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PC shut down by it self.

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4 replies

by sani_ana

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My brother, bought a PC pentium 4 1.7 GHz, with 256 memory. 40 gig hardisk. Last 2 years. Lately the computer always shut down by itself and unable to rebot back.I checked the system, and found out that, when the shut down by itself the pc power is on. I tried to rebot back by restart button or start button it unable to on. I also unable to off the PC, by pressing the start button for more than 5 mins. The only way is to off the main switch and press the start button, than the will PC on.

Pls help

Regards
Sani

4 replies

by hereinoz

My first guess would be the power supply. Given that these are relatively cheap, I would get a new one and change it over.

It could be the power management on the motherboard but you need to verify the power supply is OK before you start looking at the motherboard. and the easiest way to do that is to replace it.

Alan

by thechas

Start by checking power management settings in BOTH Windows and BIOS settings.

It sounds like the PC is going into hibernate or standby and does not have a wake-up switch.

I have seen a number of PCs where the monitor goes into standby mode, and does not return when the mouse is moved.
For this, change monitor to standby to never in Windows power management.

Chas

by sgt_shultz

it does sound like hardware, if user swears nothing has changed, carefully check all settings in BIOS. perhaps you will see system shutdown configured to occur in the event, say, of the processor overheating. or having some other major error. if that is the case, you can change the BIOS setting to try to 'allow' the system to fail without shutdown and get a better idea of cause...
i would also open box and just have a close look. do fans spin? does ram wiggle? maybe reseat ram and processor and video card...
otherwise I agree with charles, sounds like it is going into hibernate. or something is overheating. check to see that all fans are spinning everywhere...
other and weirder things besides misconfigured BIOS can cause systems to not come out of hibernate...like out of date BIOS firmware, video and network drivers, motherboard drivers...also incompatible programs...check whatever you can for compatiblility and latest versions. especially anti-virus, system utilites, cd burner software and all your drivers.
if none of these suggestions help, write again with what all you have tried, system brand and/or motherboard brand. include operating system version and service pack level and what history you may know (specifically, has it been upgraded to its current os and from what previous os)
for example, xp has

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