meow2222@care2.com wrote:
> Dave wrote

>> I have a PC that freezes whenever it is bumped or knocked.

>> It absolutely freezes - no mouse movement, no
>> keyboard response, no hard disk activity... nothing.

>> Obviously the most likely case is a loose cable but I checked the cables
>> and removed and reseated the RAM and it hasn't improved the situation.

>> Anyone have any suggestions as to the likely cause? Could it be the
>> motherboard coming into contact with the case when bumped?

> One of those cases where one can say the possibilities are endless.
> Somewhere there is a bad connection, either a poorly gripping socket,
> a loose wire, a poor solder joint, a cracked track, a short,

Or a loose screw floating around under the motherboard.

> and it could be almost anywhere. If you must fix it, take an insulated
> tool and prod around to see what area is most sensitive to proddage.
> But unless you need to fix it, I'd leave it alone for the simple reason
> that theres a fair chance that once you find the problem it will stay
> stuck in problem mode and you wont be able to fix it.

It'd be worth trying the system with the motherboard
loose on the desktop too, that would at least eliminate
the possibility of a loose screw and that might be all it is
and would separate the motherboard from the power
supply. The power supply is cheap to replace if the
bad joint etc is in there instead of the motherboard.

> IOW if its for home use and it makes no diff whether its
> fixed now or later, later would be a reasonable choice.

> More to the point, a PC should never be bumped or knocked.
> It causes HDD head slaps and damage, and kills HDDs.