Power Supply (???) issue

L

lwalker

Geek Trainee
Hello!

I am running Win2k SP4 on a P4 1.6 GHz. I just replaced the power supply (when it died) less than a year ago, but now I'm having issues that I think might be either power supply- or CPU-related.

I frequently get the paging file size error at random times ("Your system is low on Virtual Memory. Windows is increasing the size of your Virtual Memory paging file."). I also have spontaneous reboots going on randomly. Does it sound like my power supply has gone south, or does this sound like somethng else? Since my last power supply went bad, and I've had another one in the past that I think was going bad, too, I'm wondering if my house might have some electrical issues that are killing my PC's respective power supplies.

TIA!

- Lauren
 
The page file message is telling you that windows is running out of RAM, so that should be the primary thing. How much RAM do you have? Miscellaneous programs running in the background can eventually eat up memory.
 
I'd certainly agree with looking at how much RAM you have in this case.

As far as the house electrical layout and condition goes, at the very least you want a surge protector. I use an APC brand, but I've seen some people use Belkin ones as well. You're looking at $20-30 for one, and it's worth the money.

An optional piece would be a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply)...which is an external unit, and will run $50 on up. Basically, if the power goes out, you don't get an instant power off, which is nice if you happen to be in the middle of something. If you've got blackout or brownout issues, a UPS really becomes a must.
 
How much RAM do you have at the moment? I would recommend that you have at least 128MB of RAM with Windows 2000. You should really be looking at 256MB for better system performance. I suggest you close a few startup programs you don't need (in your taskbar).

As a temporary measure, you can increase the virtual memory by following these steps:

1) Right Click 'My Computer' and select 'Properties'
2) Click the Advanced Tab
3) Click Virtual Memory (or something like that - been awhile since I've used 2K)
4) If you have 128MB installed then enter 256MB minimum and 512MB maximum. If you have 256MB installed, then enter 512MB minimum, and 1024MB maximum.
 
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