[Cloud City]

Windows XP computer keeps shutting down with no warning, after being on for about 12 to 25 minutes.

The computer seems to be clean of any viruses/adware/malware, just scanned the whole drive with AVG/Ad-Aware/Spybot.

Any ideas how to troubleshoot the problem?

The computer turns on normally, works fine, and then just suddenly shuts off. The fan on the motherboard is spinning ok. The fan for the power supply does not seem to be spinning at all.

Any suggestions would be lovely

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The first thing to do is to fix the power supply fan as it should be spinning. You can try to manually get it going (use a nylon tie wrap or something else which will not cause problems or be damaged).

I would suspect that the power supply is overheating.

It may be easier to replace the power supply if you are not comfortable with taking it all apart and replacing the fan, although more expensive.

[Kemasa]

The first thing to do is to fix the power supply fan as it should be spinning. You can try to manually get it going (use a nylon tie wrap or something else which will not cause problems or be damaged).

I would suspect that the power supply is overheating.

It may be easier to replace the power supply if you are not comfortable with taking it all apart and replacing the fan, although more expensive.

[Cloud City]

Thanks for the quick reply, mate. I bet you are right. I'll pop down to CompUSA and grab a new power supply. I just pulled the old unit out of the computer and it smells like barbecue!

Edited by Cloud City, 26 December 2006 - 04:24 PM.

[Cloud City]

Dang. Micro tower means no power supplies of the right size available at the local shops. Will have to order one... bummer.

[Kemasa]

You could see if you can manually start the fan, often the fans will refuse to start. It is a short term fix and you have to make sure it is spinning fast enough to get enough airflow.

If the power supply was not harmed, you could replace the fan.

[hudihoo]

maybe the fan is not supposed to be on all the time. My antec has a "smart fan" as antec calls it. The fan only goes on at specific temperatures. This is done so that the power supply doesn't overheat and you also get low noise output. Check the specs of your power supply to see if it has a feature like this.

[Cloud City]

Thanks both of you for your guidance. New micro power supply arrived, installed smoothly, and no more problems with the computer shutting off. Really appreciate the quick diagnosis. The fan in the power supply now runs all the time, for what that's worth

[Kemasa]

Good to hear that you got it fixed!!!