Automatic Shut off Grrrrrrrr!

[steve case]

Does anyone have any insight why my PC has suddenly decided to randomly shut down? The screen goes black, there's an audible "clicK" and it doesn't respond to the key board or mouse.

Do computers have heat overload switches? Mine's a "Dell"

I asked the IT guy at work, he says, "Yeah, "Interent Exploder" does that every now and then, very annoying. You have to re-boot."

This started about a week or so ago, and is now much worse. It winks off in the middle of the re-boot.

I pulled the plug, and will try it this afternoon, and see if there are any comments here.

Later (-:
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[Richard Schollar]

Sounds like it could be a motherboard problem and/or a power supply issue. *I* think it sounds more like a hardware problem than a software issue...

 

[steve case]

And I don't know which is worse )-:

 

[Expiry]

You have paid the electric bill, haven't you?

 

[litrelord]

Could be over-heating. I had a pc that was doing that for a while. If it happens more often when it's been running for a while but not the first time you switch it on for the day then that would make me think it's a heat issue.

You could try stress testing the pc with sisoft sandra, that may give you an idea as to what's causing it.

I agree with Richard though, sounds much more hardware than software related. I guess the only way to know for sure is a clean install of windows.

Good luck!

Nick

 

[MorganO]

I also think this is hardware versus software related.

I would recommend pulling and reseating every card attached to the motherboard and see if that fixes the problem.

Also, are you getting any abnormal beeping sounds at boot up? This can be an indicator of a hardware problem.

Good luck!

Owen

 

[Von Pookie]

The screen goes black, there's an audible "clicK" and it doesn't respond to the key board or mouse.
...
I asked the IT guy at work, he says, "Yeah, "Interent Exploder" does that every now and then, very annoying. You have to re-boot."

Sounds like you need a new IT guy

 

[Greg Truby]

I too would look for hardware related first. More'n likely either a cooling fan going out (if it's a desktop) or else the airflow around the cooling vents (desktops & notebooks) have built up enough dust-bunny fur to impede airflow to the point where the overheating safety is kicking in. On the bright side -- if it's the dust-bunnies, that is the easiest of all possible causes to fix.

 

[Domski]

I agree, sounds like what happened to my old PC. It started doing a similar thing. Turned out the motherboard was on it's way out. If the IT guy's right I'll eat my hat.

Dom

 

[steve case]

Thank you all for the responses, I am now turning off the juice after each use, and no crashes so far. I'm not looking forward to "reseating" all the boards. Even the "Dust Bunny" round up isn't appealing.

Yes, I pay my bills, and the IT guy keeps my work machine humming. I'll let you know if you need to find yourself a good hat recipe.

I'm betting on some sort of heat overload, but wouldn't you think Dell could have it pop up a message box on reboot that says that's what happened?