Help! My computer keeps turning off

[linhie1]

Okay, so my computer started to act weird the other day. It randomly turns off whenever it feels like it. It doesn't shut down, just turns off. The "ON" light is still on, but the fans and everything else are off. My friend told me this usually happens because of a faulty power supply, so I bought a new one and, lo and behold, it made it worse. It would turn off while windows xp is loading. I thought maybe I bought a faulty power supply, so I bought another and the same thing happens. So the problem probably isn't the power supply.

Being a little frustrated at this time, I reformatted my hard drive and tried to reinstall windows xp. That was a mistake. Now I can't install xp. When the blue setup screen for xp appears and it says "Starting Windows XP" the computer would turn off. Every time.

Does anyone know what is wrong? Has this ever happened to anyone before? Help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ozone13]

Unplug / remove every component which is not essential to running the computer itself (all pci cards, extra drives, extra memory, etc). My first thought was it was heat related, but you need to rule everything out. If your computer still won't boot, you've narrowed it down a bit already.

 

[sandorski]

I think your motherboard is packing it in. Check for bulging capacitators.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: sandorski
I think your motherboard is packing it in. Check for bulging capacitators.

Uh, yeah, the capacitors. Check the CPU heatsink while you're at it. Make sure it's still securely clipped at all its attachment points, and not clogged with dust.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: sandorski
I think your motherboard is packing it in. Check for bulging capacitators.

Uh, yeah, the capacitors. Check the CPU heatsink while you're at it. Make sure it's still securely clipped at all its attachment points, and not clogged with dust.

Hehe, oops.

 

[linhie1]

Originally posted by: sandorski
I think your motherboard is packing it in. Check for bulging capacitators.

What do you mean by bulging capacitors? How do I check for that?

 

[Mem]

What do you mean by bulging capacitors? How do I check for that?

Plenty of pics here. .

 

[Ymmy]

sounds like a heat problem

 

[linhie1]

Does the computer automatically turn off if it's too hot? I know there's an option to do that in the BIOS but I disabled it. Will it still turn off? Doesn't seem like a heat problem because I opened the case and let it run and it still turns off at the same time in the windows setup screen.

Oh yea, and no bulging capacitors.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: linhie1
Does the computer automatically turn off if it's too hot? I know there's an option to do that in the BIOS but I disabled it. Will it still turn off? Doesn't seem like a heat problem because I opened the case and let it run and it still turns off at the same time in the windows setup screen.

Oh yea, and no bulging capacitors.

AFAIK, Intel chips not from the stone age and newer AMD chips protect themselves by shutting off regardless of BIOS settings.

What are your system specs? (CPU, MB, HSF, PSU, and memory-wise?)

EDIT: And did you double check that the HSF hasn't come off one of its clips, and that it's not clogged with dust?

 

[Atlantean]

Originally posted by: linhie1
Does the computer automatically turn off if it's too hot? I know there's an option to do that in the BIOS but I disabled it. Will it still turn off? Doesn't seem like a heat problem because I opened the case and let it run and it still turns off at the same time in the windows setup screen.

Oh yea, and no bulging capacitors.

Next time it turns off immediately go into your bios and check the temperatures probably under pc health status.... if they are too high then clock your cpu down a bit and you will probably need a new heatsink. Yes it will automatically shutdown if its too hoot.

 

[AIWGuru]

Originally posted by: Atlantean

Originally posted by: linhie1
Does the computer automatically turn off if it's too hot? I know there's an option to do that in the BIOS but I disabled it. Will it still turn off? Doesn't seem like a heat problem because I opened the case and let it run and it still turns off at the same time in the windows setup screen.

Oh yea, and no bulging capacitors.

Next time it turns off immediately go into your bios and check the temperatures probably under pc health status.... if they are too high then clock your cpu down a bit and you will probably need a new heatsink. Yes it will automatically shutdown if its too hoot.

Hoot! hoot! I'm too hoot!

 

[BFG10K]

Your BIOS might've become corrupted. Try resetting the CMOS and if you've tried everything else, try flashing it to the latest version.

 

[tkistre]

The only two times in the last couple of years I have seen this problem, in a customer's computer, it was the motherboard. They did the same thing. Ironically, both motherboards were Gigabyte's.

 

[linhie1]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

AFAIK, Intel chips not from the stone age and newer AMD chips protect themselves by shutting off regardless of BIOS settings.

What are your system specs? (CPU, MB, HSF, PSU, and memory-wise?)

EDIT: And did you double check that the HSF hasn't come off one of its clips, and that it's not clogged with dust?

CPU: AthlonXP 2600+
RAM: 1024MB PC2700
HSF: Thermaltake Volcano 9 (I assume HSF means the heat sink)
Hard drive: IBM Hitachi 80GB
Graphics card: Geforce4 TI4200
Motherboard: EPoX 8RDA+

I've thoroughly cleaned the heat sink and flashed the motherboard to the latest version. The CPU temperature seems to stay at around 60 C. That shouldn't be too high.

Well, I guess I should replace the motherboard, since that seems to be the only thing left. It's not the CPU because I replaced it with another and the problem's still there. Any recommendations on a good, affordable motherboard that will work with my current specs?

By the way, thanks a lot for all the feedback! I appreciate it.

 

[Viper96720]

60 degrees with no load is kind of high. Sounds like a faulty heatsink installation. You usually see 60 degree temps when the cpu is being used 100% otherwise 40-45 would be more likely.

 

[murban135]

Originally posted by: Viper96720
60 degrees with no load is kind of high. Sounds like a faulty heatsink installation. You usually see 60 degree temps when the cpu is being used 100% otherwise 40-45 would be more likely.

Viper is right, 60 degrees is too high. I had the same problems some time ago that were caused by a HSF not installed correctly. I would remove the HSF, reapply a thin layer of thermal grease and try again.

 

[linhie1]

Actually, I hear that my motherboard reports inaccurate temperatures for the CPU. I went in there with a temperature probe and the temperature was about 15 degrees lower.

Anyways, I replaced the motherboard and it works! So the problem was probably the motherboard.

Thanks everyone for helping.