So yeha, This started some time ago, and has only been getting worse. At the beginning I could do pretty much everything. Only if I had Photoshop and Opera and all that running and sucking the PC dry would it shut down. But then it started getting worse, to the point that today I've had to turn it on 5 times just to get to desktop- it shut down 3 seconds after being turned on. And then when I reached desktop, it shut down again. Notice that it's the only symptom. There's no slowdown, anything. It just goes from working fine 100% to being shut down. My brother-in-law, who has some good knowledge of computers, says it may be the RAM memory having issues, but that in that case I'd normally be having BSoD'd, not just literally shut down. Now, I haven't been the kinder owner of the PC. Namely, it has dust. I don't have one of those compressed air guns to clean PC's, nor know anyone who has, nor have the money to pay someone to use one. But other than that, I've never treated this PC badly. I also think it may have to do with software, since it doesn't seem to go down if I go in Safe Mode; but I seem to recall it doing this before I formatted and installed a (pirate) Windows 7, so that shoots this theory down. Anyone, can you see anything throughout this rambling post that helps diagnosing what the fuck is wrong here? EDIT: Tried to run Windows Memory Diagnostics or whatever the name is, it shut down before it managed to analyze anything.
Sounds like some bad capacitors on the motherboard. Are any of them bulging, especially the ones near the CPU?
As far as I can tell by the light of my little lantern, none at all. I did notice that the wireless modem card is heating as hell, though. And I've had a wireless pendrive literally ignite, throw out smoke, and melt once. Is the wireless killing my PC? How can it do so?
Is the CPU fan clean? Just asking, my mum computer kept shutting down until I got upset and cleaned the fan. So far it didn't shut down again. I don't even mean doing a deep clean, just make sure the holes are open so the air can flow... Actually: does it shut down quicker if you're resetting than if you just turned it on? If so, that most likely means something is overheating.
Could also be the power supply failing, I think. I had a friend once who PC would shut down randomly until it just wouldn't turn on.
Do the shutdowns happen at smaller and smaller intervals when you turn the PC back on every time it shuts down ? I would be removing the CPU heatsink and giving it a good clean, aswell as new thermal paste.
I had a similar problem once and it was down to the CPU fan. The computer would be fine idle for a while but anything that even required a little bit of power (DVD's, Media Player etc) would shut it off in 10 minutes flat. Make sure the fan is connected correctly and also clean the thing. A soft paint brush is fine for fans.
I had this problem a while back, I'd just built a new pc and it worked great.. for a while...(about a month) It started turning off in shorter and shorter intervals, I replaced the PSU and it never happened again. If you have a spare compatible PSU lying around, try swapping them to see if it makes a difference. It really pissed me off since it was new and a good brand.
I had a PC that the fans would start spining harder and louder when I used the KEGA Fusion emulator or any CPU demanding activity. Took it apart and cleaned the dust out and it didn't do it again. I suppose if I waited longer than it would probally start shutting down.
My first laptop was sort of like that. When I used any emulator, the framerate would eventually go down the shitter, probably because the computer was heating up, and then eventually the laptop would shut itself down, and I'd have to do something else for a good 10-15 minutes before I could get back on it without it shutting down again every 5 seconds. That laptop is now deader than a fishtick in a cat convention. My Dell lasted much longer, and I only replaced that because my social worker offered to take me to get a better laptop using a hidden account that the remnants of my Social Security go to, and even then, the Dell's still used for backup.
That's because the CPU throttled down its FSB just to reduce heat a little. Shutting down means activating the burning self-protection that motherboards have.
