Computer keeps shutting down?

M

MaddShadez

Registered
For the past month or two my computer just turns itself off for no apparent reason, occasionally showing the BSOD. sometimes i get BIOS beeps as well but the pattern is 1 long 9 short and i can't find anything that matches. i did the system restore go back to when it worked to no avail. i am assuming it's hardware related but don't want to throw money at it. it worked fine for over a year before this. Any ideas?

WinXP pro
4000+ Athlon 64
1 gig memory running dual channel
Radeon 1900 all in wonder
ASRock Dual SATA2 motherboard
160 gig SATA HD
CDRW and DVDRW drives
 
If it works fine for a while, you're looking at an overheating CPU. Most motherboards will now shut down the system when the temp hits a certain number to protect the CPU. I'd look into repairing or improving your CPU cooling.
 
Open it up and place a small desk fan blowing into the case and test the results.

A lot of PCs can be fixed by literally disassembling and cleaning the insides with canned air.

Could also be a power supply problem. The PS overheats and starts to loose voltage, eventually not putting out enough.
 
driller said:
Open it up and place a small desk fan blowing into the case and test the results.

A lot of PCs can be fixed by literally disassembling and cleaning the insides with canned air.

Could also be a power supply problem. The PS overheats and starts to loose voltage, eventually not putting out enough.
Click to expand...

Forgot about that...power supply is also a good suspect.

Cleaning the inside with air is also a good thing to do. Dust is good at retaining heat.
 
Is it a store bought comp.? or did you or someone build it for you? If its a store bought system the Power supply is probably the bare minimum for the computer and the supply could be getting week. Also a once a month cleaning out of the case will add years to the life of the components. When you blow air into the system to clean it out do not blow it into the fan blades without holding the blade from spinning as this will damage the fans. Also if you are going to apply some more thermal compound I would recommend you use arctic silver 5, and make sure you clean off all the old compound with 90% or stronger isopropyl alcohol and lint free tissues or swabs then let it air dry. You only need a thin layer of it on the Processor to accomplish its function. This done using a BB size dab on the processor and then use a flat piece of plastic to spread it to a paper thin application a credit card works well for this.

For your beep code go here: http://www.amptron.com/html/bios.beepcodes.html

For help in building your own system and more in depth system knowledge go here were i have been a long time member. http://www.motherboards.org/
 
Last edited:
You guys have hit most of the common points but you could be having other hardware issues too such as bad hard drive/CD-ROM or even the motherboard itself. It could basically be any component that is plugged into your computer. Sometimes it gets to the point you just have to start unplugging parts until stops shutting down.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but check the CPU cooling and the then maybe try another power supply. I'd try to borrow one first if possible.
 
Another not mentioned item is simply reinstalling Windows!! This seems to repair MOST MicroSoft induced computers problems. If you haven't done this in the past year or two, it may be time!
 
hey guys thanks for the tips, it looks like it is an overheating problem, i've got a fan blowing right on the mobo now and it's working good again. it looks like the fan that was on the CPU heatsink is starting to wear out so i've got a new heatsink/fan on the way from newegg. thanks again!
 
make sure the heat gets out too, exhaust is more important than having it blow into the box. If you need to cut an exhaust then install a fan on top to blow out, also keep it cool, if it is in a desk cabinet make sure when you use it you keep it open or keep airflow back there. open the case if you have too, just like a car, if it overheats it will do major damage to other parts
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top