computer randomly shuts off.. power supply problem?

[PSU2Fan]

Check the reset/power button connections; make sure they're snug. My mom's comp had this sort of problem and that was the culprit

[vanik]

checked those.. still does it

[Xpander]

i just had a problem where my machine wouldn't boot up cause the boot program was corrupted. if your machine won't boot then try reinstalling the OS and configure the setup in a way to keep all your files, only reinstall your OS files.

[Omardeth]

what is the amperage on the power supply for the +12v rail ? it is on the side of the power supply .

[videobruce]

Can you take the MB out of the case, strip everything off the board except for the vid card and one stick of memory, no drives.
Boot with a floppy and see what happens.

Then add the HDD (no CD drives or anything else) and try that into safe mode and see what happens.

Do you have MBM or Hardware Monitor installed to monitor the temp's and voltages?

Let us know.

[pjaj]

I'm going to follow this thread with interest, as I've been having a similar problem. However the differences are:

• It happens on TWO separate computers
• They both suddenly reboot rather than shut down

One is my old twin Celeron PB6 machine and the other is a brand new XP3000+ A7N8X box. The old machine was particularly bad, but the new box has done it once, when my daughter was using it.
Both are running W2K Pro.
Both have Matrox video cards (G400 and Parhelia)
Both run much the same mix of software, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Word etc.
No one particular piece of software is obviously more prone than any other.
The old box may have been a bit tight on its power supply, but the new one's got an Enermax 465W PSU and the software reports a chip temperature of 42C (107F)
I'm inclined to think it could be some sort of power glitch, but the lights don't flicker when it happens. Both boxes are plugged into their own Belkin 8 way surge arresting distribution strips.
We are talking about UK 240V 50Hz supply.

[vanik]

Found the problem! It was the RAM, as most of you said. A new stick stopped the crashing. Thanks to everyone!

[digitaldino]

Hi Everyone,

I am having the same problem with my PC at the moment here are my specs:

P4 1.6
768 MB DDR ram
MSI 645 Ultra mobo
350 Enermax PSU
Geforce 2 Ti 64mb DDR
Soundblaster live
DVD drive
liteon CDRW 48X-12X-48X
Intel NIC
5600rpm 40G HD

Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 753DF

My situation seems very similar. It started a few days ago. My computer would randomly reboot or it would seem like the monitor would just turn off and the system would stop responding but no sounds from the box all the fans still on, Then when I go to turn the system back on it turns on but nothing on the monitor and the HD doesn't seem to be booting, so I hit the reset button on my PC a couple times then it will come on. I replaced my old Generic 300W PSU for a Enermax 350W 2 fan but the problem still presists I put another fan in my case and applied more thermal paste to my CPU. My CPU is holding at 50C I don't think that heat is the problem even though it has been really hot the last couple of days, I have tried different wall outlets and reseated most of the internal components of my PC, it is only a year old and I am not overclocking. It is fairly cool in my room right now and the problem still happens I just hope I can finish typing this message. Windows XP says that it is being caused from a device driver but I highly doubt it, it seems like a hardware issue. I am leaning towards the mobo or video card. I just don't want to start shelling out cash till I know what is going on.

Any help will be appreciated...

[digitaldino]

I am trying to see if one of the sticks of Ram is bad I have two sticks a 128mb and a 512mb I am trying to run the system with one at a time but it won't crash when I want it too.

[videobruce]

Was it the stick, the socket or the order it was installed?