My WinXP computer shutsdown almost immediately

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
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I have an Epox Nforce2 MB, 1GB pc3200, and an XP 1700+ mildy overclocked. Until today, everything was running just fine. I always leave my computer on, but when I went to get on it today, I noticed the power LED was on, but the fans weren't running. I had to shut off the PSU itself before I could try to turn it back on.

It went through the motions, as just after it was down starting up (I could open programs), it shutdown, leaving the power LED on again.

I assume this is the PSU? I wouldn't be surprised as it is a cheaper coolmax.
 

sykopath79

Senior member
Nov 2, 2000
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Heat, perhaps? I have seen this behavior on systems where the CPU fan has stopped spinning or is not spinning fast enough to cool the heatsink adequately. Try leaving your machine off for a little while (30 minutes or so) then booting it up again, and see if it shuts itself down again, and if it does, if it stayed on longer than it did after it had already been on for a while and you just power-cycled it. Look at your CPU fan while the system is powered on and make sure it's working properly. If not, there's your problem.

If this doesn't resolve it, post back.
 

sykopath79

Senior member
Nov 2, 2000
458
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Leave it powered off for 30 minutes, then boot it back up and see how long it runs before shutting down again.
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
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Ok, it has started doing this again today. The cpu fan is working properly. Any other ideas? Now it isn't getting past the XP loading screeen (with the bar).
 

sykopath79

Senior member
Nov 2, 2000
458
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Hmmm... odd. At this point I would start swapping out some components to try to isolate the problem. I have seen this be caused by bad power supply, bad motherboard, and an overheating processor.

If you have another power supply you can use, try hooking that up and see if it changes anything.
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
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Yeah..I figured I need to check out the powersupply. Wont be able to do that for a bit though, oh well. Thanks for your help. I will try the PSU asap.
 

Saga

Banned
Feb 18, 2005
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If the CPU fan is still going and it just appears to shut off it may be a bad video card. I had a 9250 running on a test machine that went bad on me - I was going nuts trying to figure out what the deal was because it would run for a few minutes to thirty minutes and then just appear to completely power down. Upon close inspection I noticed that the CPU fan was still spinning and I could hit the reset button and have the system immediately restart into WinXP Pro. Swapped the 9250 with a 9600 Pro and haven't had a hiccup since.

Odd that the graphics card would go out like that, in my experience I've only ever seen a vid card die by simply not working at all or giving a assload of artifacts. On the bright side I got to pop off the passive ati heatsink with a screwdriver and then burn both the core and the heatsink with a lighter to convince my girlfriend it exploded in the case. Look on her face was classic.
 

stockjock

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2000
4,205
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The cpu fan is working properly. Any other ideas?
The cpu fan might be working just fine...but, have you checked the heatsink to make sure its not all clogged with dust bunnies??? Even though the fan is spinning, if the heatsink is clogged you will get heat lockups....just take a look and make sure...
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
19,047
18
81
I clean out the heatsink fairly often, to keep dust from accumulating. The computer doesn't shutdown when in the BIOS, only during startup itself. The temps are fine in the BIOS anyway.

Does it help that right before it shuts down, the computer makes some noise? Its hard to pinpoint..could be fan noise, maybe the HD? Eitherway it is abnormal.

I really hope it isn't the video card, Izusaga. I figured if I could check out teh BIOS, and see the startup screen, then the vid card would be ok.