[Logikk]

Basically I went on vacation and I had turned off my computer. I came home four days later and everything seemed to work fine, one of my siblings asked to go on and of course I let him go on. I went to bed, and when I woke up in the morning and went to turn it on, It would get maybe 3-5 seconds into the booting process before it turned itself off. I thought as it being a fluke as it booted up fine. However when it did boot up, after about 10 to 15 minutes it closed all the programs, and turned itself off.

I believed maybe it was the Surge protector it was plugged into and I recently bought a APC surge protector, with a built in battery, if it was the power current in the wall. However I do not believe that Is the problem.

I am currently stumped and now it is starting to get worse, but the problem is; it is completely random. I can be playing World of Warcraft for two hours, and it decides to shutdown, or it can be just starting up and it shuts down.

Please help,

My computer is nowhere near old as I recently just got it about 6 months ago.

My Specs:
Nvidia Motherboard
Geforce 260 GTX
4 GB of memory
700W Psu
500 GB Harddrive
Windows Vista Home 64 bit

Edited by Logikk, 10 January 2010 - 01:29 PM.

[Advertisements]

Please remove Aim reference as all assistance will only be given in this topic.
It sounds like you may have a overheating problem. Is the system under warranty?

[rshaffer61]

Please remove Aim reference as all assistance will only be given in this topic.
It sounds like you may have a overheating problem. Is the system under warranty?

[Logikk]

Yes, it is still under warranty. The only problem is that after a certain period of time it does not cover shipping.

[rshaffer61]

Well this is a problem. I can't instruct you to do anything that would void your warranty.
The issue is either a overheating or PSU problem.
We can run some diagnostics to see if my suspicions are correct.
First off we need to check the memory. Use the system you are typing from to download the programs and make the required cd's. Then use them on your system that is having the problem.

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run.

The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[Logikk]

Just a quick question, is there any other way, as I currently do not have any blank discs with me.

[Logikk]

As of now the computer is turning on for 1 second, then shutting off. : /


So as of right now, I cannot check my memory.

Probably furthering your suspicions of a new Power Supply.

Edited by Logikk, 10 January 2010 - 02:01 PM.

[rshaffer61]

I would tend to agree now that you would be looking at a PSU problem. If it were overheating it would take it a mnute or so to get hot enough to shut down.
Without being able to test the memory I still can not say that is not the problem.
Do you have more then one memory module?
If so try taking one out and booting the system If still no joy then replace it with the other module and try again.

[Logikk]

As in module do you mean stick?

In which case I have 4.

[rshaffer61]

Yes and that means you would have to repeat the test 4 times.
The point is to try and isolate a possible bad memory stick.
This is the alternative way we use to do this when someone can't run the regular test.
It is actually a preferred way .

[Logikk]

Ok, I will unsocket the memory and retest it. Hopefully this should help it

[Logikk]

Good news, so far, I un socketed 3 of them and only leaving the first one in. Surprisingly it has worked fine for 10 minutes, I will post another update with the results of all 3.

[Logikk]

Ok here is the results of the test.

Out of the four I tested,

3 of them allowed the computer reach the Windows Login and allowed me to go online.
1 of them allowed me to do nothing, and essentially nothing happened.

The three, responded with a beep, and everything went fine, monitor showed, booting up went fine, and the monitor went on to show I was in the login screen.
The 4th, essentially nothing happened that was listed above.

So... ya...

[rshaffer61]

Put the 3 in and then try the system. does it work with just them?

Do not put the bad module back in. You may have found your culprit.

[Logikk]

Going to try it now.

[Logikk]

Tried and everything booted up fine.

I shall keep you updated with the status of my computer.