[webangel]

Okay. Major problems here. I am running Windows Vista Home Premium. My computer started just shutting off. I am not a gamer so when it would do this is just whenever. I took it to the Geek Squad and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. They said they found 162 traces of spyware and suggested that i do an ADR. I said fine.. So after 9 days I finally get my computer back and I get ready to add everything back to my computer and it shuts down again. I take it back to GS and it doesn't shut down on them . I am at my wits end here trying to figure out what is wrong. I do not want to take it back to GS if I can help it. All fans are working and it's not overheating. Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated. It is an HP Pavillion, Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

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I suggest a wall outlet test. It seems like, as you say, it works for the GS as they have it in a GOOD wall outlet. Yet, you have trouble with it.

A wall outlet test will make sure it is properly getting power.


Here is a couple of suggestions on getting this done: (do one of two)

• Get a multimeter from a Walmart or electrical/hardware store: Testing a wall outlet with a multimeter tutorial (cheap)
• Order an electrician to test it. (expensive)

Tell me what you find out. ^^

Edited by DragonMaster Jay, 21 April 2009 - 11:36 AM.

[DragonMaster Jay]

I suggest a wall outlet test. It seems like, as you say, it works for the GS as they have it in a GOOD wall outlet. Yet, you have trouble with it.

A wall outlet test will make sure it is properly getting power.


Here is a couple of suggestions on getting this done: (do one of two)

• Get a multimeter from a Walmart or electrical/hardware store: Testing a wall outlet with a multimeter tutorial (cheap)
• Order an electrician to test it. (expensive)

Tell me what you find out. ^^

Edited by DragonMaster Jay, 21 April 2009 - 11:36 AM.

[smith134]

removed incomplete advice

[webangel]

Thanks for the quick reply. I looked for the PCDoctor but could not locate it. I did find the hardware diagnostics and ran it. It says nothing is wrong. When I open up the device manager there is a yield sign on the NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS. When I click on it says( Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)Click 'Check for solutions' to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available.) I clicked on "check for solutions" it says could not load driver software and says windows is searching for a solution to the problem and it doesn't show anything and  I have uninstalled the driver and re-installed it and it is still shutting down. I am not that great with computers but I told Geek Squad about this and they didn't seem to care when I told them about it. Is this my video device? Do you think I need to buy a new one? Is it easy to install?  I have installed a hard drive in another computer so I am comfortable doing that.  Any other suggestions would greatly be appreciated.
Cheryl

[DragonMaster Jay]

Please try my advice. This seems like a power issue since your computer is shutting itself down for you, but does not do it for the Geek Squad.

Whenever your computer may start up, it may run for a small time. But, if the appropriate amount of power is not getting to a transistor, then the computer will signal shutdown to avoid data loss. The size of the voltage depends on the material in which the transistor is made from. Testing the voltage will assure the transistor(s) have enough power to run properly.

[webangel]

Jay,
I will try your suggestion as soon as I can. Did you see my other post about the NVIDIA? I was just wondering if this could be the case as well. I looked at a new one online and there is two that I can afford. 1. NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 1GB DDR 2 PCI. 2. NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS 512 MB DDR2 PCI. As I said I don't know much about computers so I don't know if they are compatible with mine. If it was the power source would it shut off and then turn back on immediatly? Just a question because I am not sure if I put that in my first post.. Thank you for the quick replies.

[DragonMaster Jay]

It is possible for it to shut off then turn back on immediately.

Video cards will not work if they do not have enough power.

Check power first, which is the easiest and cheapest route...then if you think it is a video card issue, you may try and buy a new one.

Edited by DragonMaster Jay, 21 April 2009 - 11:34 AM.

[webangel]

Well I had a friend test the wall outlet and it is fine. Turns out my husbands friend had a multimeter. Thanks for that suggestion. So that is good I guess that it's not the outlet. Now just to find out what is going on with the computer. I was really hoping that was it. So if you can think of anything else that it could be I would appreciate any help. I really don't want to take it back to GS since they had it for 9 days and I had to pay too much considering I had the product replacement plan. I can't afford for them to have it any longer and not find the problem. Again thank you for your help.

[ne0h]

well i think you must first check the BIOS settings ...
some times the setting is configured such that if the CPU reaches the particular temperature the comp shuts down...
check it else
there might be a problem with the motherboard.........

[DragonMaster Jay]

Check the number on the Power Supply Unit.

There is a red switch on it, as you see in the picture below. The red switch will show a certain number. What is that number?

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Edited by DragonMaster Jay, 22 April 2009 - 12:08 PM.

[webangel]

Jay,
looks like 115.

[DragonMaster Jay]

Okay.

You possibly have a damaged hardware profile. It looks like your video card.

Try the following solution:

• In the device manager, please uninstall the video card driver. Then, please click Scan for hardware changes in a menu. Allow this to load the driver back on to the system.

Edited by DragonMaster Jay, 22 April 2009 - 01:04 PM.

[webangel]

Jay,
Thanks for helping me so much on this. I did what you said. I uninstalled the video card driver. Once I did that I had to restart the computer. I did that. It scanned and reinstalled the driver. It told me to restart the computer. I did that. When it opened again the screen was froze. I couldn't move the mouse or anything. I tried the windows button nothing happened. I did ctrl-alt-delete. At that time it made 2 beeps.. 1 really long one then it went to a long shrill beep. So I manually shut it down. I restarted it and it told me windows was not shut down the right way and I highlighted start normally. When it opened the picture was all weird and I had to change the properties to make the display look right. I don't know if any of that means anything, but was hoping it meant something to you.

[DragonMaster Jay]

When the display is really large, it is in 640x480. I am guessing you were at 1024x768.

Do you know where your video card driver is?

If not, I may be able to help you find it! Windows cannot reinstall the corrupted driver. So we will have to find that and get it installed. The video card should be fixed after this step.

I will find more info about your other error. Thank you for your patience.

[webangel]

No thank you for your patience. Do you mean do I know where the video card is inside the tower? I think I could find it. Just let me know when you get a chance if that is what you mean. I'm not too great with computers but I have put a hard drive in on another computer.