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Desktop PC acting very strangely

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by Bruce Sherman on Mon Sep 26, 2016 12:18 am

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My desktop pc is acting up. If I am working on the computer very frequently both monitor screens flicker off and on very briefly and the computer makes a loud "ping" sound - the sound is identical to the sound it makes when disconnecting a device, such as turning a printer off. If I have the monitors turned off it will still make that same sound.

I have no idea what's going on to cause this.

Sound familiar to anyone? Thanks in advance.

Bruce Sherman
[url]http://www.pbase.com/brucesherman[/url]

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by E.J. Peiker on Mon Sep 26, 2016 4:04 am

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Does your monitor have a USB hub, it sounds like the cable may have come loose or some other device is just not connecting to USB properly due to a lose or bad cable, a failing device, an underpowered USB port - in any case, it is definitely USB related.

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by Mark Picard on Mon Sep 26, 2016 9:13 am

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Bruce Sherman wrote:My desktop pc is acting up. If I am working on the computer very frequently both monitor screens flicker off and on very briefly and the computer makes a loud "ping" sound - the sound is identical to the sound it makes when disconnecting a device, such as turning a printer off. If I have the monitors turned off it will still make that same sound.

I have no idea what's going on to cause this.

Sound familiar to anyone? Thanks in advance.

When I had a monitor flickering problem I found out that I had had two USB cables (one from the monitor) touching each other down below near the circuit protector board and all I had to do was separate them a couple of inches and the problem was fixed. Apparently there was some electrical interference going on between the two cables. Check that out and maybe it'll be a quick, free fix.

Mark Picard
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by Bruce Sherman on Mon Sep 26, 2016 5:48 pm

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Thanks EJ and Mark. I think I have the problem solved. The cable leading from the PC to my secondary monitor was loose where it attached to the monitor. I refastened it about four hours ago and not a single "ping" or flickering screen since then. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Bruce Sherman
[url]http://www.pbase.com/brucesherman[/url]

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by E.J. Peiker on Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:39 pm

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That will do it. Flickering is almost always a cable issue of some kind.

E.J. Peiker http://www.EJPhoto.com
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