Do computers feel the cold?

[mint]

This might be a simplistic question but I ask it because I have noticed that my computer is showing signs of reluctance in the mornings when I try to wake it up.

It definitely does the electronic equivalent of yawning, coughing, spluttering and then, after I have shaken its metaphorical shoulder a few times and promised to make it a cup of tea, it sort of stretches and comes to and then starts up.

Seriously though, is there an optimal temperature at which to keep your puter?

[ViVienne]

you could maybe knit it a jumper!!!

[Théière]

Its more likely to go wrong when it gets hot through use than when dormant.

Have you tried deleting the browsing history, cookies, temporary internet files and doing a defrag?

Also switching it off helps clear the Cache (files stored in memory)

 

[sid]

If you keep it at Absolute Zero it would probably run faster! [:D]

Seriously though, I've never seen any warnings about low temperatures; it's usually the high temps which affect them.

Sid

 

[Panda]

-10 here last night and my PC is it's whizzy self.  Agree though with other post, delete your temp files etc and defrag that should do it.

[mint]

Thanks for the reply, guys.

Me, being such a whizz kid on the computer often have these strange thoughts when it doesn't run as I think it should.

Dull old me but will try a defrag (if I know what that entails)?

[AnOther]

Is it on the first start of the day rather than the actual time ?

[Babbles]

If you are using it off the battery, they do drain faster when its cold, but I don't know why[:)]

[AnOther]

Whist you're technically correct Babbles in order to experience a significant deterioration in battery performance the sort of temperatures we are talking about are well into negative numbers and I sincerely hope sweets home is a trifle warmer than that [;-)]

[mint]

[quote user="ErnieY"]Is it on the first start of the day rather than the actual time ?

[/quote]

Yes, Erns, you know I don't do early but always on first start up.

[suein56]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Yes, Erns, you know I don't do early but always on first start up.[/quote]

I had a similarish problem with my laptop a couple of months ago and decided that there were just too many programs trying to load at start-up; so I trimmed the start-up and all is - hopefully - hunkydory now.

Sue

[AnOther]

It could be as suein56 says and the best way to check what's starting up at boot time is with a free and tiny little utility called AUTORUNS.

You don't even have to install it just unzip it and run autoruns.exe

Look under the Logon tab and untick anything you don't want to run automatically.

To reverse anything you do just run it again and re-tick the box.

[Danny]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

[quote user="ErnieY"]Is it on the first start of the day rather than the actual time ?

[/quote]

Yes, Erns, you know I don't do early but always on first start up.

[/quote]

Another thought - If it is especially slow first time it is booted up in the day, a likely candidate is the anti virus software updating its database. What Anti Virus do you have running?

Danny

[mint]

I use Avast.

And I will have a little go at Ernie's programme.

The slowness is very noticeable as I get an excellent signal and it's really fast at all other times.

Also, Danny, what is the alarm sound that has now come on when I switch on first thing? (Never used to get it and now it's PING PING PING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, folks, don't tell me it's the alarm clock![:-))]

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

All electronic and electrical appliances have operating temperature ranges. Guess it depends how cold it is in your house.

We have one of those Senseo coffee makers and it was in our office (a converted shed) and it refused to operate when the temp was 4C. We brought it into the house, warmed it up by the fire for 10 mins and then it worked! Thank god!

[mint]

That does make sense to me.

Since the wifi has been working again, the laptop has been left downstairs in our cavern of a living room and it's damn cold in there in the morning before OH lights the fire.

Tomorrow, I'll try taking it into the hall or kitchen and bringing it up to normal room temperature before trying to start it.

LOL, it's like using eggs for cooking, isn't it?  Bring up to room temperature before using?

And I was so thrilled when the wifi decided to work again but it seems that I've exchanged one set of problems for another.

On balance, I'd rather the wifi works than anything else.  At least, I can sit at room temperature and work and not be banished to the spare bedroom upstairs where the modem is.

[Danny]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

I use Avast.

And I will have a little go at Ernie's programme.

The slowness is very noticeable as I get an excellent signal and it's really fast at all other times.

Also, Danny, what is the alarm sound that has now come on when I switch on first thing? (Never used to get it and now it's PING PING PING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, folks, don't tell me it's the alarm clock![:-))]

[/quote]

I use Avast too and it does update normally once in the morning but it doesn't take long - maybe a minute or so. Do as Ernie says and try temporarily disabling start up items to see what effect it has on your boot up time.

Sorry, I have no idea what the beeping is.

Danny

[AnOther]

When EXACTLY is the bleeping, in the first seconds - how many beeps - is it a regular or more a series of beeps, sort of like morse code for want of a better description ?

[mint]

Regular beeps, Erns, quite loud.

First few seconds until after the Windows screen lights up.

Then stops.  Beeps for longer when cold (when the computer is cold).  In fact, the dog always leaves the room when I start up because she doesn't like the noise.

[Théière]

Almost a sticking key on the keyboard during the post test?

What do you think ErnieY?

[Bugsy]

Beeps on start up...............a thought.

Some programmes beep when found on start up.

Same with additional hardware when found. (CD/DVD drive, PCMIA cards Internal Modems etc)

Skype, of course, if you have it loaded, has its own infamous beeps.

All sounds can be changed or removed by modifying them in Control Panel (Sounds). 

Gary.

[AnOther]

Is this a PC or a laptop we're talking about sweets ?

If it's a PC then it sounds to me like the CPU fan is not starting up properly (cold can easily do that to a failing fan) and this could well cause an alarm until it manages to spin up to the required speed.

If you feel confident enough to slip the case cover off you should be able to observe if this is the problem.

[Chancer]

My Avaste has a very loud feminine voice (which I cannot turned down) which booms out "AVASTE TA SIGNATURE DE BUSINESS à ETE MISE EN JOUR"   about two minutes after switching on, does anyone know how to silence this harridan?

[suein56]

[quote user="J.R gone native"]... does anyone know how to silence this harridan?[/quote]

I only have the humble free version - you get a bloke's voice not a female's - but I turned him off by right clicking on the Avast icon near the clock - Win XP - left clicking on programme settings, choosing sounds and then ticking in the box to 'disable avast sounds' - result silence!

Sue

[mint]

JR wrote:

My Avaste has a very loud feminine voice (which I cannot turned down) which booms out "AVASTE TA SIGNATURE DE BUSINESS à ETE MISE EN JOUR"   about two minutes after switching on, does anyone know how to silence this harridan?

Had me worried there for a minute, JR; I thought you meant ME![:-))]

Thanks everyone else.  Erns, it's a laptop and I will investigate further.

I do have a computer repair man down the road but it's nearly as stressful for me to describe in French everything I need to tell him about the different problems than it is for me to try and resolve the problems myself.

Ordinary bog standard shopping French, no probs; a bit of social banter, no probs but.........Computer French?  Not a cat's chance in hell!  Come to that Computer English is also beyond me![8-)]