comp shuts off randomly, help please
 

I’ve got kind of an odd problem here with my computer. Basically it shuts off seemingly at random. Opening the case and putting a big fan next to it seems to help, for awhile. Obviously this seems like a heating problem, but all my fans are working, and have worked perfectly since we built the computer a year ago. Also, when it shuts off, it won’t turn on again for awhile, but if I turn off the power completely (basically unplug it) and turn it back on I can turn the computer on again.

I have not modified any hardware or software, pretty much everything is up to date (except maybe some drivers.) I did, however, clean the insides with compressed air (that’s meant for cleaning the dust out.) Normally this wouldn’t at all be a problem, but the random shutting down happened an hour after I cleaned it, a pretty big coincidence. I tried cleaning it again, but no luck.

The computer works normally when running all the normal programs, no abnormal slowdowns or anything.

With the fan next to it, it will normally stay on for maybe 4-6 hours (a guess really since normally it’s not on longer than that.) Though this morning it shutdown after about an hour but the fan was on low, normally on medium so that may have been it, or it might be getting worse. Without the big fan its stays on something like 20 mins to 2 hours.

I should also mention when it shuts down it’s usually running an intensive program (world of warcraft, or half life 2) but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything since that’s about all I do when this computer is on.

I think it’s either the processor or the power source. You guys have any idea? Thanks for any replies.

Specs:
Windows XP
AMD Athlon XP 2500+
1.83 Ghz
(2 256) 512 MB ram Kingston kvr400 (DDR PC 3200)
ATI Radeon 9800 pro
K7n2 delta msi
60 GB, Maxtor diamondmax plus, 8mb buffer, ata 133

Download a program called "SpeedFan". This will tell you several temperatures that you have sensors for. Definitely sounds like a heating problem. Do you have all the fans running the same direction (cool air in front, rear exhaust)?

Thanks, but how can it be my fans when they have run fine for over a year and I havn't touched them? (and theyre still running fine)

Well, try the program. It will give you the temps to see how hot it is running.

With speedfan, how do I know which temp. goes to which device on my computer?
Thanks in advance

Also, any other advice regarding this program?

Does the video card have a fan on it? Is it working??

It looks like some dust got stuck in the heat sink for the processor, partially because it was a crappy one. Got a new one and so far so good. When I tried to clean it it somehow must have made it a bit worse and pushed it over the edge.

I dunno about speedfan but you can check the basic temps when you start up your comp. Thats what we did and we figured it looked a bit too hit for idle, so we checked it.

Oh and for reference, apparently it was an automatic process for it to shut down when it got too hot, and when i turned the power off it sort of resets it which lets me turn it on, but it wouldnt be able to stay on as long.

you could have bad clusters on your HD, but that doesn't happen often. Check your background programs and see what's running, sometimes software just isn't compatible. That happened to me with my sound card; the card just didn't work, and no one could understand why. Turns out it was just the drivers didn't want to communicate through the mess that some other programs made. It's kind of an out there answer, but aside from spending cash on bringing it to a professional, i don't know.

in my experience.. after people have tried everything else.. this ends up being the power supply. and its usually not the watt rating, but rather the brand... good quality, name brands make a big difference in power supplies.

I have a similar problem, and ended up reinstalling XP, that cleared it right up

where do I get the "speedfan" program? I've got similar issues...