[Walker]

This is the first time in two days I have had my comp up. It will shut itself down randomly when I turn it on, and if I don't shut the power off it will turn itself on and off when I am out of the room.

When I am finally able to get into the OS (this time and one time prior for a few seconds) it will try to shutdown the computer, the only way I can stop it is when the programs that don't respond ask me to end now, I will just cancel until it pops up again (which usually isn't long at all).

I tried starting up and just sitting in the BIOS and it does the same shut off/start up thing. I made sure none the buttons on my tower were stuck, and that there were no funny smells coming from my computer.

Any ideas? I'll be back on these boards the next chance I get. as for now i am running avg antivirus and spyboy s&d to make sure I don't have any spyware/viruses having to do with this.



edit: This problem started during the first 10-20 minutes that I started playing a game called Guild Wars, which I play usually once every other day with no problems at all. Windows proceeded to shut itself down right after I loaded a new zone. But, I seriously doubt that has anything to do with the problem, I figured it wouldn't hurt to let you guys know though.

I'll be here pressing the x button on these end now dialogs until I can get a reply.

Edited by Walker, 25 January 2007 - 05:45 PM.

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This can be due to various things. The most common are a defective motherboard or memory module.

[Diego8]

This can be due to various things. The most common are a defective motherboard or memory module.

[xxx1]

can you boot into safe mode, if so is it then stable ?.

cheers...xxx1

[Walker]

I'm going to try out safe mode when I get home, it shouldn't be too much longer.

Diego, could you go into some details on what would cause what you mentioned? I don't really know much about motherboards. The computer is fairly new so I was just kind of boggled by it. How would I check or test the motherboard and memory module for any problems?

Edited by Walker, 25 January 2007 - 06:15 PM.

[Retired Tech]

Temperatures and video card software are also possibles. If the PC goes off and stays off, consider temperatures, if the PC restarts, consider video card software

Items in blue which are underlined are clickable to give more information about the process

Download and install Everest Home Edition

Run the programme, click + next to computer then summary

Look on the right for display / video adapter

Look at the manufacturer’s site for the suitable drivers for your Operating System

If you are unable to find them, please post the make and model here before you download anything

Please set a system restore point before you install anything

Click the + next to computer then sensor to get the temperatures

To check the memory


Click this for a guide to using Memtest


Click this to download Memtest


Run it overnight if possible

[gyver22r]

i have also had this problem with pc continously shutting down i resolved the problem by adding a fan to the hdd to keep it cool which fixed the problem for me

[Diego8]

and if I don't shut the power off it will turn itself on and off when I am out of the room.

When a computer turns itself on then it could be the power supply or the power switch from your computer's tower.

[Walker]

OK, here are the updates.

1) I cannot run Memtest overnight, my computer will shut down at random intervals

2) My temperatures out of Everest were reported as

Motherboard: 36 °C (97 °F)
CPU: 33 °C (91 °F)
Aux: 38 °C (100 °F)
MAXTOR HD: 35 °C (95 °F)


Also, could the problem be the power supply if the Windows is actually taking time to shut itself down and log off before turning off? But when it crashes when I am booting up, it is more of a abrupt shut off because Windows hasn't had the chance to load up yet.

Edited by Walker, 29 January 2007 - 05:31 PM.

[xxx1]

hi,

could try unplugging all non essential hardware first, video card, etc. to narrow down your options ?
also try another psu.

cheers...xxx1

[Walker]

I was thinking about just taking the PSU out of the tower and plugging it in to see if it will power on and off by itself randomly like my whole computer does.

Right now my PC has been running for almost four hours though, the longest it has ever done since I have had this problem.

So would my little PSU test work? That way I can know if it's something as simple as that before I go unplugging everything.

Edited by Walker, 30 January 2007 - 10:15 AM.

[IO-error]

If it's not a hardware problem, then look at software.

When your working on the computer, leave a notepad open with some text.
That way, if the tries to shut itself down, it'll ask if you want to shutdown notepad, answer Cancel and the shutdown procedure stops (99% of the time). But if you won't answer anything, Notepad will be force-shutdown and that means it will shutdown no matter what.

For when your away from the pc, you could abort the shutdown with a VBS file.
Try to make a VBS file and put these lines in it.

'Xan is the name of my dog  :happy: .
Do
Set Xan = CreateObject("wscript.Shell")
Wscript.sleep 1000 : Xan.Run "shutdown -a",1,True : Loop

With this, every second a command called "Shutdown -a" will be run, it means to abort (-a) the shutdown.
This is a temporary "fix" for your problem.

[Walker]

Can anyone answer the question in my last post?

[Diego8]

Yes, you could try that. Unplug your PSU from your motherboard (and all the connections from the psu to hard disks, cd/dvd drives etc) and do the test you talked about. This way you might narrow down the search.

Edited by Diego8, 31 January 2007 - 09:21 AM.