Computer shuts off by itself

  • Thread starter Thread starter ilyaz
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ilyaz

Within a few weeks, a strange thing happened twice: my computer would shut
off by itself. I did not touch it, there was no power outage, nothing
evident. After shut off, it will reboot fine.
What causes this shut off?
Any suggestion is appreciated.
 
ilyaz said:
Within a few weeks, a strange thing happened twice: my computer would
shut off by itself. I did not touch it, there was no power outage,
nothing evident. After shut off, it will reboot fine.
What causes this shut off?
Any suggestion is appreciated.
Click to expand...

How often does the machine shut down? Randomly? If it is shutting down
frequently and randomly, that points to hardware issues. The culprit(s)
could be overheating, flaky RAM, bad power supply, etc. Here are some
general hardware troubleshooting steps:

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

Malke
 
I just went through that with a new HP Invent (business desk top computer).
They replaced everything in the CPU about 3 months prior then this
started--like yourself, "for no reason." I even traced down every cord
(blind user), and would turn it off, let it sit, made sure System Restore
was checked (that appeared to help a bit, but wasn't the culprit), and
couldn't keep it on long enough to back up my documents.

They sent out a rep finally--I wrote to their Chairman who was wonderful in
responding--and as soon as he replaced the Power Supply, and ran the
diagnostics on the HD, it was staying on. We decided to light candles over
it for a day, to see how it behaved. I added some burning Sage that night.

Its been A-1 since then. The rep said he did it...by replacing the Power
Supply on his first visit (removing all parts in the CPU, etc.), because
sometimes when they remove parts they get back into the "stack" and are put
into another computer if someone's missed checking it out when it came back
in.

All's well here. I hope your problem clears up. It terrified me. I now own
six thumb drives (SanDisk) and wouldn't be w/o them!
 
I checked, but found not much. In the System and Applications, there were
just a few Errors here and there, mostly with Printer. What kind of error
should there be if and when comp shuts down?
Thanks for your help.
Ilya
 
In the few weeks it happened twice: yesterday and 2-3 weeks ago. Definitely,
it's not frequently. Randomly, perhaps, since I could not see any pattern.
Overheating is controlled by Intel Active Monitor and in both instances
there was no warning. Flaky RAM - have no idea what do you mean. May you
please clarify this?
Thanks for your suggestions.
Ilya
 
Before your very eyes in Malke's link.

Test the RAM!


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Well, I wanted and tried, but it did not work... It looked like it
downloaded (the process went through), but there never was an icon on my
desktop and there was no way to start it. There was no trace of it on my
machine... Isn't it sort of a Trojan or something I should be worry about?
Ilya
 
what downloaded?
http://www.memtest.org/

ilyaz said:
Well, I wanted and tried, but it did not work... It looked like it
downloaded (the process went through), but there never was an icon on my
desktop and there was no way to start it. There was no trace of it on my
machine... Isn't it sort of a Trojan or something I should be worry about?
Ilya
Click to expand...
 
ilyaz said:
Yes, that was the link.
IZ
Click to expand...

Read the FAQ:
http://forum.x86-secret.com/showthread.php?s=362a9f71f59a065d70fc72d849823a22&t=2807

Download the .iso for the bootable cd and use third-party burning
software to create the bootable cd. Boot with the media you created and
Memtest86+ will run immediately. You can then take the cd out. Allow
the test to run for a good while - possibly several hours unless you
get errors immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

If you don't have third-party burning software, you can create a
bootable floppy (if you have a floppy drive) with the precompiled
Windows binary.

Or here is a free burning program that can burn an .iso (disk image):
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

If this still seems difficult, then take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop for a thorough diagnostic. Back up your data
first.

Malke
 
Malke,
are you saying that Memtest86+ is already installed on my machine although
"invisible", but will run from bootable CD? I have third-party burning
software Roxio and Nero). But where to get the .iso from?
Thanks for the suggestions.
Ilya
 
ilyaz said:
Malke,
are you saying that Memtest86+ is already installed on my machine
although "invisible", but will run from bootable CD? I have
third-party burning software Roxio and Nero). But where to get the
.iso from? Thanks for the suggestions.
Click to expand...

No, I'm not saying that at all and if you had read the FAQ I gave you
that would be clear to you.

Memtest86+ is a memory testing program that runs outside the operating
system. It boots your computer into a version of Linux. It cannot be
installed on a Windows machine. You get the .iso from www.memtest.org
which is the link I already have given you. Twice.

An .iso is a disk image, usually of a bootable cd or dvd. In this case,
it is a bootable cd. You do not burn an .iso the way you burn a regular
cd of data. In Nero, depending on the version, you choose to burn an
image and then point Nero to the .iso you downloaded. Refer to Nero
and/or Roxio's Help files for further details about burning .iso's.

Malke
 
Malke said:
No, I'm not saying that at all and if you had read the FAQ I gave you
that would be clear to you.

Memtest86+ is a memory testing program that runs outside the operating
system. It boots your computer into a version of Linux. It cannot be
installed on a Windows machine. You get the .iso from www.memtest.org
which is the link I already have given you. Twice.
Click to expand...
And I "downloaded" it Twice.
An .iso is a disk image, usually of a bootable cd or dvd. In this case,
it is a bootable cd. You do not burn an .iso the way you burn a regular
cd of data. In Nero, depending on the version, you choose to burn an
image and then point Nero to the .iso you downloaded.
Click to expand...
As I told you, the problem is there is nothing to point to!
Thanks for trying to help. I appreciate your efforts and time.
Ilya

Refer to Nero
 
ilyaz said:
As I told you, the problem is there is nothing to point to!
Thanks for trying to help. I appreciate your efforts and time.
Ilya
Click to expand...

Then go here and download the .iso again! You apparently either didn't
download it or downloaded to some location on your hard drive and
misplaced it. Since I can't see you or your computer, I don't know what
you did. The download is very small and will only take a few seconds
over a broadband connection.

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

Click on the second link from the top and download the "Pre-Compiled
Bootable ISO (.zip) to some place on your computer you will find it.
The Desktop is good. Once you have it, unzip the file and inside you
will find memtest86+-1.65.iso. I know this because I just downloaded
it. Move that file outside the .zip folder and onto your Desktop. *Now*
burn the .iso. *Now* boot with the cd you just made. *Now* Memtest86+
will run and you can test your memory.

Malke
 
Its easier to replace the power supply--then see what happens, before you
fret about backing up and downloading what may be the problem all over again
if its software related.
 
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