Regular unwanted shutdowns.

Gornall · 5 Feb 2009 at 11:15

Posting this on behalf of a friend really as I've being having difficulty even coming to any kind of conclusion.

Basically, the computer boots fine, loads windows fine and can sit there and run most programs for a few hours without any problems.

Soon as something intensive is run, e.g a game the computer just cuts out and switches off within about 10-15 minutes.

The strangest thing is though, if rebooted straight away. The computer runs absolutely fine and can game all night without a hitch.

Ive thought about a faulty mobo or PSU but that wouldn't explain it working on reboot.

Anyone any input? I am pretty much gonna start the trouble shooting from scratch so where would you recommend starting?

Thanks.

/edit

All temps fine, reseated most hardware like GPU. Only reset upgrade is new graphics card. Specs Below

Abit IN9 32x Max
Core2Due E6600
4gb 4x1 DDR2 1000mhz
Gefore 280xt (I think, will clarify)
Windows Xp

Ranto · 5 Feb 2009 at 11:21

right what you need to do is right click my computer -> properties -> advanced - in there is a box under system failure that says automaticaly reboot. Untick that, then check your error logs to see if any new errors have occured. Hopefully unticking this box will stop the random restart but it wont cure the problem, you need to find out what is causing this to happen. This is where you check the error logs, this can be found in control panel -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer

Hope this helps

Ranto · 5 Feb 2009 at 11:22

oh and when you see an error try searching it in google im sure you will find the answers you need.

Angst · 5 Feb 2009 at 11:23

my friend had this issue and it was his ram that was the problem

4T5 · 5 Feb 2009 at 11:25

phill0i said:
my friend had this issue and it was his ram that was the problem

This.
Try other Ram it's dirt cheap so upgrade at the same time.

Hairboi · 5 Feb 2009 at 11:34

It's usually ram mate, check to see if the voltages are correct on the RAM

Uriel · 5 Feb 2009 at 11:35

I had a similar issue. I think it was caused by dirt in one of my RAM slots. Removed the RAM and cleaned with compressed air the other day. A big bit of fluff came out. No reboots or BSODs (I was getting 0x00000124 variants) so far since then. It was an intermittent problem anyway so fingers crossed.

Gornall · 5 Feb 2009 at 11:42

Ahh good good, I did tell him to try it with 1 stick of RAM. He should be getting back to me on that.

Would unticking that box cause it to bluescreen instead of shutting down then? So at least we can see the error?

Ranto · 5 Feb 2009 at 11:48

yea it would, write down the code and then search it - should give you an idea of the problem. If you cant see the error you can always check the error log