Dell Computer "shuts Down" When Opening Email

WeaponX

Sep 2 2006, 03:22 AM

I have a Dell Optiplex GX 270 computer here and the problem is that it shuts down randomly when viewing email in Outlook. It doesn't seem to do this when doing anything else online. Could a network cause issue this kind of problem? I'm going to see if the other machines are doing this as well.

The funny thing is that the machine itself still seems to be running. The light on the monitor is orange, but the computer's light is green and the fan is still spinning in the back. These Optiplex machines have the 4 LED lights in the back to show any error alerts (if any). But when it randomly shuts off (meaning, screen is blank), those 4 LED lights are blacked out. Fan still spinning though and keyboard light is even on. But I can't toggle the Caps Lock and Num Lock keys.

I'm narrowing it down to a motherboard issue now, but have a question. How is it possible that it's only happening when viewing emails from Outlook?

Thanks.

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Mark420

Sep 2 2006, 09:43 AM

Probably a dodgy installation of Outlook..Prolly one of its many dlls has gone tits up..

My suggestion...dump Outlook!! use a different mail reader..Outlook does nothing that other mail programs cant do and they will run better and lighter on your system than the memory hog that is Outlook.

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dhanesh

Sep 2 2006, 09:59 AM

True .. 1 reason might be your Mail Reader. Or probably you battery lol, Its like a default answer for any DELL related problems now. But in all seriousness, try getting your battery checked tho.

For a standalone Mail reader program, may i suggest ThunderBird

.. Fast Smile and easy to use

>> LINK <<

Regards
Dhanesh.

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WeaponX

Sep 2 2006, 07:25 PM

Using a third party program is out of my hands. Their computer may only use Outlook (policy).

I will check out the battery and see if that caused it. If not, maybe a reinstall.

Would these cause this kind of problem though? Like the battery...shouldn't it not power up at all if it's the battery? If it's a dodgy install, why would it just power down the system, leaving the fan spinning and the power light on the computer still green?

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yordan

Sep 4 2006, 11:24 AM

QUOTE

Their computer may only use Outlook (policy).

Seems that they have a drastic computer policy. By the way, do they have a procedure to re-install outlook in case of failure ? If not, here is a step-by-step for removing and re-installing manually outlook :

QUOTE

How to manually remove and reinstall Outlook Express - Introduction This step-by step article describes how to manually remove and install the following versions of Microsoft Outlook Express: Microsoft Outlook ...
support.microsoft.com/?kbid=263837

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WeaponX

Sep 5 2006, 12:47 AM

I will see what happens tomorrow when I go there. Reinstalling will probably be a last step...got the motherboard already (just in case). I never reinstalled Outlook before. Do I have to backup their emails if they saved it locally? Or will uninstalling Outlook not affect them? It doesn't seem to mention anything about the emails in the Microsoft Article.

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yordan

Sep 5 2006, 08:17 AM

QUOTE

Do I have to backup their emails if they saved it locally? Or will uninstalling Outlook not affect them?

First of all, doing a backup is a daily mandatory operation, you always need to own a full usable backup of all your important files, and your mail files are important things.
Secondly, I never did a mistake, but it's time for a first error, so, everytime I touch a system I do a data backup, "just in case".
So, my advice is : do the test once, and before the test simply put the important files (mails, reports, spreadsheets) on a fileserver somewhere. If everything works fine, you may safely erase the backup, if you experience a problem you re-install and you can download the backups.
Now, you must know where the mails are. I put my own mails on the F: disk, which is not the standard place. However, when I re-install, I simply have to change the mail destination to my F: disk and everything is fine. This is not an outlook feature, it's the same if you use thunderbird or netscape.
So, if the mails are in the default place, re-installing will probably change nothing, but it's safer to have a backup of the mail directory, just in case.
If the mails are not in the default location, after re-installing, you will have to change the local mail storage settings.
Regards
Yordan

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WeaponX

Sep 6 2006, 02:48 AM

I didn't get a chance to work on that computer today. I will probably work on it tomorrow...

I have to scratch the uninstall and reinstall of Outlook in that case. We're definitely not allowed to touch their data. They have to back it up...most of these users are clueless when it comes to backups also, which makes it even worse. We'll have to send someone to help them backup if anything.

I will try the motherboard first and see how that works out. Will post the results

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WeaponX

Sep 10 2006, 02:15 AM

Forgot to post a followup to this

I replaced the motherboard for the machine last week and it seems to have done the trick. She used the machine for about 10 minutes casually browsing emails as she did previously with the "power outage" from the monitor. This time, no problems

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kgd2006

Sep 10 2006, 10:17 AM

Whenever i Have odd things happen to my laptop I always back up my important files and do a reformat. That usually fix all my problems every single time. These days when browsing anything online there seems to be viruses everywhere. My norton seems to detect it every now and then, but at times my norton wouldnt even be able to stop it from attaching itself to my computer. So this is when I would go ahead and reformat my computer.

The cases when I reformat are when my programs would not start at all, or I see pop up automatcially at start of computer startup. So basically the odd and unusal times when you computer have problems is the time it calls for the reformatting cd. =)

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Latest Entries

Habble

Jul 27 2008, 12:44 PM

i have the same problim and When I Changed my graphics card, my monitor still tells me: No Signal.. why?
Dell Computer \"shuts Down\" When Opening Email

I have a Dell optiplex gx270, when I first got it everything was fine until my monitr started going blank and dispalyin a NO SIGNAL message.. I changed the monitor and still the same thing.. I sent my computer to Circuit.City. And had a tech there change my graphics card and added more RAM... He(the tech)installed a NVIDIA geforce 6200... And ran the computer for a day. He saind there was nothing wrong... When I got home and turned on my compute less than 5 mins, my screen went blank and said NO SIGNAL... I've been trying to configure the damn machine ove and over again... Took out the g-card re-install, everything, and still no hope... Help, anyone is there somethin I missing?

QUOTE

-reply by Killer Bear
iGuest Posted Apr 30 2008, 10:50 AM
Which Graphic card my computer supported?
Dell Computer \"shuts Down\" When Opening Email

Sir I have a computer Dell OPTIPLEX GX270 2.8 Intel ht with 512 DDr ram. So I want to buy a new NVidia Graphic card which card I bye that supported my system.And tell me the series of Graphic cards which my system supported.

-reply by Mudassar
iGuest Posted Apr 30 2008, 10:49 AM
Which Graphic card my computer supported?
Dell Computer \"shuts Down\" When Opening Email

Sir I have a computer Dell OPTIPLEX GX270 2.8 Intel ht with 512 DDr ram. So I want to buy a new NVidia Graphic card which card I bye that supported my system.And tell me the series of Graphic cards which my system supported.

-reply by Mudassar
iGuest Posted Apr 30 2008, 10:49 AM
Which Graphic card my computer supported?
Dell Computer \"shuts Down\" When Opening Email

Sir I have a computer Dell OPTIPLEX GX270 2.8 Intel ht with 512 DDr ram. So I want to buy a new NVidia Graphic card which card I bye that supported my system.And tell me the series of Graphic cards which my system supported.

-reply by Mudassar
iGuest Posted Apr 30 2008, 10:55 AM
Which Graphic card my computer supported?
Dell Computer \"shuts Down\" When Opening Email

Sir I have a computer Dell OPTIPLEX GX270 2.8 Intel ht with 512 DDr ram. So I want to buy a new NVidia Graphic card which card I bye that supported my system.And tell me the series of Graphic cards which my system supported.

-question by Mudassar
iGuest Posted Apr 30 2008, 10:58 AM
Which Graphic card my computer supported?
Dell Computer \"shuts Down\" When Opening Email

Sir I have a computer Dell OPTIPLEX GX270 2.8 Intel ht with 512 DDr ram. So I want to buy a new NVidia Graphic card which card I bye that supported my system.And tell me the series of Graphic cards which my system supported.

-feedback by Mudassar
micky123 Posted Dec 28 2007, 09:42 AM
QUOTE(FeedBacker @ Dec 5 2007, 08:55 PM)
I have an Optiplex GX-270 that "shuts-down" the same way randomly. I don't even use Outlook. Power light is green sometimes and yellow sometimes.

You can hear something running but still have to shut it off and repower up. Sometimes several times to get it to boot. I've replaced the power supply, processor, added 512mb ram (1 gig now), reloaded XP-SP2.

It will probably do it again in a second so I'll close now. HELP! This sucks!

-StevieB

Hi Feedbacker,

This looks like a clear cut case of leaking/bulging capacitors on the motherboard, would advise you to have a look at the capacitors on the motherboard and if any of them look "bulged" or swollen, please call Dell tech Support and report this, they will arrange for a replacement!
Cheers!
iGuest Posted Dec 5 2007, 03:25 PM
I have an Optiplex GX-270 that "shuts-down" the same way randomly. I don't even use Outlook. Power light is green sometimes and yellow sometimes.

You can hear something running but still have to shut it off and repower up. Sometimes several times to get it to boot. I've replaced the power supply, processor, added 512mb ram (1 gig now), reloaded XP-SP2.

It will probably do it again in a second so I'll close now. HELP! This sucks!

-StevieB
WeaponX Posted Jul 1 2007, 01:44 AM
Forgot about this issue...yeah, the problem was fixed after I replaced the motherboard.

Call Dell? Good luck with that. I know there will be a long waiting period and they will ask me the same questions again even when I tell them I did a certain step already.

It's definitely one of the stranger issues that I have seen since I don't see how the email and motherboard issue are related. If anything, the user should be having shut down issues no matter what she's doing.
Downlinker Posted Jun 30 2007, 07:42 PM
Why don't you call dell, and ask them for the problem! If else, you can go on help > Check for errors, or something, or re-install the application

all that didnt help i dont no how to fix it

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iGuest

Jul 10 2008, 10:54 PM

When I Changed my graphics card, my monitor still tells me: No Signal.. why?
Dell Computer \"shuts Down\" When Opening Email

I have a Dell optiplex gx270, when I first got it everything was fine until my monitr started going blank and dispalyin a NO SIGNAL message.. I changed the monitor and still the same thing.. I sent my computer to Circuit.City. And had a tech there change my graphics card and added more RAM... He(the tech)installed a NVIDIA geforce 6200... And ran the computer for a day. He saind there was nothing wrong... When I got home and turned on my compute less than 5 mins, my screen went blank and said NO SIGNAL... I've been trying to configure the damn machine ove and over again... Took out the g-card re-install, everything, and still no hope... Help, anyone is there somethin I missing?

-reply by Killer Bear

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

iGuest

Apr 30 2008, 10:58 AM

Which Graphic card my computer supported?
Dell Computer \"shuts Down\" When Opening Email

Sir I have a computer Dell OPTIPLEX GX270 2.8 Intel ht with 512 DDr ram. So I want to buy a new NVidia Graphic card which card I bye that supported my system.And tell me the series of Graphic cards which my system supported.

-feedback by Mudassar