Help me please, I'm really desperate.

n1ck

Hey,

I've been having problems with my pc the last few days.
My pc has randomly been shutting down and then sometimes not booting, sometimes after its shutdown i press the power button again and and the power seems to go on but then off and if i hold in the button for maybe a second it flicks on and off and on and off until i release the button.

I thought this may be due to a virus, so i did all my virus scans and all the necessary and found PSW.Briss.C lying in a temp folder. So i ran ad-aware and it removed it. But since removing this and playing my pc as i do everyday its shut down a few times.

This started after i downloaded Star Wars: Galaxies trial from Fileplanet i would get so far into the game.. till i could create a character then my pc would shut down and then sometimes refuse to switch on again. I've unistalled the game and delete the installer, this was before i did all the virus scan etc and found PSW.Briss.C.

Just a few minutes ago i was looking through Add or Remove and i found that my old firewall in the Add or Remove which i removed about a week ago was apparently 1,030 mb big. It Agnitum firewall(cant remember the full name). I then went into my c drive where i installed the firewall previously and tried to delete the folder which i found i couldnt do as some file in this apparently empty folder was in use. I went into cmd and found that it had 0 files but 2 folders, these i could not see even with Show hidden files and folders checked in the tool-options. I went into safe mode and was able to delete the folder, its now gone and safely removed ( i hope).

Since i removed this about 5 minutes ago i haven't really been on long enough for my pc to shut down as it used to shut down randomly so i will keep you informed.

My pc isnt over heating as i have pc alert 4 running and it says my cpu temp is at about 32-37 degrees and my sys temp is at about 33-39. I've felt everything after my pc shut down and i can touch everything with no problems, only things that are even warm are my hard drive and ram which aren't even hot just warm.

If you need anymore information on what i've done recently on my pc feel free to ask as im in dire straits over this.

n1ck

So far i've had my pc on about 8 hours and it hasn't shut down yet. (touch wood)

Webmonkey

Its not the remote precedure call that shuts down your pc is it?, you know the one that shuts down with a timer that starts at 30..29..etc

n1ck

Nope it just shuts down with no warning.... and it just shut down now at 10:32.

Any chance it could be a dodgy powersupply? I have a Q-Tec and ive had it about a year and i have to pull out the plug to get my pc to even power up again.

CombatCow

Aye i was gonna sys the psu..can you tell if it crashes any sooner when your playing a game ? if so then the psu is prolly cant handle the load,did u put any extra hardware into your pc recently.;)

CombatCow

n1ck

My pc crashed so many times when i was playing swg(Didnt even get into the game, just got to character choice). I haven't put anything new into my pc its been pretty much the same since i got it apart from switching 2 black coolermaster ones with 2 neon green ones, which was about christmas time.

luckat

Shutting down like that, bang, with no warning, is usually a bad power supply - unless **shudder** your hard drive is dying. Any nrrglll nrrglll noises?

But it's probably the power supply. You know how to replace it (not dear, I think the last one I got was around 35 neurons).

Webmonkey

What is suggest is, take all pci cards/usb/firewire devices out, just leave memory, graphics ,cpu and harddrive in, change the PSU and boot up and see if it happens again. Then if it doesn't, change back PSU, check again, and then add components one after another until you get a prob and then you'll know your problem..

Also by any chance in the BIOS, is there a place where it says to automatically shut down pc when reaches certain temperature. The lowest value is 60 degrees but anywayz try turning it off and see if it would help

n1ck

I have pc alert running and it says my pc is at a max of bout 40 degrees celsius after playing a game, and i unfortunately haven't got a spare psu.

Webmonkey

try turning it off anywayz, you wouldn't know maybe the bios a bit mixed up. Am you can pick up a psu for about 30 euro, maybe worth it if it the problem

n1ck

Cheers for the help lads... im buying a new case in about a week or so, so i'll get one then.

tuxy

Originally posted by n1ck
I have pc alert running and it says my pc is at a max of bout 40 degrees celsius after playing a game, and i unfortunately haven't got a spare psu.

]

check the voltage rails in pc alert while playing games

n1ck

They're steady constantly afaik, the temperature does actually rise a good bit when i'm in game, i alt-tabbed and it was about 46... so i'm gonna get another fan and see if it does any better.

tuxy

nothing wrong with 46 degrees
iv run my p4 @ 65 degrees with no problems

Civilian_Target

Have you checked your voltages using Aida?

n1ck

I'm sorry but im pretty electronic illiterate, is an Aida what u use for measuring voltage of batteries and things?

ionapaul

The fact that you had to remove your power cord and plug it back in to the PSU again to be able to start the PC really points to the fact that it is a PSU problem. When some PSUs shut down they cannot be restarted without unplugging the power cord for a time (this trips some safety lock or something on the PSU). If I am wrong with this someone please correct me!

n1ck

Cheers... i'll have a look for another psu so.

nobodythere

I'd also agree with the PSU thing. If it was a software controlled shutdown you shouldn't have had a problem with turning it right back on again.

n1ck

Ok this is still happening but my psu is still going so i thought it couldn't be that. My ram is getting quite hot recently any chance my ram over heating is the reason my pc keeps switching off?

BloodBath

I doubt it's the RAM. It couldn't be getting to tempertures that cause it to fail unless it had huge voltage going into it.

Try unplugging any unnecessary hardware like souncard, dvd/cd drive, extra hard-drives, extra ram, ect and then test the system with 3dmark2003 or star wars galaxies to see if it still shuts down.


If it is the psu replace it with a decent brand like fortron antec or thermaltake. A friend of mine's qtec psu died recently as well after having it for about a year.


They are not famed for being the most reliable of psu's.


BloodBath

n1ck

My pc also seems to enjoy shutting down when running internet explorer... i think its shut down about 6 times when browsing. I'll have internet explorer open for a few minutes then my pc just shuts down.

Wolf

About the RAM very unlikly I think. I doubt its a heat issue running at 46 degrees.

The PSU sounds like the most likely.

However, I had a problem like this with one of my very old PC's. As it turned out it was a virus that had a very clear way of getting itself in and out of the boot sector (as in even with a wipe of the boot sector it stayed around some how). Anyway, point is with it sutting down while running any random thing sounds very virus like; get some serious a-virus software if you can just to be sure I reckon.

Anyway good luck with gettin it sorted.

n1ck

I've tried removing the soundcard and cd rom(all the extras i have plugged in) and it still shut down... I was also having problems when browsing with Internet Explorer and Call of Duty. Within 2 minutes of launching either of these my pc shut down... the same thing that was happening with Star Wars: Galaxies.

Any ideas.... i find it very strange that these shut it down so soon into them. Counterstrike for instance runs fine it doesnt shut my pc down.

Mutant_Fruit

If you think you've ruled out its a hardware problem, then try a fresh windows install. Thats the only other thing that could help.

But before you take that step, have you installed new drivers recently? For your graphics card in particular. If so, they could be the problem. Also make sure you havn't overclocked anything.

n1ck

I ran call of duty and left it running just in the main menu, i then windowed it and did ctrl-alt-delete and the CPU usage was at 100% constant just in the main menu. This unusual?

n1ck

The voltages in PC Alert when running Call of Duty are...

Vcore - ~1.45
3.3v - ~3.17
+5v - ~5.11
+12v - ~11.52

[EDIT] Ive just discovered i still have PSW.Briss.C which i thought i removed. This is the cause of all of this i'm nearly positive of that anyway [/EDIT]

chanchan

one solution would be to get a mac. the emac is a good starting point

Stephen

wow, most retarded post ever.


he has a problem with his PC so he should just throw it out and get a mac on which none of the games he's mentioned will run? Great.

secret_squirrel

Definately sounds like psu to me. Sounds like a thermal cut out is tripping out, that would probably leave the psu fan running but no power getting throught. would also explain why you need a complete unplug before it goes again.

Qtec - get quite a slagging on here, most of the comments are second hand though (including this one )

[edit] if you check chanchans previous posts you will see its the worst kind of mac zealot, pay no attention [/edit]

n1ck

Well i definitely know its hardware now because i reformatted and it just did it again.

quarryman

might have missed it but have you actually tried using a different PSU yet?

n1ck

I don't actually have another so to test another i'll have to buy it.

quarryman

well its a Qtec. the power is cutting out. its not software. it doesn't seem to be overheating. sounds like a dodgy PSU.

buy one. if the problem remains then you can prob sell it and get back a good bit of what you spent.

n1ck

Yeh.... anyone recommend a cheapish Antec psu and where to buy it?

BloodBath

www.komplett.ie have 400watt fortrons for 75euro.

click

They are a good brand also and slightly cheaper than antec.


If your willing to pay a bit more for quicker delivery www.elara.ie have 400w antecs for 89.

click



BloodBath

n1ck

Hmm i was thinking of getting the Antec Sonata case with a psu, that kinda died off but now seeing the prices of some of the psu's i think i might.

n1ck

I know this thread is quite old now but its still rebooting, i haven't had a chance to get another power supply as i have no money at all. I resat the processor which was grand and i got rid of all the dust etc from it and i tried Call of Duty and it didn't crash which i thought was a good sign. I recently installed Battlefield: Vietnam and i tried it..... unfortunately my pc shut down, same happened with Doom3.

I really don't want to have to fork out ~€60 for a new psu, so if you have any ideas other then a new psu please tell.

Col_Loki

Have a look at your voltage rails, your motherboard monitoring tools should include that or download MBM5. You have a pretty crappy PSU, alot of people suffer from the same thing.

If your restarting without a blue screen or warning when the computer is under load, 99% of the time its the PSU. A 300w fortron will power your system with watts left over. Q-Tec are generally bad, alot of problem cases ........ get a decent PSU and your problems should be sorted.

PS Just incase watch your CPU temps (incase its getting too hot and the BIOS is set to reboot or shutdown once it gets that high) - again MBM5 or your monitoring software.

n1ck

My system temps max at about 40 degrees which i know isn't high for cpus.

The voltages are like this with steam, mIRC, firefox, msn and a few other background processes running like av.


My dad is going to see if he can nab me a psu from his work to test it out with a different psu.

Col_Loki

Download and run prime95 while watching the voltages. My bet is the rails will drop and the PC will prob restart.......... have a go, if this happens then you know for sure.

n1ck

Col_Loki wrote:

Download and run prime95 while watching the voltages. My bet is the rails will drop and the PC will prob restart.......... have a go, if this happens then you know for sure.

I ran it and it ran 20 tests but my pc never restarted or shut down.

Col_Loki

You would want to run "torture test" or Blend test , this will run until you stop it.

Monitor the rails while this is running and it will give you a better idea........

n1ck

I ran it for about 6 minutes with the help of Bloodbath on irc and my temperature went up to about 58 maximum and the voltages seemed fine, im going to run it again for a LOT longer, Bloodbath said about 8 hours so i'll do it tonight and see how it goes.