that the SPACE bar, the ENTER and other wide keys may have two buttons, and a wire or plastic bar underneath that has an arm on each end to keep the wide key from wobbling from side to side. These vary quite a bit in how they snap in place. You have to figure out how to unsnap them - usually by springing in the two ends which ar
400082
HOLD ON GUYS!!!\nbefore you start ripping your computer apart, and running out to buy a new video card try the simple things first.\na) are all cables connected correctly and securely.\nb) are all power cables connected. etc.\nc) did you try the reset button\nd) try a different monitor on your computer, and see if your monitor will work on another computer.\nif none of those things work and you are comfortable opening up your computer, then do so and check the connections.
486404
forget that test, they always find some "faults" only to animate you buying a useless system tool. if the PC is working normally why should you change something?
106580
If you had power issues then lagging would be the least of your problems. A switching power supply will shut down if overloaded. If you are concerned that your PC may be getting close to pushing the limits of the power supply, You can check the the amperage either on the AC or DC side with a clamp-on amp meter to determine the load the PC is drawing.
502573
I would never use anything other than a trackball.  Super precise. No fatigue since your hand never moves.  \n\nI am looking for a new one now and wanted the Kensington Expert Optical but it doesn't work with a KVM switch so I am still shopping. If KVM wasn't an issure I would get the Kensington Expert Optical trackball in a heartbeat.
526185
I had the same problem with my home computer, except the fan was working and that was it. Had to bring it back to Best Buy where we bought it. If you bring it back to where you bought it, they should fix it for free (Though i remember we had to use a little force through anger to get them to do it :)
657046
It deffently sounds like something went bad inside of the monitor. CRT are never really cost effective to fix, even if it is a cheap part the labor will always cost alot, some of the replacement parts can actually cost more then what you origionally paid for the monitor.
603860
Yeah make sure that the mechanical switch is turned "on" on your laptop. Also, go to network connections via "my computer" and make sure that u have a wireless connection configured, if not, it only takes like 30 secs to make one, all u have to do is give it a title pretty much. Hope you get it working!
469105
Unfortunately, a computer is not yet as consistently reliable as a refrigerator or a toaster. A computer can and will misbehave on occasion. I've heard all the laments. My computer just crashed. My screen is frozen. My system is running too slow. No matter what you call it, there is never a good time for a computer to act improperly. Unfortunately, this is a normal part of computing in today's world. You may or may not know what has caused the problem. But in the end, it is the way that you handle the problem that will make all the difference.\n\nLook for the obvious\nFirst be patient. If your computer fails to respond to your keystrokes, it may have a problem. However, the computer could also be busy performing some other function, which you may not be aware of. For instance, your computer may seem to stop when automatically saving a file or when printing something in the background. So give it a minute or two. If it still doesn't respond, look for an obvious problem first. It may sound simplistic, but sometimes the problem is easily found. If your screen is blank, check the power cable. Make sure that the power to the house has not gone off. Also, many newer computers have a suspend feature that blanks out the screen in order to save electricity. Press a few keys to see if the computer will come back to life on its own.\n\nIf your screen is still on, but your mouse clicks and keystrokes don't elicit any response, try a couple of simple checks first. Make sure that everything is still connected. Perhaps your dog just ran out from under your desk and loosened the keyboard or mouse cable. In many programs, the Escape key, which is marked Esc, will take you back one step. So always try hitting the Escape key a few times before you concede that the computer is truly locked up. If you still get no response and the connections check out okay, it's time to go on to the next step.\n\nThe magic key combination\nThe next step is the magic key combination. Find the keys marked Ctrl, Alt and Del. Press these three keys all at once. This key combination is a remnant of the DOS days of computing. In DOS, pressing these three keys caused the computer to restart or "warm" boot. The Windows operating system uses these three keys in a similar, but slightly different way. If you are using Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me, when you hit the magic key combination you will be presented with a Close Programs box that shows a list of the programs that are currently running. If Windows has found the offending program, it will list the words "not responding" next to the program's name. You can then highlight the name of the errant program, press End Task and return to your computing. (You will lose any data in that program that you have not yet saved.) You also have the option of pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del again to restart your computer. This should be used only after you have tried the other options unsuccessfully.\n\nWindows XP handles the Ctrl+Alt_Del key combination slightly different. Pressing these keys in Windows XP will bring up a "Windows Task Manager" screen. (In the Professional version of XP, you need to choose "Task Manager".) Click on the Applications tab to see the list of currently running programs as described in the last paragraph. Most average users will not have to be concerned with the information on the other tabs on this screen. Luckily, Windows XP doesn't freeze as much as previous versions of Windows.\n\nOccasionally, even the Close Program Box and/or Windows Task Manager Box freezes or is inoperable. If this happens, your last resort is to restart the computer. If your system has a restart button, you can press it to restart the computer. If you don't have a reset button, turn off the computer. Wait several minutes, and then turn it on again. It is important to wait a few minutes to let the hard drive and other components come to a complete stop before res
87314
Did you try to look over your power options? You might have accidently clicked something to save yourself energy. Try: Start, control panel, performance & maintanence, power options. hope this helps :)