Maybe a virus

[TheJoonSpirit]

Whenever I run McAfee Virus Scan or sometimes when I run Nero Wave Editor or a combination of programs my computer immediately shuts down. Any thoughts and explanations?

 

[mechBgon]

Both of those programs give the system a workout (CPU, disk drives, memory). Maybe your power supply is marginal or there's something amiss with your CPU cooling. Could you post full specs on your system, starting with the brand and model of power supply, as well as the CPU, all the cards, and the drives?

Also, what CPU heatsink/fan are you using, is it relatively free of dust, and is its fan running?

 

[TheJoonSpirit]

PSU: Antec 400 W
CPU: AMD atlon 2500 w/ Thermaltake Silent Boost K8
MB: DFI Lanparty II
Cards: ATI 9700 Pro
Drives: 80 GB HDD, 16x DVD/CD-RW, 52x CD-ROM, 3 1/2 Floppy

Nothing is over/underclocked, case is open on side and there is a front and back fan.

 

[mechBgon]

Since it's a SocketA processor, the heatsink is directional. So is the clip that attaches the heatsink to the socket, one leg of it is longer than the other. Could you start by confirming these three things:

1) that the clip is in the heatsink so that its pressure point is over the CPU core, not the other way 'round

2) that the heatsink itself is oriented as shown in the third picture on this page, and not the fourth one

3) see whether the issue described on this page also applies to your heatsink, and pull it away from the raised end of the CPU socket if it's riding up on it due to a slideable clip

4) and I presume you're using a high-quality thermal grease between the CPU core and the heatsink, right?

 

[TheJoonSpirit]

All is right w/ my heatsink and I'm using Arctic Silver 3.

 

[mechBgon]

If you go to Control Panel > Performance & Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer, are there any Events listed that correspond to the times of the shutdowns, that you can discern anyway?

I guess it might be malware too. What you might do, is follow the directions in this text document and try a scan while the system's in Safe Mode.

And/or try a scan in normal mode after reducing the system's power consumption as much as practical (unplug the optical drives and floppy, maybe swap in an old Radeon 7000 and drop the CPU's bus speed to 100MHz to lower its power draw).

If the Safe Mode scan logs anything in its C:\report.html file, you could post the output here for a lookie. If the low-power-consumption scan works, then maybe your PSU is struggling. Hope something comes to light for you

edit: these are probably another couple of dumb questions, but you do have your ATX12V cable and your GPU cable hooked up, right?

 

[TheJoonSpirit]

A lot of the errors and warnings are caused by Srv, Dhcp, and Tcpip (found in the System event log). In the application event log, most errors say just say application error next to it or Userenv. I'm not sure whether or not these are the times that my machine has shut down. I haven't tried the safe mode scan or tried lowering the power consumption yet. But see what you can make of these.

I have had this computer for about 2 yrs, and I have never had a problem like this before. Whether or not this rules out the power supply, I'm not sure, but I find it to be an unlikely cause.