PC won't run properly when temperature below zero celcius.

[Bart Fishermans]

I have a problem starting my PC when it's very cold in the morning. When the temperature drops below 4 degrees celcius my PC starts but I can't use it. What happens is that when I click on START > on the start menu I get a scrolling effect on the menu and I can't actually click on anything.


A similar thing happens on my icons on my desktop. If I click on eg, Internet Explorer to open it, then something else on my desktop will open.

This has happened with my brand new computer and the exact thing happened with my old PC as well.

I also can't shut down my PC completely when it starts.

Would anyone know what is causing the problem?

I know I can fix it by warming up my PC which is on the floor with a three bar electric heater. It warms my PC and the room and after about 20 minuter my PC runs normally.

 

[Minkey]

Turn on your heating - problem solved below 4 degrees where do you live the north pole

Seriously it may surprise you but there is a minumum operating temperature for certain PC components - CPU are fine the cooler the better but a hard drive has moving parts and will have a minimum temperature rating see these links for some random examples IBM minimum operating temp 10 degrees C Western Digital minimum operating temp 5 degrees C
I suspect this is your problem.

 

[KenHigg]

Turn the cpu and powersupply fans off....

 

[Minkey]

Turn the cpu and powersupply fans off....

Bad idea the cpu can run at almost any temperature in fact a nitrogen cooled chip has been recorded at -190 degree c which gave overclocking results of (sorry a bit nerdy this bit) front side bus of 309MHz (200MHz factory) and a core clock speed of 5255MHz (1066MHz factory) clicky.

You don't want to overheat the cpu as the results could be potentially fatal (after a while) - always make sure your cpu is cooled. Same goes for power supply (though I didn't think you could turn those fan's off - maybe on some of the specialist ones)

 

[Minkey]

Just thought maybe you could insulate your hard drive with something at least until your PC warms up though you should remove it once you suitably warm otherwise it will overheat and do the same thing Not sure what would actually help at those low temperatures though

 

[KenHigg]

If he's a fisherman, maybe he can put one of those hand warmer things in the case before he.... Oh sorry. Nevermind...

 

[Minkey]

Don't worry I laughed, kind of

 

[Bart Fishermans]

Turn on your heating - problem solved below 4 degrees where do you live the north pole

I bet I'm not the only one that has my computer in a room that is cold in the morning. I suppose most houses in very cold areas never turn off their heating , even at night., but we do to save on power.
I asked the computer shop while they were building my computer to make it so that it starts when very cold in the morning, but that did not happen because they did not recognise that such problems exist.

Seriously it may surprise you but there is a minumum operating temperature for certain PC components - CPU are fine the cooler the better but a hard drive has moving parts and will have a minimum temperature rating see these links for some random examples IBM minimum operating temp 10 degrees C Western Digital minimum operating temp 5 degrees C
I suspect this is your problem.

What you said Minkey makes a lot of sense and I reckon not many people know that there is a min 10degree celcius operation for hard drives.
I know I would have less of a problem if I mounted my computer on top of my desk but I have it on the floor where it's probably one degree colder and that would make all the difference between starting and not starting properly. The floor is very cold in the morning and I have the box sitting on a thick felt mat to insulate the box from the cold wooden floor.
The only thing I can guess on what to do is make sure I have a hard drive that is better suited to colder temperatures. eg. the Western Digital starts from 6 degrees celcius while the IBM starts from 10 degrees. maybe there are some that run ok at , even, a lower temperature.

There may be also other components in a computer that are effected by minimum cold temperatures and I have to find them all .....but if you think it's most likely ,only the hard drive that is effected by very cold temperatures then that will narrow down my trouble shooting.
Anyhow,,,,,thanks for all the help.

 

[ColinEssex]

If you move to the UK, we are currently experiencing the highest July temperature ever recorded.
It got to 102F yesterday and the temperature in the office here is currently 31c (88F) at 9am and very humid

Col

 

[Bart Fishermans]

That's what I like about Fahrenheit and centigrade. We now have a system of telling the temperature in two different ways to confuse us even more.

 

[ColinEssex]

That's what I like about Fahrenheit and centigrade. We now have a system of telling the temperature in two different ways to confuse us even more.

It seems that in the UK, the TV weather forecasts are in fahrenheit when its hot (wow! 102F yesterday) and in centigrade when its cold (wow! it was -6c yesterday)

Obviously if we use temperature references on this forum, we have to use fahrenheit because it confuses the Americans if we refer to centigrade

Col

 

[Brianwarnock]

Obviously if we use temperature references on this forum, we have to use fahrenheit because it confuses the Americans if we refer to centigrade

Col

Yes they refuse to be brow beaten into going down the metric route, who the hell knows what 33 millimetres of rain looks like?
What I enjoyed about driving over there was signs saying someything was 768 yards ahead

Brian

 

[SABPC]

Small space heater set to lowest temperature pointed at the side of the case, you only have to raise the hardware temp a few degrees above minimum temp in order to improve performance.

Good luck
Chris

 

[Bart Fishermans]

Small space heater set to lowest temperature pointed at the side of the case, you only have to raise the hardware temp a few degrees above minimum temp in order to improve performance.

Good luck
Chris

Thanks Chris........it takes about 20 minutes to warm up my PC with an electric heater when it's minus 4 degrees ,,,,,,and it only gets to those extreme low temperatures about 4 times a year....but it was good to know what was causing the problem from Minkey because I got pissed off a bit by people telling me (previously) that very low temperatures don't effect computer preformances.

 

[krymphus]

this may be a year or two late but I must say that the word centigrade is not correct the correct term is Celsius. Centigrade was done away with in the 50s. Just food for thought.