[boozed]

hi there.

i've been having this problem for more than half a year. my computer just shuts off in the midst of anything i do. used to be happening once in a blue moon, but right now it's almost happening like everyday or every other day.

sometimes, it shuts off before even getting to the windows startup page. other times, the screen blanks out but the cpu fan is still spinning, before it gets to windows page. but my main problem is still that it shuts off suddenly as i'm using it, regardless i'm just merely surfing, chatting or running multiple programs.

i've reinstalled windows a couple of months ago and reformatted my hard disk. at first it seems fine but after a few weeks it starts shutting off again. so now i wonder if it's a problem with my power supply box, motherboard...or anything else. i dont think i've any viruses i scanned regularly then and if i've already reinstalled windows i don't think it's a problem of that, no?

read some related previous posts i don't have problems gettin into safe mode etc.

just some info to offer...sorry i'm not that much a techie maybe if you need any info you can lemme know.
pentium 4 1.5mhz
1.25gb kingston ram (sdram or rdram i think...earlier than the ddr rams)
2 maxtor harddisks 30gb & 40gb
mercury motherboard
nividia geforce2 mx/mx400
i've 2 fans inside don't think it's a problem of it gettin too hot..cos anyways sometimes i didn't even on it for long. anyway it doesn't have a fixed pattern of occurance...it can shut off after 30mins or even a few hrs or not at all.

hope you can really help me with my problem cos the last thing i wanna do is to buy a new cpu. thanks!

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Run disk cleaner and defragment. Click start > run > click chkdsk /f /r. A window will open that will ask you to reboot in order to run checkdisk. Press y and reboot. The scan is quite a long process.

Download install and run Everest home edition (a link in my signature). Click: computer > sensor. Report temperatures of cpu, motherboard and hard disk. Report actual voltages.

[The Skeptic]

Run disk cleaner and defragment. Click start > run > click chkdsk /f /r. A window will open that will ask you to reboot in order to run checkdisk. Press y and reboot. The scan is quite a long process.

Download install and run Everest home edition (a link in my signature). Click: computer > sensor. Report temperatures of cpu, motherboard and hard disk. Report actual voltages.

[SRX660]

The first thing i would do is download speedfan. After installing speedfan check the voltages to see if any are lower than what is needed. If your 12 volt line is only 11.3 to 11.8 it may be causing the computer to shut off. What happens is the voltage is close to what is needed but can dip down to where the motherboard sees a low voltage and shuts the computer down to keep it from damage. Generally the 5 volt line being low only is a problem when running the cdrom or some video and sound cards. This can also cause a shutdown. You can also check your temps in speedfan.

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

After checking voltages the next thing to check is the memory. I use memtest to do this.

http://www.memtest.org/

Checking the above items should find a problem but now, if they check out OK, you may want to consider getting a new computer. The reason for this is that replacing the hardware parts is the next thing to do. Most people do not have the resources to do this so they take the computer to a shop to try fixing it. Finding this kind of problem can take timeand you are paying them to do it. Yes, if they are good, they can find it but even a full day of working on the computer can cost $200-$300 unless they give you a deal on their time. This is only my thoughts but I think they are valid.

SRX660