OT. Comp Problems

[Fish40]

Guys, I'm haveing a problem with my wife's PC that I can't figure out. It seems recently it shuts down at random times as though to "stand by" mode. The power light just blinks on and off. Problem is nothing but unplugging the damned thing and replugging back in gets it to restart. I'm thinking mabey an overheat issue? The system is not a performance rig by any means, just something for the wife to web surf. It's got XP home. Never had any probs in the past until a couple of days ago. Any ideas?

[Jan Kyster]

Originally Posted by Fish40

I'm thinking mabey an overheat issue?

Me too! Open the box and clean every fan and heatsink for dust.

There may be problems with "burned-out" thermal compound after several shutdowns due to overheating... but check that as a step two and only if you get it running again after the cleaning.

[Sailor Steve]

You might get more help faster if you post this in the Subsim special PC forum:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/forumdisplay.php?f=235

[Fish40]

Right Steve. Can any moderator move this to the appropriate forum? Thanks. Gonna check the dust issue ASAP.

[Nisgeis]

Does this happen after you leave it alone for a while, or does it do it when you are right in the middle of doing something? What Make and Model as well.

[Vaux]

I agree with cleaning the cooling vents and fans. Make sure your cooling fans are actually running as well. This may also indicate a failing power supply. If you plan on keeping it and the cleaning doesn't work, you might want to consider replacing the power supply.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Right click on a blank portion of your screen and select "Properties". Then select "Screen Saver" and then "Power" (in the lower right corner). Change everything in those settings to "Never". If that doesn't work, you might want to try doing a serious Virus scan followed by an Adware scan.
Update: Oops, almost forgot, try deactivating your sleep button too. Anything from a sticky key, typo, short, etc. can cause that.

[Fish40]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

Does this happen after you leave it alone for a while, or does it do it when you are right in the middle of doing something? What Make and Model as well.

Yeah Nisgeis, it's usually while she's playing her games on Facebook, or sometimes while I'm trying to watch a YouTube video. The PC itself is an E Machine. As for replaceing the PSU as someone mentioned, if it's going bad that is, may not be an easy undertaking because of the type of machine I'm dealing with. I'm not too familiar with E Machine, but if they're similar to Dell's in that they use only "company" parts, forget it. It ain't worth it.

Thanks everyone for the input. I appreciate it

[ancient46]

If the computer posts and makes no error beeps, it is probably shutting down to protect the processor. If it beeps check the manual's beep code page.

I have serviced computers that shut down soon after booting by removing a layer of caked on dust from the heat sink. If the problem is dust, remove the fan and clean off the outer sections of the heat sink. A thin piece of rigid plastic wrapped in a tissue works well to clean in between the fins once the top layer is removed. Clean the fan carefully, making sure no dust remains on the fins. Clean the case fans and blow the dust out of the box. Don't forget the chipset and video card while you are there.

Consider making dust filters for the case fans. A cheap and easy way is to get a mesh filter for a fish tank and cut to fit the fan. It helps to keep the inside of my case clean.

[WernherVonTrapp]

BTW, Fish40, those online games are notorious for embedding ad-ware onto a machine. A friend of mine was having the same exact PC problem a couple of years ago and asked me to take a look at it for him. Using a free Adware scanner, I found over 400 ad-ware programs on his PC, all eating up precious resources. I also found a nasty little program, disguised to look like an adware scanner, that was exceptionally hard to remove. Long story short. The Adware scanner did the trick and he was up and running again in no time. I'm not saying that this is the same cause in your case but, it might be worth a shot, and, save you some dough.
I'd go easy on the dust filter though. It will reduce airflow through the system, causing higher temperatures.

[Nisgeis]

Originally Posted by Fish40

Yeah Nisgeis, it's usually while she's playing her games on Facebook, or sometimes while I'm trying to watch a YouTube video. The PC itself is an E Machine. As for replaceing the PSU as someone mentioned, if it's going bad that is, may not be an easy undertaking because of the type of machine I'm dealing with. I'm not too familiar with E Machine, but if they're similar to Dell's in that they use only "company" parts, forget it. It ain't worth it.

Thanks everyone for the input. I appreciate it

OK, from what I remember the power light on an E-Machines will be green when its on and will blink yellow when it's in suspended mode. Is that what's happening? If so, it should in theory resume simply by pressing the power button again. When you power on the machine, does it resume to the state it was in when it switched off, or does it complain about resuming?

WernherVonTrapp is right about the sleep key - you can bind pretty much any key to the sleep function, so if for example you hit the windows key or the context menu key the machine can shutdown. To test it, try pressing all the keys on the keyboard (it shouldn't take very long at all) and see if the machine powers off.

You should be able to get a replacement PSU off ebay. I have a space E-Machines 1000 PSU, but the shipping would cost a lot. If it does turn out to be the PSU, I'll check my one and see if it's a standard fitting (most are, as they are made by third parties).

[Fish40]

@ Wernher: I did run both Ad Aware and Malware Byte as I have both on the machine. They didn't come up with much. I actually only ran the "Smart Scan" not the Full Scan. I'll run a full scan when I have a spare hour or so that the computer isn't being used.

@Nisgeis: The power button, which has a big "e" on it, lights up blue when turned on. When the PC shuts down, and by the way it may take over an hour, or mabey not at all, the button blinks blue intermitantly. Repressing the button dose nothing at all. It just keeps on blinking. There is no audible alarm or POST beeps, just a loss of power as though you unplugged the thing from the wall.

I wont have time until at least Tuesday to take a look at it. I did use it today, and had no problems. Like I said, it happens without ryme or reason. I can't even say it takes x amount of minutes, or anything along those lines befor problems arise. Again, just want to say thanks for all the help. At least this dosen't interrupt my SH4 play.

[WernherVonTrapp]

If you didn't find anything running a Smart Scan, then you probably don't have any ad-ware. Still, you won't know for sure until you run a full scan. I've found things running Full Scan when Smart Scan showed nothing. Did you reset your Power Settings to Never and check to see which button your "Sleep" hotkey is bound to?
As far as PSUs go, they're pretty much universal. That's usually one area where you don't have to worry about company parts. I hope you are able to find and correct the problem. E-Machine, huh?