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Thread ID: 48331	2004-08-20 05:49:00	annoying shut downs... help!	joe90ak (3042)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
263482	2004-08-20 05:49:00	My computer has taken to switching itself off without warning, fairly randomly. I thought it might be a loose connection or something so took the top off and checked all.... fans running ok too although the small fan (PSU?) was a bit dusty and not spinning well until I cleaned it. Box does not seem to get too hot even though in a large cupboard and has 3 fans anyway. When the comp switches off the lights on front stay on but I have to unplug the mains and restart it. I thought this might be some nasty as it tends to do it more when I'm on the net, especially when i use the mouse to click on something! Now I'm not so sure. does anyone have any ideas what else I could check or any suggestions? AMD 1600+ Fujitsu 7200 40Gig HD 256 DDR ram etc other strange (or maybe not relevant) thing is I use MyIE2 browser but after reboot the browser resets all it's preferences to default. also loaded Zone alarm AVG Spybot any help GREATLY appreciated!	joe90ak (3042)
263483	2004-08-20 06:07:00	hi joe90ak (BTW "joe 90" - cool handle) I think you have posted on this before but without luck I take it. Best thing to do is to "bump" your original thread by entering "bump" rather than starting a new one. No matter. What operating system are you using? Can you describe exactly what happens? e.g. what does the monitor show? (blank screen, "shutting down", frozen etc.) I'm thinking that if the PC lights are on then it's not a faulty monitor is it? Or is the PC overheating? Have you tried any software to monitor internal temperatures? Also, was this an off-the-shelf PC or did you build it yourself? If it's a DIY PC then what PSU have you got? Lastly, when did this start happening and what changed immediately before then? Cheers	andrew93 (249)
263484	2004-08-20 06:38:00	It is not usually a good idea to have a PC in a cupboard - the same old hot air goes around getting hotter no matter how many fans you have. If a PC starts getting overheated, it will shut down, and the harder it works (Processor busy time) the hotter it gets. Dust is a great insulator, and hot air is not a great deal of help for taking heat away. :( Try to get as much dust as you can out of there, particularly around the CPU fan and heatsink, the fan grilles, and the fan blades. To check on these pesky temperatures (If your MOBO is compatible) try Mother Board Monitor (www.majorgeeks.com) and see the before and after temperatures. R2	R2x1 (4628)
263485	2004-08-20 15:38:00	Yes, joe did post on this before - on June 25 - and got no answer, only another question. I can't answer him (leaving it to the experts) but just thought I'd remind people that this is the man who did the beautiful job of restoring the old photo of Greg S's grandmother from the goodness of his heart. Enuff said?	Laura (43)
263486	2004-08-20 21:26:00	Thanks guys... and the nice words from Laura :-) I gave up yesterday as every time i tried to post the comp would switch off. A bit less grumpy today and so far it's going. Yes RX, the box is in a cupboard... more correctly wardrobe vented to the ceiling, so was hoping that wasn't too much of a problem and the shut downs could happen 2 mins after start up or 2 hours. I did notice that the case top over the power supply fan was getting a bit warm as I had the adsl modem on top of it (have now moved it so might also help) While i popped the lid I dusted the insides with a paint brush and vacc, paying attention to the fans (comp is a couple of years old so some dust was expected), maybe this did the trick... fingers crossed. I will also try out the M board monitor you suggested. The power supply is a Novia MS 300 watt Running XP pro The comp runs all day usually (use it for work hooked up to a remote server) I don't think it's a monitor problem, the monitor goes into sleep mode as normal when the comp shuts down. the only other thing i've noticed is that the HD light is on all the time, suggesting that it's working overtime but this has happened pretty much since I got it. Could this contribute to overheating or something? If it is I'm not sure what can be done, was thinking of adding another stick of ram as it only has 256mb but I guess this would only help with speed. Anyway, thanks for your input... much appreciated Joe	joe90ak (3042)
263487	2004-08-20 22:00:00	What version of Z/Alarm are you running Joe? One version 5.something was very buggy and caused all sorts of random problems on a lot of comps. Hook.	Capt.Hook (5586)
263488	2004-08-21 00:25:00	I would suggest running Ad-aware. Make sure the latest updates are installed before doing a full system scan. Do you have all your Windows security updates installed? > the only other thing i've noticed is that the HD light is on all the time, suggesting that it's working overtime but this has happened pretty much since I got it. Could this contribute to overheating or something? I am not sure about contributing to overheating but it is not normal for the hard drive to be busy all the time. Does the hard drive actually sound busy when the light is always on? You may have Windows Indexing Service running which is not necessary. Go to this page (www.blackviper.com) and follow the instructions for turning it off. You could also try disabling other unnecessary services as well.	tommy (2826)
263489	2004-08-21 06:24:00	The problem continues... I have disabled services as suggested, run AVG, Spybot, adaware. the green HD light stays on (not even a flicker) but can't really tell if HD is running all the time. i think this started when I installed Mysql server software. have been running the comp with the side cover off to see if that helps with heat problem but still shut down after 1/2 hour or so. have checked the fans again, cpu fans etc running fine, one thing i have just noticed is when I start it up the power fan (the back one by power plug) goes a bit slow at first with slight 'grindy' sound (very slight!) then speeds up to what looks normal... ie you can't see the blades as they're turning fast enough and seems pretty similar to my old box that I fired up to compare. there is a bit of warm air coming from back vent but the top of the case is not getting hot. if the power supply fan is stopping/slowing could this switch the computer off? I'm thinking that if it is the problem I can swap the power supply from old box (well, not so old box) but there's lots of wires to plug in and think this might mean a trip to a computer tech. Also tried downloading Mboard monitor but couldn't find my model listed and the 'warnings' on install made me shy to just pick one. as for Zone alarm i have version 3.7.9 something... has been no prob before. Still here after 10mins so there's hope :-) Joe	joe90ak (3042)
263490	2004-08-21 09:42:00	Here are some things to try. After the computer shuts down again go into control panel Administrative tools then double click on event viewer and double click system and look at the latest events at the top you can either double click or right click to bring the event properties dialog box up . This tells you what has been happening and what with,also Go to Control Panel/System. go to the Advanced tab and click Startup and Recovery. Under System Failure, un-tick the box that says "automatically restart." Next time this happens, pay attention to any error messages that pop up, if any. ctrl alt delete to bring up task manager and look at what processes are running and try to identify them all to see if you do have some spyware type thing running that is causing this. try a online virus scan Panda Active Scan -- www.pandasoftware.com House Call -- www.trendmicro.com if you can keep connected hoprfully. hth	johnboy (217)
263491	2004-08-22 11:44:00	Thanks for those suggestions johnboy but things got suddenly worse... Comp switched off 1 more time and no longer starts, hence my absence from PF1. So I guess none of your helpful suggestions are a go. (I did do AVG scan, spybot and Adaware before it died so thought they would pick up any nasties) After a whole day of frustration I am now running winxp on an old P2 box with 128mb ram... verrrry slow but working after put HD from newer comp into old P2, had to reformat drive as only way to get xp going as start up kept hanging at 'found CD drive' ... lost all settings... but that's another story (just call me determined!). I still cant figure out what is wrong to make it switch off. I thought it might be power supply/power supply fan but now i still have red light on front of case going (not the green HD light tho) and a green led on the motherboard (?) so power is getting to things... no fans working at all, no HD activity or anything else. based on the following: LEDS lit up No fans working what's the likelyhood of the fault being in the power supply? or should I be looking at motherboard and other things? ta for suggestions Joe (today felling like a real spinner!)	joe90ak (3042)
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