HELP! PC powering down, but not all the way

[jerry12302]

I run Windows XP and lately the PC powers down randomly. The CPU cooling fan stops and the monitor goes black. The power supply still hums like it is on, and the drive light remains lit. The monitor still has power and a message pops up that says no signal is coming from the PC.

I've replaced the cooling fan and the power supply, but I still have the same problem. When I reboot, it either powers down before I even load windows all the way, or within seconds of logging into windows, so I can't run an antivirus.

I tried booting in safe mode, and I get the option to run in safe mode, but when I try that, it starts to continue in safe mode but locks up before the drivers are loaded, so I can't even get into safe mode.

I thought it was a hardware problem at first, but last night I unhooked my hard drive and installed an old hard drive that has windows 98 on it. I turned on the PC and windows 98 came on fine. I was able to use programs and it never powered down, it acted completely normal.

This leads me to believe it's a nasty virus that is somehow able to shut down a PC's power, at least to the CPU.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Richard Schollar]

Hi Jerry

I have no specific experience of what is happening to you, but I wouldn't necessarily discount the possibility of it being hardware related. I have had memory and motherboard problems in the past that do sound a little similar to what you are facing. Win98 and XP put very different loads on your system, so maybe it is only when you push your comp with XP that it bails? I must admit, when I first read the start of your message, my initial reaction was 'Oh, it's the power supply' but looks like you've already discounted that.

Have you loaded any new software/drivers on your PC recently that may be causing incompatibility problems?

 

[jerry12302]

The only thing I've done recently (about a month ago) was hooking up a wireless keyboard and mouse, but it's been working fine. About 2 or 3 months ago I added RAM.

I have been downloading files from limewire, which makes me suspicious that it may be a virus, and my son tends to download games and whatever.

I like your idea that 98 is a lighter load than XP, therefore it could still be a hardware problem, but what besides the power supply and the cooling fan? I also blew out all the dust so it's nice and clean inside.

 

[Richard Schollar]

It could be the memory (are you running with 2 or more sticks? that might then fit in with my load idea if only 1 is faulty). It could be a virus though

There's a memory checking tool freely available on the web - I think it's called MemTest86 or some such. It might be worth Googling it, and checking it out.

 

[jerry12302]

Thanks Richard,

I just wish I could keep it on long enough to get online (I'm at work now).

I'm going to take out my hard drive and install it in my son's PC as a slave and run his anti-virus to scan it to see if it comes up with anything. If it is a virus, I don't think it could jump from a slave drive to another drive, at least I hope not!

 

[SydneyGeek]

As Richard said, RAM or motherboard are likely culprits. If you have more than one stick of RAM, power down and remove a stick. Run for a while. If it's OK, replace that RAM. If it's still flaky, swap the RAM sticks and try again.

If you can get your box down to a local PC shop, get them to do it for you. That way, if they replace RAM and the new stuff turns out to be faulty, you should have some warranty. They can also run some diagnostics for you.

Denis

 

[jerry12302]

Thanks Sydney,

I'll try that. The virus scan from the other computer did find trojans on my hard drive and claimed to remove them, but when I put it back in my machine, I had the same problem.

 

[litrelord]

It wouldn't help find the cause but I'd be tempted to get the drive back in your son's PC as a slave and backup everything you need from it then format it and start again. Does it good to have a fresh install once in a while (should make it much faster too for a while).

Alternatively, you could try downloading a linux live cd and boot into that, leave it running for a bit, maybe play some of the built in games and see whether it crashes using that. That might help point to whether it's hardware/software related without going for the full format of windows.

Nick

 

[jerry12302]

Thanks Nick,

I took my son's drive out and put my drive into my son's pc as the only drive and booted up, but it reacted exactly as it had on mine, so I'm convinced it's a nasty trojan that just keeps coming back even after the virus scan claims to delete it.

I'm going to put my drive into my son's as a slave and get everything off there that I want, then I'll reinstall Windows (IF I CAN FIND THE CD!)