PC seems to shutdown unexpectedly but looks on, i.e still has powe

[Maria Waddell]

Hi,
I have a desktop pc approx 5 years old. It has Windows XP Home edition with
service pack 2. It has a Intel (R) Celeron (R) CPU 3.06GHz and 992mb RAM. It
also has a Foxconn 661 7MI motherboard.

It has been working fine and yet the other day it suddenly seemed to go off.
This had happened before when it had overheated and after I hoovered/cleaned
it all out inside the tower it then contuinued to work fine once again.

This time however when I looked down at the power button it was still lit
and I could still hear it running. The monitor screen went black and said 'no
imput'. I tried to reboot it but I couldn't turn it off from the power button
as this didn't work. I had to turn it off from the switch at the back of the
pc.

After turning it back on again behind the pc and rebooting the computer it
worked fine again. The second time it did it later that day it would not
reboot. The power was on but you couldn't hear the beep as it booted. The
monitor echoed this fact as it was not picking up a signal.

After a third attempt after the cycle of power switches it booted normally
and did not do it again for 24 hours approx.

I cleaned the inside of the pc and removed the fan to ensure it was dust
free. It does not seem to do it at any set times and can go for a day or so
before the next episode.

I am at a loss as to what it could be. I have updated and ran all of my
virus/adaware/malware scans and all is well on that point.

Could it be my motherboard on the way out or could it be my hard drive?

Any help would be grately appreciated. I hope I have given enough details.

Regards,
Maria

 

[Leonard Grey]

"The monitor echoed this fact as it was not picking up a signal."

You hit the nail on the head. Your video card likely overheated and
needs replacing.

BTW: You used the term "hoovered" as a figure of speech, right? You
don't ever want to use a vacuum cleaner to clean out the insides of a
computer.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:59:01 -0800, Maria Waddell <Maria

Hi,
I have a desktop pc approx 5 years old. It has Windows XP Home edition with
service pack 2. It has a Intel (R) Celeron (R) CPU 3.06GHz and 992mb RAM. It
also has a Foxconn 661 7MI motherboard.

It has been working fine and yet the other day it suddenly seemed to go off.
This had happened before when it had overheated and after I hoovered/cleaned
it all out inside the tower it then contuinued to work fine once again.

You say "hoovered." Does that mean you used a vacuum cleaner inside
the computer?

If so, be sure never to do that again in the future. You are playing
with fire. A vacuum cleaner can zap your computer with static
electricity and make it stop working permanently.

The way to remove dust inside the case is to blow out the dust with a
can of compressed air (normally outdoors).

 

[Maria Waddell]

Thanks for the replies. I did have a graphics card installed and after the
problems I took it out incase it was that causing the issue. It is now
running off my on board graphics card. Any more ideas? p.s, the hoover did
not come into contact with the pc only the case after it had been taken off.
Where would i get compressed air to actually get rid of dust from fans etc?

Regards,
Maria

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks for the replies. I did have a graphics card installed and after the
problems I took it out incase it was that causing the issue. It is now
running off my on board graphics card. Any more ideas? p.s, the hoover did
not come into contact with the pc only the case after it had been taken off.

If it didn't touch anything, good. But the point is that, no matter
how careful you are, accidental touching is possible. That's why it's
very dangerous to use it.

Where would i get compressed air to actually get rid of dust from fans etc?

Almost every computer store sells it inexpensively. Or you can find
inexpensive cans of it for sale on the web.