My Computer Keeps Shutting Itself Off. Help, please!!

Factual Questions
1

I’ve checked all the stickied threads, and didn’t find anything that might help here, so please forgive me if I missed something.

My desktop computer (HP Pavilion a1000n, almost 3 years old) has developed a problem where it just shuts itself off with no warning. No shut-down process–just no power.

If I try to turn it back on immediately, it usually refuses to go back on at all. If I wait a minute, it gets stuck on a blue screen with the HP logo that it usually cycles past in normal boot-up. (I’ll write down exactly what it says next time it happens.)

If I wait 10-15 minutes, it goes back on normally. If I turn off the power strip in the meantime, I think it will go back on a little sooner, but it might be my imagination.

It has been doing this for about 8 months. The problem gets better and worse over time. Right now, it’s really bad. Sometimes I’m barely on for 10 mins when it shuts off. It’s particularly bad when we’re using the Webkinz website for some reason. It also happened a lot when I used to burn CDs, but I’ve long since given up on that.

I’ve jiggled/reconnected the cables several times.

I’ve been to the HP site, where they give directions for mitigating “power source problems” (unplugging cables, holding down power button for 5 secs. or some such) which did no good.

I spoke to HP tech support when I was on with them for a software problem, but they had no idea how to fix it. They did have me take off the side panel of the computer, so I know how to do that. (I took it off yesterday and ensured that the fans were both running.)

I was hoping someone here could help me either fix this problem myself (I’m pretty handy) or let me know what the scope of the repair would be if I need to send it out to be fixed.

Thanks so much in advance.

2

It could be overheating, at least that’s always been the cause when my computers have done this. Try taking the case off and run it, that could cool it enough to prevent shutdown. Also, I’ve had friends who have had good success with literally just setting up a box fan or floor fan and pointing it right into the case. If it’s overheating, this should take care of it.

The other thing I also found one time was some sort of leaking component on the motherboard - it looked like a capacitor had leaked juice onto the board which sizzled a little bit. So when you do open your computer, take a look around for anything suspicious.

3

I suspected overheating, too. Where the computer is now is right below a leaky drafty window…and it’s cold as hell right there. I’ll try what you say, though.

Also, it’s pretty dusty in there. I’m kind of afraid to mess around in there, but I could try vacuuming a little. Do you think it would be okay if I kept the nozzle from touching anything?

4

Another vote for overheating. I was going to suggest you check the dust situation before I read that you said it was dusty in there. Yeah, get in there and clean it out, if you’re up to it, pop the fan off the CPU heatsink and clean that out as well. Or atleast try and suck some of the dust out of the heatsink.

5

The computer shouldn’t overheat for no reason, usually it’s because a fan has gone. Open the case and turn the computer on, and watch to see if there are any idle fans. They may need to be replaced. Remember there’s a fan inside the power supply unit too.

6

My computer was randomly shutting itself off, too. We eventually figured out that there was so much dust built up inside the case that the power supply fan was unable to provide enough ventilation.

7

As I said above, there are two fans spinning when the computer is on. They are both about 3 in. in diameter. Might there be another that I don’t know about?

8

The two you see may be for the CPU and graphics card, there’s another one inside the power supply unit.

Looks like this.

9

Thanks. I did find fan #3. All 3 working.

So, armed with my vacuum, a set of mini vacuum attachments that I use for my sewing machine and a soft paintbrush, I popped the case and got to work.

Eventually I came upon what I can only assume is the CPU heatsink–a bunch of metal fins with a fan over it. I poked the paintbrush through the fins, and big nasty chunks of congealed dust started falling out. Eww. So I took off the fan and the whole thing was pretty well crusted up with dust. So I brushed it off and sucked it out. So let’s see if it helps. I can only assume that it will.

Thank you everyone.

10

And so far, it seems to have worked. Thanks again!!

11

I’m bumping a zombie thread because I’m now having the same problem for the second time in the past year. The computer keeps shutting off, probably for temperature reasons. It’s summer and I don’t have AC.

My question: Why is there no warning from the computer about this?

I realize auto-shutdown is to protect components from heat damage. But why can’t the computer give a warning that temps are approaching problem levels and give you a chance to shut it down normally?

12

There should be an application that comes with the motherboard drivers that will keep an eye on processor temperature and ‘throttle back’ when they approach potentially damaging levels.

If you don’t have the disk then the manufacturers website will often provide them as a free download.

If you don’t know the make and model of your motherboard then SiSoft Sandra will be able to extract that information for you although your operating system should be able to tell you that anyway (but not always).

13

Generally speaking, there is a warning. Your computer may not have its motherboard drivers/software installed, in which case there’s no way for the little chip that monitors its temperature to communicate-out to the operating system and tell you about the warning.

Some types of failure can burn out a CPU fast. If your CPU cooler fails suddenly*, the CPU can burn itself out in 60 seconds or less. So it’s possible your computer has a fault where the motherboard has to shut it off quickly to avoid damaging its components.

*) if the heat sink becomes physically detached, or if the flow is blocked in a liquid-cooled CPU. A fan failure will give you a few minutes of operation, before the CPU burns out.

14

you might find control of temperature and alarms in your CMOS settings. it all depends on the make and model of your computer.

15

You can get free apps to do exactly this, try Speedfan or GPU-Z and CPU-Z.

16

Overheating (maybe due to dust, clean it only when off) has probably destroyed the power supply or motherboard. Turn the thing off and clean it with compressed air. Replace the power supply, a complex job. If that doesn’t work, then it is the motherboard. On the plus side, your data is probably okay on the hard drive.

17

Had this exact problem a while back, monitored the temperature in the case with CPUID HWMonitor, and saw the CPU temp hit the boiling point of water as it blipped off. Quick work with the vacuum cleaner, and it was right as rain.