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PC Sudden Shutdown in XP

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by karma1 1 view

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General System

Intel P4 2.4Ghz CPU
512M DDR 400Mhz Ram (single)
Asus P4800SE Motherboard
WD 120G HD
WD 160G HD
LG DVDR
Sony CDRW
2 Case Fans (1 colour fan requires power)
nVidia GeForce 4
SB Audigy

Windows XP Pro SP2
Norton AntiVirus 2004

I'm sure most of that list will have diddly to do with my problem, but just in case it's pretty much all there.

For the last week I've been getting sudden shutdowns. I originally thought it may have been from Empires Dawn of the Modern World (game) because that's usually when it shuts off. But it has happened several times today when I wasn't in the game. Although, everytime I _do_ play the game, it does shutdown.

There's no set amount of time before it shuts down, it's completely random and it's a complete shut down. Straight to power off. No warning, just poof! my PC has turned off.

I've run NAV and the system is clean, I've run Ad Aware and the system is reported as clean there too. I've changed as many options in XP that are Power Management related. I've gone into the BIOS and changed all the options there too. The system is still powering off without warning and still at random.

BTW, the majority of these components were purchased Nov/Dec of 2004 so I don't think hardware should be much of an issue, as I've said.. This has just started this week.

Any ideas?

karma1

15 replies

by karma1

I should have mentioned, after it powers itself off, I need to disconnect the power cord. If I plug the cord back in right away and try and power up, it just shuts off right away. It doesn't even get a chance to POST the video card. If I leave it unplugged for 30 secs to a minute and then try, it will usually start up at that point.

by cg it

I had that happen to a server. It would randomly shut off and would not power on until I let it sit. eventually it wouldn't power on or boot up until I disconnected the HDDs. Output showed normal with HDDs disconnected but couldn't test with HDDs connected because it wouldn't power up. Replaced power supply, problem gone.

by cg it

I'll add this to what I saw:

This server had a random power off problem. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. What cinched it that the power supply went kaput was it would not power up. fans would go on for a couple of secs then everything shut off. would not power on until we unpluged the AC cord and let it sit. Then would do the same thing. We removed everything [expansion cards, HDDs, CD, floppy, so that only the board, processor & HSF is all that had power. Boot right up to BIOS. Voltage showed normal but as soon as we connected a HDD, no boot. we fiddled with it and while monkeing around with it the computer finally wouldn't even turn on no matter what we did. Replaced the power supply, booted up to BIOS, hooked everything up, boots right up to O/S no problems no intermittent shutdowns. Been runing 24/7 6 mos now.

by karma1

It's a toss up for the points here. After re-seating the CPU the computer was fine for a couple hours until I replaced the power supply. lol. (Just for info's sake; I went from a 300W power supply to a 450W power supply)

by sgt_shultz

what do you think about heat? could it be processor or ? need reseating? or some heat sink compound. why not power up both fans. is this a new or old video card. case open? case closed? slots all covered? you don't have setting to shutdown if processor overheats in BIOS, right.

by karma1

It's a toss up for the points here. After re-seating the CPU the computer was fine for a couple hours until I replaced the power supply. lol. (Just for info's sake; I went from a 300W power supply to a 450W power supply)

by karma1

In regards to the thermals. I've run ASUS Probe. It tracks a bunch of crap on the board. Thermals being one of them. I had it running and all the temps were nowhere near the threshold for either the CPU or motherboard. I clicked on Internet Explorer in my QuickLaunch bar, and BAM! powered off.

My next troubleshooting attempts are to disconnect power from the case fan and CDRW. If it's a PS problem, hopefully relieving some of the power requirements will help.

The case has open slots in the rear, a side case fan (coloured LEDs), a Chassis fan, CPU fan, and PS fan. Other than the open slots it's a closed case. The case and PS are about 1.5 yrs old, Video is maybe 1yr, CPU-Motherboard-RAM are all 5-6 months old.

by karma1

Okay, relieving the power didn't help. I've reseated the CPU though, I'll let ya know how it goes.

by karma1

Okay... Taking the drives off power didn't help. I have re-seated the CPU and we'll see how it goes.

by willcomp

I agree with GGIT that it is almost surely the power supply. Having to unplug to restart points right at the power supply. If it were a thermal issue, system would have to cool down before it would restart.

In many cases, the power supply is an after thought when parts are purchased. A cool looking case is purchased with a supplied power supply that is of questionable quality.

With your components, you need a quality 400 watt or higher power supply. Some brands to consider are Antec, Enermax, CoolerMaster, TTGI, and ThermalTake.

As with memory, the power supply is not a good place to pinch pennies, especially in a gaming PC.

Dalton

by thamakodi

Your sudden shutdown problem can be the result of any of the following.

? System failure: Stop error
? Power failure: Cord unplugged
? Power failure: Environment
? Other failure: System unresponsive

The first user with Administrator privileges who logs back into the computer after an sudden shutdown is presented with a dialog box where the reason for the shutdown can be indicated.

What does it say?

TK

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