I know slightly above jack when it comes to computers but my parents know less than jack. So my dad brings his computer woes to me.
He has an Emachines computer t4155. A few months after he got it, it started doing the most peculiar thing.
It would shut off without warning. It would shut off for a second and then turn back on and boot up. It’s incredibly annoying and frustrating. It seemed like it had something to do with the internet (AOL user) since it happened 97% of the time when he was online. But he is rarely on the computer if he isn’t online so it is hard to tell. He was running Norton SystemWorks and every time it rebooted it would automatically run a full drive test. No bugs or errors.
Is it still under warranty? I know eMachines use cheap parts (hence cheap machines) and my cousin’s eMachine went through 3 power supplies in less than a year.
If they got it at Best Buy or a store like that, I would just take it in for a fixin’ if it’s still under warranty.
Sounds like he may have some bugged spyware on his computer. Especially if it only happens when he is online. Have him download and run ad-aware and spybot-search and destroy.
Early versions of a lot of spyware would cause computer lockups and shutdowns. I’ve had the problem myself. After he finds and removes whatever is causing the problem, have him set his internet security to at least medium high; download pestpatrol (you can use cookie patrol free) and install a popup blocker.
These steps have prevented me from drive-by downloads and spy cookies.
This behavior can be caused by any number of things. Sticky reset buttons or flaky power supplies or MBs or memory chips are the usual suspects for this behavior.
Things to check or try
1: If the unit has a jumper attached to a wire on the motherboard labeled “reset” that goes to a reset button on the front of the chassis disconnect this.
2: Is the OS fan working ( the fan inside the OS box)?
What OS is it running? -if it is WindowsXP, the random shutting down when online sounds like that machine may have a Sasser or Blaster infection. Turn on the built-in firewall that comes with WindowsXP, then use MS update to get the lastest patches, and run an antiviral program like AVG. Also, make sure to run an anti-spyware program like Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware.
Another vote for a dodgy power supply. I’ve replaced two eMachine PSUs so far, despite my efforts to keep friends from buying them and bringing them to me when they act up. :mad:
A really good one will run $45 from www.pcpowercooling.com A “good enough” one can be found for $25 or so. They usually take a variety called “SFX-L” - like earlier Dells, they take a different PSU than the rest of the world. In this case, the difference is, well, the case, and how it physically fits in the computer. (The Dell difference was electrical, in case anyone’s curious.)
I’ll diagnose with a bad power supply too, especially as he has reinstalled Windows already. The OP didn’t specify if the disk was re-formatted when the OS was re-installed, but given that eMachines is notorious for using the cheapest parts possible, I would look at the PSU first.