*seemingly* random shutdown 4

[AndrewWolford]

Hi everyone,

I hope I'm posting this in the correct forum. I have a computer that appears to be randomly shutting down. Its an Athlon 1.4 with an Asus motherboard. I have Windows XP.

Here's a description of the problem: I'll be using the computer and without warning it will simply turn off. Most of the time I cannot get it to start back up again. I've tried flipping the power switch on the back of the case and unplugging the whole computer. Sometimes, if I do this over and over it will start back up. Most the time only to again turn off again. Sometimes it will make it into Windows, other times it will turn off at some point in the startup process.

This same thing happened a few weeks ago. I let the computer sit for a day, tried to start it up again and it booted up fine and worked up until yesterday. I'm sure there could be a million causes to this problem but does anyone have some suggestions as to where to begin?

I'm thinking it could be an electrical problem? The case is, for lack of a better term, a piece of crap. Its been dropped, and I think its possible that a wire has come loose. Does this sound like a possibility? I suppose it could also be a hardware conflict or something in the BIOS? Thanks and I appreciate any help!

-Andrew

 

[INKABINK]

Sounds like a motherboard problem to me...
it's not a MSI board is it ? they had trouble with a few boards doing that.

 

[Dreamland]

Andrew - If you're still looking at this thread and could kindly reply: 1) What model of ASUS motherboard is it? 2) What brand/rating of power supply (if it's marked)?

I'm very interested in the voltages you get before/after the change. Do you have the windows monitoring utility (like VIA Hardware Monitor) loaded where you can see the rail voltages and temp from within XP? ASUS usually provides something on it's mobo drivers CD.

 

[Loknar]

Motherboard monitor can do the job of the VIA hardware monitor (especially as the VIA one does not work in winxp)

http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

is the url

 

[AndrewWolford]

Yes I'm still looking at this thread. I'm at work right now and will have to wait until I get home to check the voltage. Off the top of my head I don't know what brand the power supply is, but I know its old (1999). Loknar~ I assume I can get the voltage by using a utility found on your link?

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[Loknar]

you sure can

 

[Dreamland]

Loknar - I pulled whatever one Via had (V 2.04)on an Abit mobo driver CD and it seems to be working fine in XP Pro, so they must have finally got around to updating it for Abit anyway. MBM5 is much nicer though (sorry, VIA!) - thanks for the link.

 

[comptek]

So is everything working out ok. I hope that I am not responding to this thread to late, an if I repeat what someone has already said (I apologize). What I was wondering was did you already check to see if your processor is seated properly? Processor creep is another problem that can cause your pc to shut off at erratic intervals. I had a pc once that would shut off intermittenly and the processor had worked its way loose. It might be a long shot but worth checking. Again sorry to anyone who has already suggested this.

 

[xathras]

Are you using Windows XP Professional???

I have had a similar problem with my pc

 

[AndrewWolford]

Yes Im using Windows XP. I've been putting a box fan next to my tower when I use the computer until my new case gets here. I think the problem is heat-related as the computer has yet to shut off since I've been doing this. I'll check to make sure the CPU is seated correctly when I transer the motherboard to the new case. Thanks for all your help.

Andrew

 

[BCTechnician]

Random shutdown is not necessarily caused by overheating problems, you may have bad ram or a capasitor is leaking or buldging. check to make sure your ram is pushed in fairly tight until it clicks. replace your fan and powersupply fan as well to eliminate that as the cause. remove the battery to reset your CMOS (BIOS) to the default settings or use short the bios reset jumper (look in your motherboard manual). remove all of your pc cards and try starting your pc (May be other faulty hardware) replace them one by one...
reboot your pc holding down the F8 key choose (Last good configuration that worked)

this should be all you need!!!

Chow!

Paul Halonen

 

[BCTechnician]

PS....

Oh yah, DON'T forget to check that the bottom of your motherboard is not shorting on the case... use all the plastic clips you can thanstead of screws. Don't change your voltage settings in your bios whatever you do, it will short your powersupply if you set it wrong. try setting up xp with all of your pc cards removed first. Once xp is installed, turn the system off, install one card and restart... repeat this step for each card.