Desktop Randomly shutting off

[iLazarus]

I read through another post about this problem but though it best to start a new thread for mine.

The computer i am having trouble with is a p4 1.3ghz.

My first question is how does the hibernate mode in Win ME work? I know the basics as far as writes the contents of memory to disk and then shuts down. Does it completely shut down? This computer will not come back on when it goes to hibernate. And most of the time the only way to get it to come back up is to unplug it. I set the computer to never hibernate, but it still randomly shuts down. My concern is that it is still trying to go into hibernate even though i told it not to. I have formated and reinstalled windows and the problem still exists.

There seems to be no system to when it does it either. It will do it when i am using it for a short time/longtime/or when it is just sitting there. I kinda of want to rule out a heat problem b/c of this.

After reading through the other post i am going to try these things to fix it but i would still like to know if anyone else has fixed a problem like this before.

I am going to remove some added RDRAM and see how it works.

I am going to make sure all fans are working correctly, remove the CPU and make sure i get a good union with the heat sink with some heat compound.

If i still have a problem i am going to try a different power supply.

If one of those 3 things doesn't fix it... I would appreciate some more ideas to try.

Thanks

[jetman]

Originally posted by iLazarus
I read through another post about this problem but though it best to start a new thread for mine.

The computer i am having trouble with is a p4 1.3ghz.

My first question is how does the hibernate mode in Win ME work? I know the basics as far as writes the contents of memory to disk and then shuts down. Does it completely shut down? This computer will not come back on when it goes to hibernate. And most of the time the only way to get it to come back up is to unplug it. I set the computer to never hibernate, but it still randomly shuts down. My concern is that it is still trying to go into hibernate even though i told it not to. I have formated and reinstalled windows and the problem still exists.

There seems to be no system to when it does it either. It will do it when i am using it for a short time/longtime/or when it is just sitting there. I kinda of want to rule out a heat problem b/c of this.

After reading through the other post i am going to try these things to fix it but i would still like to know if anyone else has fixed a problem like this before.

I am going to remove some added RDRAM and see how it works.

I am going to make sure all fans are working correctly, remove the CPU and make sure i get a good union with the heat sink with some heat compound.

If i still have a problem i am going to try a different power supply.

If one of those 3 things doesn't fix it... I would appreciate some more ideas to try.

Thanks

If I'm understanding you correctly, you're trying to use hibernate mode in WinME. If so, DON'T ! The power saving modes don't work reliably under Win9x. If you need that feature, upgrade to WinXP. Therefore, turn off all of those features to keep your computer working properly.

Now, in the event you having another, more serious problem, apparently due to power mgmt issues, try this: clear CMOS, set BIOS date/time, pick Load Optimal Settings (or equiv) from the BIOS setup, then see if the problem goes away.....Jet

[mar122999]

Is your system set to "Standby" also. Sometimes, hibernate mode problems occur due to an outdated bios. I would personally check your bios version on the motherboard's website and see if you have an outdated version. If so, flash the bios and see if the problem still persists.

I have seen bios updates for motherboard manufacturers always having usually some fix for "hibernating" problems or "power management" problems.

[mar122999]

Also, what Mobo are you using?

[HeadBand]

he said he is not trying to use hibernate mode...my dad has winME and he can use hibernate/sleep just fine

the probolem you are having with being not able to turn on untill you unplug it is not related to it but rather power or heat usually...in this case i would suspect it is power since it happens at different times

what you are going to do sounds fine i would do the power supply first and also to check for heat try taking the side off and blowing a big fan on there if you have one

if that dosent work and you are going to chek the memory i highly suggest memtest86 www.memtest86.com

[cyclist110]

Yeah it could be heat, and some motherboards don't properly support hibernate for some reason.

I think switching to XP is a good idea as i've seen nothing but trouble with ME.

C.

[mar122999]

I've had good results with Me. That type of problem may not be fixed by just switching an OS. Trying narrowing out hardware problems first, then worry about OS.

Download and run Sandra. Run the Burn in test that Sandra has and see how you PC reacts with the tests:

http://download.com.com/3000-2086-10...ml?tag=lst-0-1

[iLazarus]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. The computer is a friends on mines dad's and after i told him a few things to check he learned that the fan on the power supply was siezed. I replaced it last night and am hoping this will solve the problem. I will drop another reply here in a day or two if the problem continues.

Thanks guys!