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Windows XP

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Hello,
I seam to have a small problem. I got a call from a user saying her PC was shutting down every 10 minutes. I figured perhaps its was the power settings, but she checked them and its not. I also figured perhaps it was that blaster worm, however I took that off a week after she got it (its been a few months now) Her OS is Windows XP Home Edition, We have firewalls installed and a virus scan, but I am unsure when or if she updates them. What could be causing this and has there been any resent worms or viruses that cause this besides that blaster worm?

Thanks

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In reply to Windows XP

does her computer pop up the “remote procedure call service is shutting down…” window before it shuts down?

does it shut down every 10 mins, regardless if she connected to the network or not?

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In reply to Windows XP

I had a friend once that put a script to shutdown his computer after a couple minutes in his startup items. When he started it he would have a couple minutes to disable the shutdown, while other people, like his sister, would just give up on the thing and leave it alone lol.

Check the startup items and see if you find anything unusual. Start->Run and type msconfig. Then go to the startup tab.

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In reply to Windows XP

Alright, upon further inspection I noticed the fan in the power supply was no longer working. The PC would power down in the middle of something No error messages or anything, it would just turn off the PC. Could it be because the fan is no longer working and the powersupply is over heating causing it to shut down? (No thanks to BIOS which tells me the fan is working, but upon inspection it is not)

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In reply to Windows XP

That dead fan could certainly cause something like that. To help determine if that is actually it, try removing the case to reduce the heat and see if it lasts a little longer. It should really be replaced either way, though.

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In reply to Windows XP

You should change the power supply unit anyway, and also check the CPU fan is running, it could be something as easy as overheating, leaving the casing of a pc just attracks dust and stops the internal fans circulating air properly

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In reply to Windows XP

The Power supply should be changed immediatly or risk the chance of permanite damage to the internal componets. I have ran into a simmular problem on a computer before is to do format and a CLEAN install.

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In reply to Windows XP

I can most definitely guaruntee that it is the power supply. It is probably overheating.

Check to see if the fan is running. If not, than the power supply will most likely need to be replaced. In the meantime, you can open the box and leave a small fan running on the power supply and see if it shuts down after ten minutes.

Let me know if that worked.

Thanks.

Eileen

[Author]

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