I have a Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit PC which had some budget speakers attached. This morning I noticed that the volume coming from these budget speakers was very poor (low). All volume settings were checked and found to be correct. I unplugged the power to these speakers followed by unplugging the audio mini jack from the on-board audio speaker connection. I disconnected some 'working' better quality speakers from another PC. I installed these replacement speakers by first plugging in the audio mini jack to the on-board speaker connection. The PC Reset when I plugged in the audio mini jack to the on-board speaker connection. I allowed the PC to reboot to the Windows Desktop. I plugged in the power to these replacement speakers and I now have good quality sound. The PC seems to be working OK. I am concerned about what may have caused the PC to Reset. Any ideas? Is this anything to be concerned about? Thanks in Advance.
I can only guess you accidently shorted the audio when inserting the connections. Audio connections are not "hot-swappable" so always best to totally power off all components when connecting and disconnecting. Are the speakers and computer plugged into the same wall outlet? If not, there could be a slight "difference in potentials" between the two grounds - which you [more or less] equalized when you connected the audio cable. When possible, it is always best to power everything connected to the computer (speakers, monitors, external drives - even network gear) through the same wall outlet to ensure they are all on a "common" ground. This also helps ensure EMI/RFI (interference) problems are eliminated or at least minimized too. Since it is all working fine now, it is not likely anything permanent happened.
Thanks. I didn't think to power off the PC first. It is rare that I would ever have a need to touch the audio connection. In the past, I have seen a lot of people disconnect/connect CAT5/6 patch cables when PC's are running. I guess that may be a bad practice.
Actually, network cables are not a big deal because the electrical contacts are recessed in the plug. So unless the connector is physically damaged and the wires are exposed, no way to short anything out. So while not technically "hot swappable" by design, you can connect and disconnect Ethernet cables without powering off anything and without damage. But because Ethernet connections are not designed to be hot swappable, swapping Ethernet cables may not restore the network connection without a reboot or power cycle. This is due, in part, because the NIC asks for its IP address assignment only during initialization and its "handshaking" with the network.
When you say audio mini jack, are you talking about the 1/8" plug or the motherboard header for your front panel audio?