PC powers off unexpectedly - reasons?

[Lex]

I'm just wondering why this packard bell PC maybe shuts down unexpectedly.

firstly when it boots it goes throught the BIOS then tries to boot into windows and it says ntldr missing. That is not so bad as i can just reinstall windows.

My issue is when i load the Windows CD and begin the process it gets to the initial point of loading the drivers and then just shuts down. Prior to it shutting down you can hear the fan work overtime then it just shuts down.
The PC has changed location and the environment is cool.

I suspect its one of two things.....the Power Supply which i belive....or the temperature (doubt it).

Anything else? Even if i dont insert the windows cd it still shuts down after hearing the fan go mental!

ideas anyone?

 

[VortexA1]

Borked hard drive - tbo imo it could be any component in there that's packed up and maybe shorted ? What you think?

 

[Guardsmon]

HDD, PSU, motherboard, CPU, memory.... Have you checked the temps of in your BIOS next time it boots after a failure? Check the heat sink on the CPU is seated properly.
Have you got another hard drive you could through in to see if it makes any difference?
If you've got 2 memory sticks, put 1 in at a time and see if that helps.
Unplug any other components you don't need - optical drives, hard drives, sound cards - USB and card readers.
Guessing you don't have a spare PSU to put in.

 

[J.B]

sounds to me like the CPU is over heating. Check to see if theres a lot of dust in the heat sink. might be worth reapplying the thermal paste as well.

Next time it does it go into the BIOS and check the CPU temp

 

[Lex]

sounds to me like the CPU is over heating. Check to see if theres a lot of dust in the heat sink. might be worth reapplying the thermal paste as well.

Next time it does it go into the BIOS and check the CPU temp

whats a good cpu temp? 30 - 50?

i'm going to remove components and see what happens. a faulty hard drive can shut down your pc i've never heard of that. I know it can restart but to just shut down?

I will check either way. PSU is gonna be a b@tch as i'll need to find a replacement.

 

[harri2097]

sounds to me like the CPU is over heating. Check to see if theres a lot of dust in the heat sink. might be worth reapplying the thermal paste as well.

Next time it does it go into the BIOS and check the CPU temp

+1 for that. I'd also make sure there's no thermal paste where there shouldn't be, like under the CPU or areas around but not on the IHS.

 

[Musty Pie]

1 thing that PB machines are notorious for is swollen or blown capacitors on the mobo. Check that. If that's the case its soldering time.