Computer keeps shutting off... please help

C

CarNut

n00b
Joined
Jun 28, 2006
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Hey guys I keep having this problem with my computer and I have no idea what it could be.

My computer keeps shutting off and it seems to happen completely randomly. It started about a week ago, where my computer would turn itself off after a few hours of use. Then it would turn itself off about 10 seconds after I turn it on or sometimes even immediately

So I thought it was because my computer is pretty old (about 4-5) years. I went to buy a can of compressed air and gave it a good cleaning as it had a TON of dust inside. After that it seemed to get better, my computer only turned itself off once in the last few days.

Now today I moved the computer to another room, and it's doing it A LOT again. I tried to run the computer was the side of the case open in case it was over heating, but it's still turning itself off.

Anyone have any idea what this could be? It's sooooo annoying especially when it happens while I'm playing a game... :(
 
try removnig your heatsink and cleaning the underside of it and the top side of the CPU and reapply some thermal paste and replacing the heatsink. If it's four years old the old thermal material may have lost it's effectiveness.

Also if you know how to use a DMM test the voltages on the PSU rails to see if they're within spec. Don't go by BIOS or Windows utility readings, they can easily be wrong and most often are.
 
ryan_975 said:
Also if you know how to use a DMM test the voltages on the PSU rails to see if they're within spec. Don't go by BIOS or Windows utility readings, they can easily be wrong and most often are.
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I have no idea what you said there... :p

But thanks for the other suggestions. I will give them a try :)
 
Okay I have a little update. I checked the Event log in my BIOS and it shows two CMOS Battery Failures and one CMOS Checksum Error. What could be the cause of this? The battery on the motherboard? Or the motherboard itself?

Also, the shutting down seems to be completely random. Sometimes it will do it after a few days of running in Windows, sometimes right after I turn it on, sometimes while Windows is loading...

If I am actually able to run in Windows for days at a time, it can't be my hard drive right? And I only have 1 stick of RAM in my computer, if that was bad I wouldn't be able to run at all as well right?

Heeelllp! :(
 
chech memory with memtest86, also make sure all fans are spinning (especially CPU and PSU), what temperature readings do you get?
 
It is really cheap and easy to replace the motherboards battery. While I don't think this is the problem, it cant hurt to get a new one.

I would think either the power supply or the processor is overheating. I know you said that you had the side of the case off, but your described problem is usually caused by heat or power problems.
 
Yea I will be replacing the motherboard battery and adding new thermal paste to the CPU later today.

Is there a program that will let me check temperatures or do I have to wire things?
 
CarNut said:
Yea I will be replacing the motherboard battery and adding new thermal paste to the CPU later today.

Is there a program that will let me check temperatures or do I have to wire things?
Click to expand...

BIOS usually has a section that shows the CPU temp. The sensors though are sometimes off. Can be off by 5 degrees, sometimes 20.
 
My BIOS does not have anything that shows temps...

I just put in a new battery for the mobo and applied some thermal paste to the CPU. It's running fine in Windows now... cross your fingers for me and hope it doesn't turn itself off again :cool:
 
CarNut said:
My BIOS does not have anything that shows temps...

I just put in a new battery for the mobo and applied some thermal paste to the CPU. It's running fine in Windows now... cross your fingers for me and hope it doesn't turn itself off again :cool:
Click to expand...

OH GREAT!!! Now we won't know if it was the battery or the thermal paste. j/k

Got em crossed for ya.
 
lol... looks like I got too happy too fast. My computer just rebooted itself. Weird though... this is the first time it didn't turn itself off.
 
CarNut said:
lol... looks like I got too happy too fast. My computer just rebooted itself. Weird though... this is the first time it didn't turn itself off.
Click to expand...

Have you run memtest on your RAM?
It may still also be a bad PSU.
 
ryan_975 said:
Have you run memtest on your RAM?
It may still also be a bad PSU.
Click to expand...

Nope... not sure how to run memtest? I went to the website but wasn't sure which file to download or how to run it.

I have a new vid card and stick of ram coming in this week. I guess I could just put the new stick in and take the old one out to see if it helps...
 
turn on error reporting, usually when windows just reboots like that it means you got a BSOD but windows restarts rather than showing it because i think the default is not to report the error. Are you sure you applied the thermal paste correctly by the way? I would also suggest memtest, and if you have other spare parts lying around see if you can pop them in temporarily (memory, psu)
 
CarNut said:
Nope... not sure how to run memtest? I went to the website but wasn't sure which file to download or how to run it.
Click to expand...

This one creates a bootable floppy. And this one creates a bootable CD.

After you make a floppy or CD, boot from it. Memtest will automatically run and continue until you stop it (or it crashes). Let it run for a couple of hours. You do not want any red errors on the lower 1/2 of the screen.
 
Frank4d said:
This one creates a bootable floppy. And this one creates a bootable CD.

After you make a floppy or CD, boot from it. Memtest will automatically run and continue until you stop it (or it crashes). Let it run for a couple of hours. You do not want any red errors on the lower 1/2 of the screen.
Click to expand...

Awesome, I will give that a try right now. Thanks!

On another update, I took out the RAM and cleaned it off and put it into the other slot. The slot it was in was pretty dusty and I took a can of compressed air to clean it out. The computer stayed on all night last night... so hopefully I fixed it... :p
 
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