[ComputerGuy]

Well my g/f has a dell computer over a year old last october. I makes this vibrating/buzzing sound until you wack the side then it stops. I worked out the when you wacked where the PSU was it stopped so thought that might have been the project. I said for her to phone up dell and get them to take it away and sort it as it was still in guarentee. But she wanted to back things up on a external HDD. The buzzing sound had been going on for months i think it might have been ever since she has had the computer.

Now just as she has got a new HDD there is a new problem. When she connects her camera which she has always done it won't work because a message comes up saying something about a power surge and the usb hub has exceeded the maximum power or something. I got it to work by pulling the internet and webcam out thinking less devices more power for other usb port.

So is this problem because the PSU is no powerful enough?


CG

[philthomas]

Not necessarily ..... I get this sometimes on my Laptop, when I plug in the Power Supply and there's nothing plugged into any USB port.

[Carbon]

No.

USB ports are mandated (by standard) to supply a certain amount of power to a device. The device can use that power or the outlet/mains if it's big. What's happening is that the devices you're using are pulling current from the USB port, but the port can't push all that current through every device so it's shutting them off. If you can use another set of ports, that may help - otherwise it's new motherboard time (don't expect Dell to give you such a great one :P)

The PSU is not the problem.

[ComputerGuy]

So what about the weird noise that when you bang the pc it stops?

[philthomas]

She could try a powered hub, but if it's still under warranty, let Dell sort it out.