I’ve always considered computers to be odd creatures. One day, everything seems to be working just swell, and the next day, for no apparent reason, it slows to a crawl or refuses to do anything. Recently, however, I discovered just how strange computers can really be.

My brother-in-law who happens to reside in Phoenix, Arizona called to ask me to check out his mom’s computer. She lives in Crawfordsville, Indiana, about 20 minutes from me. Apparently, her computer had “stopped working,” which is never a good sign. He said she tried the standard fix – unplugging everything and plugging it back in – and the computer still didn’t work. I agreed to stop in and take a look.

I arrived and observed that the computer – a Compaq Presario S6000NX – was, in fact, not working. A faint green light was flashing on the font panel like an SOS signal from a dying flashlight, while a green light on the back of the power supply was also flashing. I pulled out the plug, and the lights continued to flash. I waited a few minutes, plugged the power cord back into the power supply, pressed the power button – nothing. The manual had nothing helpful in it. Having no functioning computer with me, I headed home to search for possible solutions on the Internet.

At home, I fired up Google, found the Compaq/HP support website and located a page called Troubleshooting Power Supply Issues, which described exactly what I was observing and provided several possible solutions. I printed it out to take with me. Using Google, I also found an anonymous post on a FixYa that recommended disconnecting the power supply connectors from the motherboard and plugging them back in with the power on. That certainly sounded like a great way to toast a motherboard, but I made note of it just the same.

The next day, I headed into town to try the fixes I had discovered online. I did everything recommended in the “Troubleshooting Power Supply Issues” document, but those had no effect. I figured the computer was dead anyway, so why not try that crazy solution I read about? Here’s what I did:

1. Disconnected the power cord from the power supply.
2. Opened the case.
3. Disconnected the two power supply connectors from the motherboard while keeping one hand on the metal case to prevent static. (At this point, the green lights stopped flashing.)
4. Waited a couple minutes.
5. Plugged the power cord back into the power supply.
6. Carefully plugged the power supply connectors back into the motherboard being careful not to touch anything else on the motherboard. (I half expected a fireworks display or at least some sparks or smoke, but nothing like that occurred.)
7. Pressed the power button. Voila! The beast awakened and started up just fine.

During my research, I also came across a recommendation to unplug the power cord from the power supply, bang it on the floor a few times, and plug it back in. The person who posted this recommendation claimed that this fixed the problem on three Compaq Presario computers where he worked. He was no doubt promoted to IT supervisor afterwards.

Computers are machines, but sometimes they seem a lot more temperamental than any machine should be. I’m curious. Have you come across any computer fixes that seemed very weird to you? If so, I’d like to hear about them.