Random Vista Shutdowns : Help - Running Out of Patience

[Morgan]

Hi

I have posted before but solutions haven't worked. I have Vista Home Premium
running on a Dell Inspiron 1520. The machine shuts down randomly - though it
seems using YouTube brings on the problem it isn't just on YouTube and is
unpredictable.

The problem centre had identified a conflict with virus software. I had
McAfee, changed to Norton and at the suggestion here removed virus protection
completely and ran Windows firewall with Spybot. I don't seem to have the
conflict anymore but PC still fails.

I have also run every available update for Windows and Intel graphic card. I
also noticed that other errors were in the log including Windows Module
Installer and Superfetch stopping working (whatever that is).

I have also run every type of diagnostic including scandisk, defrag (even
though a new machine) and scannow. There were corrupted files in the scannow
but I can't interpret the file.

Final resort - I checked the battery wasn't loose just in case it was a
loose connection.

If anyone has had a similar experience or has suggestions for me to try or
some resource I should try I would really appreciate it.

Many thanks

 

[R. McCarty]

Abrupt shut off can be a sign of a Thermal issue. Unfortunately, Dell
doesn't
always apply the correct amount of Thermal paste to the processor's heat
dissipater. The 1520 has Core 2 Duo so it shouldn't get too hot. However
it's never a bad thing to use a resident monitor program like SpeedFan 4.33.
Heat could also be from the nVidia card, since many Video GPUs now have
more transistors than some processors.

 

[Steve Easton]

Sounds like a classic case of an overheating CPU.
When a CPU reaches it's max temp limit, the machine will
behave just like someone pulled the plug.
There will be no errors logged about it because the CPU simply stops.

A memory error would cause a reboot, CPU overheat simply shuts down the machine.

 

[Morgan]

Thanks - I was wondering if something physical was going on.

Is there a solution to something like this or is it a case of returning to
Dell

 

[ineptgeek]

Thanks - I was wondering if something physical was going on.

Is there a solution to something like this or is it a case of returning to
Dell

Sounds like a classic case of an overheating CPU.
When a CPU reaches it's max temp limit, the machine will

[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]

don't know if this will help but i had the same problem until three days ago
when i upgraded my memory and video card... check compatability on these at
microsoft