Week 4 Post: Plagued with Intermittence

Computers are vulnerable to "diseases" such as viruses or malware. Still, there is something else that can ultimately kill your computer that is hard to diagnose even though it technically can have present symptoms. Power supplies can slowly die, presenting symptoms of increased operating difficulty paired with a difficulty of diagnosis as multimeters will show voltage levels within the tolerance range. As your power supply begins to die, you will become plagued with intermittency, which is the key to identifying a dying power supply, as you experience problems that seem to just come and go. When you begin to experience intermittence, it is best to replace the power supply, as conventional voltage testing would not pick up the sudden spikes and plummets fast enough to register them happening. Still, they are enough to disrupt the operation. The best practice would be to keep a spare power supply handy for such situations and become handy enough to replace them for yourself to keep your computer up and running. Power supplies are the most common component to go out on computers behind those with physically moving parts; knowing how to replace your own will save a lot of headaches when you start to see issues that seem to oddly just come and go or do not seem to be the same issue consistently. Don't be just another victim to power supply death when plagued with intermittence; play it safe and replace.

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