Computer just suddenly QUITS

[RoseW]

While processing a RebelXt digital image which is approx. 2.5 to
3Mb....SNAP....everything quit. No sounds, no words, no delay....QUIT!
Top of computer tower case is quite hot to the touch as this happens.
Computer does not respond to restart.
Drove to the repair shop and the air conditioning was on in the vehicle.
Wouldn't you know the computer turned on without a whimper.
Moved the computer to the desktop and in the last two days it has
repeated this behaviour twice.
I have been editing a digital image in Paint Shop Pro on all of the
occassions ( now totalling 4) and nothing else was open.

Xpsp2 Amd Athlon xp2400+ mmx 2Ghz 572 Ram....and it looks like the
power supply thing is in the 350 volts range. Nvidia Geforce4 MX4000
128Ram... Two hard drives Programs OS on Drive C (size 30 free 20)and
storage on NTFS drive F size 40 (free 35)
CPU Fan is working and air comes out the power supply section.(Aida32
reports a temp of 53'C(127'F) and motherboard 42'C(108'F) Unfortunately
I didn't have that temp info when PSP was on and at work.
Started watching the available Physical memory with the task manager
[Total is 523760 and
available will be about half that ]
Moved the graphics accelerator bar over from high and any tool in PSP
moved like in slow motion....very slow refreshing so I moved it back.
This machine is well barricaded from outside invasion- D-link (satellite
internet)ZAlarm firewall and the various anti spy stuff. Scans report
clean.
No errors reported after running DXDIAG

The virtual page file was at a custom setting and I read here earlier
today to change that to allow Windows to manage this setting. I have
done that today.
The side panel of the computer is now open.

Is it possible that there is a need for more Ram?

RoseW

 

[Richard Urban [MVP]]

If you are running 53C at idle, what temps are you running when you heavily
stress the system? It sounds too high to me.

Take the side off of the case. Take a small portable fan and blow air into
the case. Do your temps show a decrease? Try editing a file - do what you
were doing when the system shut down. See if it still happens.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from: George Ankner
"If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!"

 

[D.Currie]

While processing a RebelXt digital image which is approx. 2.5 to
3Mb....SNAP....everything quit. No sounds, no words, no delay....QUIT!
Top of computer tower case is quite hot to the touch as this happens.
Computer does not respond to restart.
Drove to the repair shop and the air conditioning was on in the vehicle.
Wouldn't you know the computer turned on without a whimper.
Moved the computer to the desktop and in the last two days it has
repeated this behaviour twice.
I have been editing a digital image in Paint Shop Pro on all of the
occassions ( now totalling 4) and nothing else was open.

Xpsp2 Amd Athlon xp2400+ mmx 2Ghz 572 Ram....and it looks like the
power supply thing is in the 350 volts range. Nvidia Geforce4 MX4000
128Ram... Two hard drives Programs OS on Drive C (size 30 free 20)and
storage on NTFS drive F size 40 (free 35)
CPU Fan is working and air comes out the power supply section.(Aida32
reports a temp of 53'C(127'F) and motherboard 42'C(108'F) Unfortunately
I didn't have that temp info when PSP was on and at work.
Started watching the available Physical memory with the task manager
[Total is 523760 and
available will be about half that ]
Moved the graphics accelerator bar over from high and any tool in PSP
moved like in slow motion....very slow refreshing so I moved it back.
This machine is well barricaded from outside invasion- D-link (satellite
internet)ZAlarm firewall and the various anti spy stuff. Scans report
clean.
No errors reported after running DXDIAG

The virtual page file was at a custom setting and I read here earlier
today to change that to allow Windows to manage this setting. I have
done that today.
The side panel of the computer is now open.

Is it possible that there is a need for more Ram?

RoseW

It sounds like you need more cooling. Something is overheating, and whatever
it is, if you don't find a way to keep it cool, it's not going to last very
long. It could be your video card, your processor, your motherboard, your
hard drive(s) or your power supply. Did I miss anything?

We've had a hot spell here and I've had a lot of customers with dead or
dying hard drives. Make sure you figure out what's running hot before you
fry whatever it is.

 

[RoseW]

In D.Currie <[email protected]> typed:
| || While processing a RebelXt digital image which is approx. 2.5 to
|| 3Mb....SNAP....everything quit. No sounds, no words, no
delay....QUIT!
|| Top of computer tower case is quite hot to the touch as this happens.
|| Computer does not respond to restart.
|| The side panel of the computer is now open.
||
|| |
|| RoseW
||
|
| It sounds like you need more cooling. Something is overheating, and
| whatever it is, if you don't find a way to keep it cool, it's not
going
| to last very long. It could be your video card, your processor, your
| motherboard, your hard drive(s) or your power supply. Did I miss
anything?
|
| We've had a hot spell here and I've had a lot of customers with dead
or
| dying hard drives. Make sure you figure out what's running hot before
you
| fry whatever it is.

What I'm doing is lining up all the possiblities to report to my
computer repair guy with the goal of having him focus in on - 'It could
be your video card, your processor, your
| motherboard, your hard drive(s) or your power supply'
I figure if I have enough data then surely there are tests ....but
likely not...All of the items on your list (except for one hard drive)
are a year old. The power supply might be a little older. Actually I
went through two power supplies in the beginning (2002 -2003) This
present power supply went in just before I replaced the motherboard etc.
in 2004.
The side panel is off, a fan is running in the room and I'm turning the
computer off when I'm not actually using it. The software Paint shop pro
really puts a lot of demands on the system so it could be video
connected...
Thanks for the direction.
Rose W

 

[RoseW]

In Richard Urban [MVP] <[email protected]> typed:
| If you are running 53C at idle, what temps are you running when you
| heavily stress the system? It sounds too high to me.
|
| Take the side off of the case. Take a small portable fan and blow air
into
| the case. Do your temps show a decrease? Try editing a file - do what
you
| were doing when the system shut down. See if it still happens.
|
|
| ".(Aida32
|| reports a temp of 53'C(127'F) and motherboard 42'C(108'F)
Unfortunately
|| I didn't have that temp info when PSP was on and at work.
|| RoseW

The side is off the case. A portable fan is blowing across towards the
computer. I put the computer through the same activity of edits in the
graphic software in a similar manner today and tonight.
The temperature rating on the Aida32 report now says Motherboard
39'C(102F) Cpu 50'C(100F) and nothing happened over the 2 or 3 hours. I
had enough going on that the graphics software slowed down so if it was
going to do a QUIT there was ample opportunity.

I'm going to find a utility that quickly or on the go gives the
temperature ratings rather than searching through the Aida report. Its
too bad the task manager doesn't have a section on temperature.
I think I have to get it identified if its the Power Supply and if a
second fan installed would be a benefit.

Thanks for confirming the area I have to investigate.
RoseW

 

[D.Currie]

In D.Currie <[email protected]> typed:
| || While processing a RebelXt digital image which is approx. 2.5 to
|| 3Mb....SNAP....everything quit. No sounds, no words, no
delay....QUIT!
|| Top of computer tower case is quite hot to the touch as this happens.
|| Computer does not respond to restart.
|| The side panel of the computer is now open.
||
|| |
|| RoseW
||
|
| It sounds like you need more cooling. Something is overheating, and
| whatever it is, if you don't find a way to keep it cool, it's not
going
| to last very long. It could be your video card, your processor, your
| motherboard, your hard drive(s) or your power supply. Did I miss
anything?
|
| We've had a hot spell here and I've had a lot of customers with dead
or
| dying hard drives. Make sure you figure out what's running hot before
you
| fry whatever it is.

What I'm doing is lining up all the possiblities to report to my
computer repair guy with the goal of having him focus in on - 'It could
be your video card, your processor, your
| motherboard, your hard drive(s) or your power supply'
I figure if I have enough data then surely there are tests ....but
likely not...All of the items on your list (except for one hard drive)
are a year old. The power supply might be a little older. Actually I
went through two power supplies in the beginning (2002 -2003) This
present power supply went in just before I replaced the motherboard etc.
in 2004.
The side panel is off, a fan is running in the room and I'm turning the
computer off when I'm not actually using it. The software Paint shop pro
really puts a lot of demands on the system so it could be video
connected...
Thanks for the direction.
Rose W

Age really doesn't have much to do with something like overheating. Except,
of course, that fans will get tired and dust can settle and make things
worse. But sometimes it's just an airflow problem. If you've got two 7200rpm
drives installed so they're right next to each other, there's nowhere for
that heat to go, for example. But if you can separate the drives and find a
way to get some air flowing around them, it can help.

When you're installing extra parts, you may not think of things like that,
and some people like to keep all their drives nice and snug against each
other or have all of their cards right next to each other, and then have the
cables blocking the airflow even more. And I've seen people build computers
with all the case fans blowing the same direction -- all in, or all out.
That doesn't work very well.

Since you've got the case open, you can stick your hand in there and feel
what's getting hot. Then you can start figuring out how to keep those areas
cooler.

 

[RoseW]

In D.Currie <[email protected]> typed:
||
|
| Age really doesn't have much to do with something like overheating.
| Except, of course, that fans will get tired and dust can settle and
make
| things worse. But sometimes it's just an airflow problem. If you've
got
| two 7200rpm drives installed so they're right next to each other,
there's
| nowhere for that heat to go, for example. But if you can separate the
| drives and find a way to get some air flowing around them, it can
help.
|
| When you're installing extra parts, you may not think of things like
that,
| and some people like to keep all their drives nice and snug against
each
| other or have all of their cards right next to each other, and then
have
| the cables blocking the airflow even more. And I've seen people build
| computers with all the case fans blowing the same direction -- all in,
or
| all out. That doesn't work very well.
|
| Since you've got the case open, you can stick your hand in there and
feel
| what's getting hot. Then you can start figuring out how to keep those
| areas cooler.

At this moment it is only the two hard drives that are quite warm to
touch....I can leave my fingers on them so its similar to handling a cup
of coffee. The power supply box has no warmth to it at all.
The two hard drives are one under the other hanging on a bracket at the
front of the case. Above that are the two boxes for cd-rw and the dvd.
There are vent holes on the side panel but they are not located where
the hard drives are mounted. There is enough room anywhere along the
bottom of the case to have another fan and one hard drive could be
positioned further down for there is nothing below.
These features I'll present for the repair guy's consideration.
Thank you.
RoseW