Computer randomly powers off every so often.

im...LOST

Hey guys

I recently got a second hand computer from a fella I know and I'm having a problem with it. For some reason it just randomly powers off every so often and there appears to be no pattern or anything as to why it does it.


The specs are;

aopen ez482 Cube
Opteron 144 - 1.8ghz 64bits
2Gb ram (think its g.skill)
geforce 6800 GS

and it's running Vista: Ultimate Edition


Now, it has powered off on several occasions and sometimes the computer could be powered on for hours without fault and then it would just go. On the most recent occasion though, it cut off even before it booted into Windows. There is no apparent pattern as it has powered off while running different applications.

When it does power down, the little red light that's inside goes out and even after I plug it out from the socket and plug it back in I can't turn it on for an hour or two. Again, this timing seems to be quite random as it could take a few hours or ten mins.

I've told the fella I bought it from and he said he'd have a look but I'd like to be able to try and fix it on my own (with your help ) before hand.

I've asked a few people and one said that it sounded like it was getting shorted somewhere and they advised me to shake the computer so maybe some debris or something would become dislodged. I tried that but it still powered off after a while.

I was also told that it might be a problem with the RAM and was advised to download memtest (from memtest.org) and see what it says. Before I had a chance to run it on my computer, the computer powered down before it booted into Windows so I dunno what to do at the moment.

I can't really think of anything else to say about it but any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Gadgetman496

I would suggest that there could be three main causes for this type of behaviour.

1. Overheating
Make sure all your fans or spinning & are free from accumulated dust.

Your CPU (processor) may need to be re- pasted.

2. Some application may be causing the error, be it the application itself or some sort of memory leak or overflow.

Try this so that the next it happens, it will not shutdown, it will either give an error message instead or Blue Screen, at least it might give you time to see what's reporting & give you something to go on.

Start
Right Click My Computer
Properties
Advanced
Under the “Startup and Recovery” section click on Settings.
Under the “System failure” section there is a check box for “Automatically restart”

Un tic this box if you if you want to stop the system restarting on failure.

3. It could be a virus/Mailware.

Scan your system to see if it has any infections.


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lm7

last year I sold a computer because it would just restart. just bought a new computer and now it is doing the same. I get a box up to report to microsoft and the response is to download new flash player. I have done this. still the same. I also get a response from microsoft that i have a hardware issue. I rang the shop they told me its bad software. i can hear a click as it shuts down . have checked it for viruses. my internet explorer will also just close.

MooseJam

I had the very same problem, the pc would just shut down for no apparant reason, updated the bios to the latest revision and that sorted it out, hasn't shut down since

im...LOST

I'm using it now and it has been up for 30 mins now. I haven't done anything in way of fixing it bu I was asking someone at college and they said that it might be bad sectors on the Hard Drive. A possibility?

Gadgetman496

im...LOST wrote: »

I'm using it now and it has been up for 30 mins now. I haven't done anything in way of fixing it bu I was asking someone at college and they said that it might be bad sectors on the Hard Drive. A possibility?

Well I wouldn't rule it out, but I would doubt it?

The main causes for this type of problem are,

Overheating.

Memory dump issues.

Program/softwae conflict.

Some times a BIOS update can fix it, but not always I'm afraid.

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Stephen

I had a similar problem a while back. It turned out that the fan in my PSU was knackered - it would start and stop spinning whenever it felt like it. This would cause the PSU would get too hot and just switch itself off. Eventually the fan burned itself out entirely and the psu died.

im...LOST

I spoke too soon with the whole, it's working ok thing.

It has powered down twice in quick succession now, one after 45 mins and one after about 10 mins.

I think the fans are running freely and I don't think that it's from overheating. (would 15 mins of browsing cause it to overheat?)

I've downloaded memtest so I'll boot from a USB key tomorrow and see what happens in the RAM department.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'll keep you updated