Ever have an odd computer problem that just went away on it's own?

[ZedClampet]

My main gaming laptop has had nothing but problems. I don't know what the issue is, but strange things are constantly going wrong with it. For instance, there were a couple of months when the shift keys didn't work, then they just started working again.

Then yesterday, I was playing V Rising and the game crashed, or so I thought. I shut V Rising down to discover that Steam had crashed, and I couldn't close it. I went to Task Manager, but couldn't close all the Steam processes and Steam wouldn't relaunch. So I tried to reboot the system, but it couldn't close Steam, so it couldn't reboot. I let it sit there trying to reboot for over an hour. Finally, I just held the power button down until it shut down. But then it took five minutes to boot back up (usually it's just seconds), and when it booted back up, nothing was really working. Trying to click on anything on the desktop made the screen go gray and freeze up. So I rebooted, which took forever, and still had the same problem. I didn't know what else to do but keep rebooting. After about a dozen reboots, each one taking several minutes, all of a sudden everything was fine.

So what weirdness, if any, have you had. I should point out that my desktop and other laptop never do anything weird, so maybe you haven't had any experiences to share...

 

[Zloth]

Yep, I even posted about it here:

Question - Odd discoloration at the bottom of my screen

I'm seeing something odd on my old monitor that wasn't there before I got my new computer. Along the bottom of the monitor, there's a band of discoloration. It looks a little like water damage does at the bottom of a wall. The discoloration is whatever the background color is but lighter...

forums.pcgamer.com

There was weird, glowly discoloration at the bottom of my monitor. It spread over the whole bottom of the monitor and started getting taller. Then it was suddenly gone. It's been about a year now and it hasn't shown up again.

I didn't know what else to do but keep rebooting. After about a dozen reboots, each one taking several minutes, all of a sudden everything was fine.

The definition of insanity is.... wait, that worked!? Well, so much for that old saying.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I used to have those annoying lockups now and then where I'd get a loud audio buzzing sound, often followed by a crash when gaming. I tend to think 99% of computer problems are due to some kind of software issue though, either OS updates that need reworking, or problematic drivers or whatever.

The only thing lately I worry about is ShadowPlay seems to have issues with certain capture spots having a noticeable hitch here and there, or a momentary smear of textures. This only happens when in manual record vs Instant Replay though. I don't recall it happening with Halo Infinite though, which I mostly manually recorded.

I was wondering if it has anything to due with my capture drive, a 6TB WD Black, getting fuller and a bit slower. It still writes at well over 150Mb/s though (162), which should be sufficient. I've had other problems with ShadowPlay that came and went with new GF Experience updates though, so it could just be Nvidia slacking again.

The only good news I've seen lately regarding PC tech is GPU prices continuing to drop, including some 3090 prices at barely over $1500. I'm hoping for more like a $700 price on a 4080 though, which should be adequate for 4K. Could be some time before we see a price like that on the next gen though.

 

[Johnway]

At work in IT support too often things just start working and i don't just mean, it just works after restarting the machine.

For some reason on certain bootup times (most notably during a large windows update) The laptops fail to boot up properly and falls into a bitlocker status or failed to find HD. Either run bitlocker recovery or just restart it several times and it just works.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I had a pretty decent HP Spectre laptop that had the screen mess up so bad I couldn't use it. I ended up giving the laptop to my son, and the screen stopped messing up. I was mad because we paid like $1300 for that and I couldn't take it back from him.

 

[Zloth]

I used to have those annoying lockups now and then where I'd get a loud audio buzzing sound, often followed by a crash when gaming.

My previous PC would lock up a lot and do that loud audio buzzing. I would have to hit the stereo's power fast! I never did figure out what was going on, but it was no software issue. It showed up when running all sorts of games.

 

[Frag Maniac]

...but it was no software issue. It showed up when running all sorts of games.

Actually that's not proof it isn't a software problem. Most I've seen having this issue also say it just went away at some point, and hardware doesn't just fix itself.

 

[Zloth]

That PC never fixed itself. If I were to turn it on again, I expect it would still have the issue.

But hardware can (seemingly) fix itself. Maybe an accidental jostle will improve a connection somewhere. Maybe something the electric company does improves the power input just enough.

 

[Colif]

I used to have those annoying lockups now and then where I'd get a loud audio buzzing sound, often followed by a crash when gaming. I tend to think 99% of computer problems are due to some kind of software issue though, either OS updates that need reworking, or problematic drivers or whatever.

drivers most likely. See that sometimes on Tom's

Most of the time my unexplained problems are fixed by windows updates. Often they introduced by windows and one month or so later, fixed again. Think I have a problem now that a clean install likely fix but it only happens once a week and it doesn't get in the way of me actually using PC, so I just been ignoring it. Wait and see if the next version update fixes it.

 

[Brian Boru]

I ended up giving the laptop to my son, and the screen stopped messing up

Ah, the old mess up the screen so he gives it to you trick—works all the time.

I tend to think 99% of computer problems are due to some kind of software issue

While I'll always check cables and dust, I generally share that view.

Most of the time my unexplained problems are fixed by windows updates. Often they introduced by windows and one month or so later, fixed again.
…
it doesn't get in the way of me actually using PC, so I just been ignoring it. Wait and see if the next version update fixes it.

Yep, same experience here. If it's a particular app, I'll try a reinstall, but otherwise let it ride if it's not a pain.

 

[Sarafan]

I had a problem with Windows 10. Every time I started computer or made a restart, the system switched itself automatically to night shift mode. I did a couple of things to disable it (editing the registry among other) and nothing helped. It was so irritating that I was considering to install a fresh system. Thankfully the problem disappeared by itself in a day or two. I have no idea what caused this quirk, nor why it fixed itself.

 

[Colif]

It could have been account syncing. as Win 10 checks a roaming profile on startup and can change the theme if it finds a conflicting one. I swapped from a 1080p screeen to 4k but windows kept swapping desktop to 1080p wallpaper on startup. Turning off sync fixed that.

 

[Frag Maniac]

While I'll always check cables and dust, I generally share that view.

Well dust is more a user neglect than hardware problem, and cables are as well often user neglect if they're loose, or a bad choice if they're cheap and fail. Most of the time when the hardware is at fault, it's because the user picked a part that was too weak to match the rest of the build, or a part that was not a known, trusted brand, and poor quality. Very rarely do you see the roughly 2% defect rate rear it's ugly head when good parts are selected.

 

[Colif]

Old age is what most of my parts die from.
The last part I had that died was a 6 year old GTX 980. Prior to that was a PSU that was about same age at the time. It went bang.

Its almost 10 years since a hdd died on me. Using ssd and nvme from Samsung has reduced my storage death rate.

 

[Zloth]

Old age is what most of my parts die from.

Phew, I hear that.

Oh wait, you're talking about your computer! {blush ;}

 

[Brian Boru]

Every time I started computer or made a restart, the system switched itself automatically to night shift mode … I have no idea what caused this quirk, nor why it fixed itself

1. Getting up at night;
2. Getting up in the morning.

Phew, I hear that

Beat me to it!

last part I had that died was a 6 year old GTX 980

My last was a 970 in a 2014 build I did, died last year.

10 years since a hdd died on me

I've been very lucky with HDDs, never had one fail of its own accord. Had a couple taken out by exploding motherboards—that time of the bad capacitors problem—in the 00s.

 

[technomadic_rony]

I work as a full-stack web developer and use windows terminal a lot. When they released Powershell 7 couple of years ago, I thought hey this looks neat and wanted to try it out. So I installed it and then every time I clicked on it nothing happened, couldn't even find any task instance on task manager. Tried to open it for a couple of days then I just gave up on it and forgot this existed on my pc. Fast forward to couple of months, I came across the Powershell again, clicked on it and Bam! it opened instantly. I didn't do anything with it, it seems the problem somehow magically got fixed.

 

[Pifanjr]

I just had a problem where my phone decided to randomly capitalize words, but it seems it has since stopped doing it.

 

[ravenmckayy]

i had something similar to my pc

 

[Colif]

I work as a full-stack web developer and use windows terminal a lot. When they released Powershell 7 couple of years ago, I thought hey this looks neat and wanted to try it out. So I installed it and then every time I clicked on it nothing happened, couldn't even find any task instance on task manager. Tried to open it for a couple of days then I just gave up on it and forgot this existed on my pc. Fast forward to couple of months, I came across the Powershell again, clicked on it and Bam! it opened instantly. I didn't do anything with it, it seems the problem somehow magically got fixed.

powershell 7 gets updated through windows store so you might have got an update.
I have 2 powershells on here now, 5 & 7. they both show as choices in windows terminal. I installed 7 and assumed it would auto replace 5, but no.

I just noticed search has changed. random.

 

[technomadic_rony]

powershell 7 gets updated through windows store so you might have got an update.

You're probably right, it probably updated itself through some windows background update management system and fixed itself.

Nowadays, since Powershell 7.2 update, I use it every now and then because I love the customization aspect of it.

P.S. tried to add a screenshot of my Powershell terminal but for some reason it keeps saying something went wrong when I try to link an imgur link, does it have something to do with me being new here?

 

[Colif]

P.S. tried to add a screenshot of my Powershell terminal but for some reason it keeps saying something went wrong when I try to link an imgur link, does it have something to do with me being new here?

Probably, I am not exactly sure when that stops but it shouldn't be far away if you keep posting

might also be what you are using, imgur is tricky as 1st picture it offers is a gallery, not not jpg
this might help, I haven't made this post here - https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/image-posting-using-imgur.3756945/

 

[technomadic_rony]

Probably, I am not exactly sure when that stops but it shouldn't be far away if you keep posting

Challenge accepted. I shall comment on each and every post I find, regardless of how old and irrelevant it might be to me. I will achieve my image uploading privileges, no matter what the cost is dammit! Off I go!!

 

[Colif]

That might be excessive. But if you keep posting it will happen.

 

[Zloth]

Or you could use the Media section on this site? It doesn't get all that many shots in it, so it will be on the first page for a while. You should be able to link to it before it moves on.