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General discussion

computer shuts down

Jan 1, 2005 11:59PM PST

My computer shuts down at random intervals. I notice that if I leave it off for a few hours, it'll work for a little while (anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours). If I try to turn it back on shortly after it shuts down, it hardly gets booted back up before shutting down again. I don't get any warning or messages, it just turns off. I did change the outlet I plug it in, I've run pc doctor on it and everything came back fine. The only thing I've noticed that makes a difference in how quickly I can turn it back on is actually unplugging the power cord from the back of the computer. Does anyone have any suggestions on what could be the problem? TIA

Discussion is locked

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I'll address only one part.
Jan 2, 2005 12:23AM PST

That of turning it back on immediately. With the ATX type systems when you shut down using the normal Windows shutdown procedure there is a 5 volt standby voltage that stays on at all times. The only way to remove this is to unplug the power supply [or turn it off by the switch on the supply].

This 5 volts is what allows the computer to be turned on automatically by wake on LAN keyboard or any of the other options.

Possibly the logic circuits that control these functions are getting hung up. By unplugging the power supply the 5 volt standby power is removed and after a few moments the capacitors discharge and the logic circuits get reset when power is reapplied.

This may or may not be related to the cause of the shutdown in the first place.

Possibly it is not shutting down but going into some form of sleep mode that unplugging the supply clears.

The possible causes of shutdowns have been discussed many times in these forums [a number of possibilities] and will allow others to add more info.

I would consider possibility of heat problems and consider opening the case to be sure that all fans are working and cleaned of dust bunnies.

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Chelle, More Information Please
Jan 2, 2005 9:23AM PST

Whenever posting questions on these forums, please give us as much information as possible about your computer. Depending on your issue, we might need the operating system, processor speed, amount of RAM installed, brand name of the computer, (if there is one), and any EXACT error messages you are receiving, and any other information you think might be helpful. Do you use an antivirus and spyware removal tools? Which ones? The more information you give us, the better informed our answer will be.

In the meantime, as Ray described above, "heat" can definitely be part of the issue. Try removing the computer cover, blow out the dust from inside, make sure that all the fans are operational, then point a housefan at the inards of the computer and run it..Does that help?

In addition, please use ALL of the procedures in the links below to clean up the computer:

For Windows 2000/XP, ignore the first couple of sentences about checking "resources" in the link below but follow the rest of the procedures including the "Services" links at the bottom.

How To Shut Down Unnecessary Start Up Programs

How To Clean Unwanted Files From The Hard Drive

If you're running Windows 2000/XP, then after following all the procedures above, run Error Checking/Chkdsk and Defrag to optimize the hard drive:

How To Run 'Error Checking/Chkdsk' On Win2000/XP

Hope this helps and let us know more.

Grif

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more info
Jan 2, 2005 12:06PM PST

Ok, it's windows xp, it's processor is 2.8 ghz (does that sound right?), it has 512mb SDRAM, it's a Hewlett-Packard, and I'm not getting any error messages. It simply shuts off, no warning. I've dusted, I've made sure that all the fans are working and I've had another fan blowing on it just in case. The only thing that's shown any improvement on the situation is when I went into start, then run and typed msconfig. Then I disabled all start up programs. It worked for a while longer, but then it started shutting down again (without errors or warning ). I'm totally lost. If you need more info, please ask and I'll post. Thanks again! I'll try the other suggestions as soon as I can get it to stay up long enough for me too.

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Chelle, Other Thoughts...
Jan 2, 2005 1:32PM PST

In addition to trying the procedures I posted earlier, please find and install updated drivers for the hardware items on the machine. Check out your model at the HP.com site and see if there's anything new for the BIOS and video cards..

AFter doing all that, if you haven't already, make sure to check for spyware by downloading, install, updating, then running the free spyware removal tools from the links below:

Ad-Aware">http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/]Ad-Aware

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Just a thought
Jan 5, 2005 2:47PM PST

I was wondering if you checked to make sure your monitor was not the culprit. I have known a few people that have been fooled into thinking their computer was acting up when in reality it was the monitor. Always check to see if the computer light is on before pushing that button to turn it back on. I know this sounds too simple, but it does happen.

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thanks
Jan 5, 2005 10:57PM PST

It's definitely the computer. The light is off. Thanks though!