Computer power problems?

My cousin has a gateway computer that is over 5 year old and yet has not had any problems until recently. Now occasionally the monitor no longer gets a signal from the computer, and the keyboard and mouse no longer get power from the computer. It doesn't happen all the time. Usually what my cousin has done is unplug everything and wait a while before plugging it back on and it works again most of the time. What kind of things can I do to figure out the problem? I'm guessing it is most likely a power problem, but I'm just guessing.

 

Hi my friend , you can borrow a power supply unit from a friend testing if that solved the problem :wave

 

If you are getting multiple devices going out, due to a IRQ issue, the motherboard is on its last legs. Some computers can last 2 years, some 5, some over 10. It just depends on how you use (leave on 24/7, no a/c in the room, high humidity in the room, due to not running the a/c, or having a Swamp Cooler not set properly), way too many factors here.

All you can do is pretty much take it to the local electronic recycler, and punch holes into the hard drive platter first, with either a drill, or a mini-sledge and small rebar.

 

The Keyboard is usb and the mouse is ps/2

 

is there some way that i can test the motherboard to see if it is on its last legs?

 

If you feel comfortable cracking open the case, check the capacitors to see if they are "bubbled". This means they are swollen at the top of the cap, and bulging. Also, have you cleaned the "dust bunnies" from this unit regularly?

As always unplug the unit, and be static free.

 

The capacitors look ok, and there are no dust bunnies

 

You can get Chip spray, that ices the chips to show which ones are running hot. Gateway went downhill about 10 years ago, and same goes for E-Machines, which Gateway bought out.

What I do find funny, is that Packard Bell used to get the bad hits same as Gateway over here in the U.S., but overseas, Packard Bell is a top seller of computers. Go figure.

At the prices these days, you can get a decent machine for under $400. I get daily deals from Toshiba all the time, and am about ready to jump over to a faster machine possibly, from my Acer a0532h Netbook, since 2gb RAM really shows how poor Win8 is on older machines, that you cannot go with a min. of 4gb RAM.

 

Where can I get this chip spray? Is it called chip spray because I typed that into neweggs page and didn't find it. Can you give me a link? I figure that is worth a try.

 

It is a freezing spray, even air cleaner will o the same.