A heat problem or CPU

M

Merle

My PC started to crash 15 min after start up then it shuts down and restarts
and restarts over and over and never really restarts until I shut the pc off
and let it sit for 20 or 30 minutes then it starts ok but pretty soon it
starts to shut down all over again. Do you think it is heat or is my CPU
going to die?
 
M

Mike Hall - MVP

Merle said:
My PC started to crash 15 min after start up then it shuts down and
restarts and restarts over and over and never really restarts until I shut
the pc off and let it sit for 20 or 30 minutes then it starts ok but
pretty soon it starts to shut down all over again. Do you think it is
heat or is my CPU going to die?


I think that maybe you should get a can of compressed air and remove the
buildup of dust that is probably between the fins of the CPU heatsink.. You
might also want to blow out the power supply, video card fan etc..
 
M

Malke

Merle said:
My PC started to crash 15 min after start up then it shuts down and
restarts and restarts over and over and never really restarts until I shut
the pc off and let it sit for 20 or 30 minutes then it starts ok but
pretty soon it
starts to shut down all over again. Do you think it is heat or is my CPU
going to die?

While it certainly sounds like overheating, there is simply no way for us
reading about it to tell. One would need to have hands-on the computer to
test.

Assuming this is a desktop computer, open it up and blow out all the dust
bunnies using compressed air. Unless you live somewhere it's still snowy,
taking the computer outside to do this is A Good Thing.

Then run the computer open, observing all the fans. Don't neglect to check
the fan on top of the processor and the one on the video card (if present).
If the computer runs perfectly, then you know it was overheating and can
take steps to fix this. Since I have no idea what your computing
environment is, the state of the computer, etc. I can't give you exact
steps. Clean computers preferably placed not on the floor in a smoke-free,
pet-hair free environment are a goal.

If your computer still shuts down after doing the above, then you have other
hardware problems. Could be the power supply, could be the processor, could
be the motherboard. You know your own skill level best for troubleshooting.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts with
known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). If possible, have all your data backed up
before you take the machine into a shop.

Malke
 
M

Merle

Mike Hall - MVP said:
I think that maybe you should get a can of compressed air and remove the
buildup of dust that is probably between the fins of the CPU heatsink..
You might also want to blow out the power supply, video card fan etc..


--
Mike Hall - MVP

Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

I did what you recommended and the PC seems to be running ok as of now.
I'll let it percolate for about an hour and see if it shuts down anymore.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top