Sudden computer shut off or restart

[FayeC]

My son's computer is less than 2 months old and since Sunday it has been
suddenly shutting off.
Not only it shuts off but won't turn back on unless we completely shut off
the power source on the back of the computer, wait a few seconds until all
the lights have turned off (there are 2 little lights, one is the network
card light and the other is a LED light on the motherboard itself - thank
goodness the computer has a transparent side panel so we can see inside) and
then when we turn it back on it will turn it on again.
I thought it could be overheating so I installed a motherboard monitor to
check the temperature. So far the temperatures are quite low. The case
highest temperature has been 91F and the cpu highest temperature has been
105F. Is that within normal?
The case has 3 big fans, plus the cpu fan and the power source fan.
I have ran a full scandisk, defragged, full norton scan (with updated virus
definitions), ad-aware and spybot and the computer still shuts off or
restarts out of a sudden.....
The only thing I saw that sort of caught my eye was that in the hardware
manager 2 hardware parts were showing duplicates like as if the computer had
2 of those but in reality it has only one of each (video card and
processor).
Has anybody gone through the same and what could be the solution to the
problem?

Thanks in advance,

FayeC

 

[Ken]

My son's computer is less than 2 months old and since Sunday it has been
suddenly shutting off.
Not only it shuts off but won't turn back on unless we completely shut off
the power source on the back of the computer, wait a few seconds until all
the lights have turned off (there are 2 little lights, one is the network
card light and the other is a LED light on the motherboard itself - thank
goodness the computer has a transparent side panel so we can see inside) and
then when we turn it back on it will turn it on again.
I thought it could be overheating so I installed a motherboard monitor to
check the temperature. So far the temperatures are quite low. The case
highest temperature has been 91F and the cpu highest temperature has been
105F. Is that within normal?
The case has 3 big fans, plus the cpu fan and the power source fan.
I have ran a full scandisk, defragged, full norton scan (with updated virus
definitions), ad-aware and spybot and the computer still shuts off or
restarts out of a sudden.....
The only thing I saw that sort of caught my eye was that in the hardware
manager 2 hardware parts were showing duplicates like as if the computer had
2 of those but in reality it has only one of each (video card and
processor).
Has anybody gone through the same and what could be the solution to the
problem?

Thanks in advance,

FayeC

If the temps are accurate, it should not be shutting down due to heat.
That was my first guess however. Boot up the computer in Safe Mode
and see it shuts down in that mode as well. That might be helpful in
determining your problem.

 

[John Kunkel]

My son's computer is less than 2 months old and since Sunday it has been
suddenly shutting off.
Not only it shuts off but won't turn back on unless we completely shut off
the power source on the back of the computer, wait a few seconds until all
the lights have turned off (there are 2 little lights, one is the network
card light and the other is a LED light on the motherboard itself - thank
goodness the computer has a transparent side panel so we can see inside)
and
then when we turn it back on it will turn it on again.
I thought it could be overheating so I installed a motherboard monitor to
check the temperature. So far the temperatures are quite low. The case
highest temperature has been 91F and the cpu highest temperature has been
105F. Is that within normal?
The case has 3 big fans, plus the cpu fan and the power source fan.
I have ran a full scandisk, defragged, full norton scan (with updated
virus
definitions), ad-aware and spybot and the computer still shuts off or
restarts out of a sudden.....
The only thing I saw that sort of caught my eye was that in the hardware
manager 2 hardware parts were showing duplicates like as if the computer
had
2 of those but in reality it has only one of each (video card and
processor).

Can't help with the shutdown problem but the duplicate hardware is common if
the processor incorporates Hyper-Threading Technology.

 

[balge]

My son's computer is less than 2 months old and since Sunday it has been
suddenly shutting off.
Not only it shuts off but won't turn back on unless we completely shut off
the power source on the back of the computer, wait a few seconds until all
the lights have turned off (there are 2 little lights, one is the network
card light and the other is a LED light on the motherboard itself - thank
goodness the computer has a transparent side panel so we can see inside) and
then when we turn it back on it will turn it on again.
I thought it could be overheating so I installed a motherboard monitor to
check the temperature. So far the temperatures are quite low. The case
highest temperature has been 91F and the cpu highest temperature has been
105F. Is that within normal?
The case has 3 big fans, plus the cpu fan and the power source fan.
I have ran a full scandisk, defragged, full norton scan (with updated virus
definitions), ad-aware and spybot and the computer still shuts off or
restarts out of a sudden.....
The only thing I saw that sort of caught my eye was that in the hardware
manager 2 hardware parts were showing duplicates like as if the computer had
2 of those but in reality it has only one of each (video card and
processor).
Has anybody gone through the same and what could be the solution to the
problem?

Thanks in advance,

FayeC

hi

if the cpu is a p4 with hyperthreading enabled it will show two entries
in device manager
if the graphics card has two entries try booting into safe mode and
remove all instances of the card, reboot and install the latest drivers
for your card
hth
cheers
balge

 

[DaveW]

It sounds to me like the power supply unit may be failing.

 

[w_tom]

First, what you are doing to get it to restart is what one
would do to clear a lockout in the power supply controller.
From information provided, no one can say what might be
causing that controller lockout - if that is the problem.

Second, one case fan is more than sufficient cooling for
most every system. If overheating of case temperatures was
causing a shutdown, then the system has a defective chip -
intermittent today and will be failing harder in the future.
Don't fall for all this nonsense about temperature. The naive
worry about temperature when sufficient knowledge cannot
address other more common reasons for problems. And if the
fan helped, you have only cured symptoms of a defective IC.

Could power supply be a problem? Yes - along with a long
list of other suspects. Power supply could cause the power
supply controller to lockout. But a responsible technician
starts tracing intermittents using the 3.5 digit multimeter to
first verify power supply integrity. Then moves on to execute
the comprehensive hardware diagnostics (provided free by all
responsible computer manufacturers).

But you need not do any of this. Your computer is still
under warranty. Manufacturer should fix it. You can avoid
the 'technician who cannot duplicate the problem' by first
making the problem repeatable. That is what heat from a hair
dryer can accomplish. Everything inside that computer must
work just fine when heated by a hairdryer on high.
Uncomfortable to touch but well within all manufacturer
operating temperatures. The part that fails consistently when
heated by hairdryer is defective AND easily identified (just
another reason why all those fans are nonsense).

Computer manufacturer fixes it for free. You only want to
do enough so that it will come back working the first time -
make the problem reproducible.

 

[Curious George]

Has anybody gone through the same and what could be the solution to the
problem?

could be the power supply