Problem: System randomly shutting off *SCARY NOISE*

K

KuJaX

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Jan 8, 2001
Messages
15,778
The situation:

A client I built a computer for recently said that the computer turns off when it is not in use. She said sometimes when she leaves the house and comes back, it is off. Or if she leaves it on overnight, in the morning it if off. She also said that turning it back on is very weird and makes a "scary" noise, like it is crashing.

* I've checked in Windows and made sure that the hibernate or turn hard disks is OFF.

* All Windows patches are up to date.

* It doesn't shut off while its been in use - generally while no one is watching

* Has Thermalright XP-90 Heatsink to prevent overheat


Now, please advise, that before giving this system to her, I ran Systest continually for about 10 hours, and never once did it ever "shut off" (hence, why i dont think it is a overheating issue)

I have absolutely no idea what it could be. I swear I've tried everything, but to no avail. I have yet to actually see it "turn off" or make a "scary noise" when trying to turn it back on after it randomly shut off.

* Is there anything specific I can check in the Windows event log?
* Any software I can install to monitor this, so that I don't have to sit here and wait for it to crash?
 
Maybe a bad stick of ram and when she restarts it it is a no ram code had a system do that once just shutting off for no reason too a stick of ram out and fixed the problem put it back in and a day later shut off again replaced the stick and no more shutting off.
 
Could be the hard drive. If no one is around, that means it is idle... it might be windows hitting a bad block when it is fiddling with the file system while idle. I have seen that happen on a couple systems, though the 'weird noise' kinda throws me off.

What is in the event log when it dies (ask for a rough date and check/have them check)?
 
could be sumpthin' simple too ... like windows is doing an "auto" update but instead of just rebooting its shutting down..???

hmmm....
The "scary" noise is probably just a case fan with a noisy bearing or brush...

but I don't know the specifics of said machine so this is just a guess.
 
Check the PSU, coudl very well be the issue. Repaired a computer for a customer with a bad psu, brought it back a month later because the system was still acting up, ended up the motherboard was hit too, more than likely a power surge which hit both components.
 
sounds=moving parts. </cap't. obvious>

You list is limited to fans, HDD, and CDROM.

Fans are at the top of the list due to the shutdowd. Good luck.
 
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