PC random shut down
 

I built a PC a few years ago. Starting to have a issues. Initially, when I power up it will get just through the XP splash screen before it just shuts down (as in turns off). I hit the power switch again and the same thing happens. It will some times take several tries before it stays on. Even once it gets going I'll b working on it and it will just shut down.

Now I cannot even get it to get past the splash screen. I swapped out the power supply thinking it was the issue but the same thing is happening.

When I get home I was going to remove all the peripherals I can. Video card, sound, Ethernet etc to narrow it down.

I a guessing it is the mother board but I do not know how to test test it.

Any ideas?

Sounds like an overheating issue to me, or corrupt OS.

Get into the BIOS and check the temps as quickly as you can.

If the Motherboard was an issue, it wouldn't boot at all. I've been doing this stuff for a long time :)
Peripherals will not cause this type of thing.

Sounds like a bad motherboard component and if I had to guess, I'd say it's a capacitor on the motherboard. Visually inspect for any oozing of brown material from the caps.

How do I check temps? I cannot even get the thing to stay on at this point. It shuts down after about 30-60 secs or so.

I just reformatted the hard drive a few weeks ago because I was having issues.

BTW, its a A-bit board and a AMD CPU

Check the fans run, mainly the CPU fan.

I would do as you plan, remove all peripherals, including the HD

Add them back slowly

I had a similar problem with my AMD machine, turned out I had a defective motherboard...then the replacement was defective, and now I'm on number 3 and its still sort of funky but functional. It also blew a PSU which then burned out a hard drive. Check all the capacitors on the mobo and see if the tops are bulging or broken.

Get into the BIOS via pressing the DEL key on boot up. If it crashes in the BIOS then look into hardware.

If it does NOT crash in the BIOS and temperatures look OK, download Memtest86 via antoher computer..burn it to disk and run it. If it crashes or errors out, RAM is your issue. If it does not, more than likely your windows is corrupt and needs reinstalling.

You might also want to have a look at this:-

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Peripherals can cause this behavior, have seen it with defective network - ISDN - game and other cards.

Defective mainboard, CPU, memory or harddisk is also possible.
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Take everything except the video card out and try to get into the BIOS.
If it does not shut off in the bios, boot from an other disk.

I have a computer business since 1985, seen a lot of strange problems. Finding what is wrong is a lot easier if you have parts to swap.

Rob

I cannot get it started now. Last time this happened, I reformatted and it was good for a bit. Can the OS be working and ten cause the PC to just shot down like someone pulled the plug? I figured if the OS was bad, it would freeze or give an error of some sort. Going to try a reformat here in a bit.

Yes that is possible. Usually always at the same stage when booting.

Why have you formatted your disk? Did you do a full check when formatting?

Rob

I thought the same thing when I saw the title of the thread. Its either a failing motherboard or a failing power supply.

I was having a booting issue a month ago or so. It would get past the splash screen and then stop loading. Did a reinstall with complete format.

I usually format about once a year to get all the crap off that MS saves over time. Seems to make everything run a bit faster and smoother.

I'm doing it again right now on the desk top. I guess we will see whats happening. I suspect since the PC has not shut down already that it is not a mother board or HD issue since it would not stay on more than a min or two earlier and when it stopped booting after the splash screen I could leave i on for several minutes to see if it would do anything and it would still stay powered on.

OK, I don't think it's the OS. I got the format and install done and the PC rebooted to start the set up. Got to the point where you select your time zone and it shut down.

I'm going to see if I can get through this and I'll check the temps. Then Im going to start pulling peripherals.