Hello everyone, have a problem i never came across before and can't fix, so need your help. My pc turn off on it's own while i'm in the middle of something, most of the time it boots right back up, sometimes it tries but looks as if not enough power. So i changed the cmos battery still does it, had a 300 watts power supply so i upgrade to a 500 watts power supply still does, i've refomat my hard drive still does it. What else can i do? Have anyone else came across the same problem?

Hi Slim2000,
Firstly welcome to CompuForums, I hope that you can stick around and post here rather than vanish, never to return once we've given you our advice which is a really unfair thing to do.
It sounds to me like the problem is down to the PSU, or a poor electrical current. Did you build the machine yourself, or is it a branded one?
And have you installed any new components recently?

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no, just changed the power supply and the cmos battery. No other hardware changed.

In that case it's either a fault with one of your components [but this is not likely] or your home's power supply. Do you have any other computers in your home that run without this problem? If so, try running the machine from a socket where the computer runs fine. Also make sure it's not connected to an extension lead, but straight to the mains [if it's stormy near you be sure to unplug it when a storm is around]

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Ash
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Hi. I have moved this thread to the Hardware forum--for some reason it was under the Networking forum.

If you replaced the PSU with a good-quality one, then it is likely not the PSU. But if it's a cheap PSU, then it still could be the problem. What brand of PSU did you use?

It could more than likely be the RAM--bad RAM is the number one cause of random restarts and shut-downs. I would download one of the following programs, and let it run on your computer--if it comes up with no errors after running for a few hours, then it's likey not your RAM. If so, then you should replace your RAM.

Keep in mind, that the program will also tax your CPU--make sure you have adequate cooling.

The programs I would recommend using are:

Prime95 for a single-core CPU
Orthos Prime for a dual-core CPU

If these pass, then I'd recommend downloading the program Memtest86, which will go through your RAM before the OS loads, and test it thoroughly.

Just google any of these--they're all free. Hopefully this helps.

__________________
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (@2.6 GHz)
2x1GB OCZ Spec. Ops. PC3200
ASRock Dual939-SATA2
Antec TruePower 550 watt PSU
80 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200 rpm
300 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200 rpm
120 GB Maxtor ATA/133 7200 rpm
ATI Radeon x1950 Pro

guyladouche, I downloaded and i ran Prime95 for 3 hours 0 errors 0 warnings which means?

I guess I didn't say that before--what it does is crank lots and lots of calculations (which the program knows the answer to, and compares output from the computer to known answers)--if RAM is bad or of poor quality, when reading/writing, the wrong thing will be read/written from/to the RAM--this leads to lots of problems, including system instability--Prime95 will alert you if there were any errors. If Prime95 ran for 3 hours, I'd say it's a good bet that your RAM is fine. To do a more in-depth test, you can download/burn memtest86 to CD--it will run before the OS loads and check your RAM, though I think that's unnecessary.

Are you overclocking the computer at all? Did you recently install any windows updates (if using windows)? Did you recently install new hardware (except your PSU)? Update drivers? It could be a lot of things.

Is a blue screen flashing just before the screen turns off?

__________________
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (@2.6 GHz)
2x1GB OCZ Spec. Ops. PC3200
ASRock Dual939-SATA2
Antec TruePower 550 watt PSU
80 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200 rpm
300 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200 rpm
120 GB Maxtor ATA/133 7200 rpm
ATI Radeon x1950 Pro

No there is no blue screen flashing, and i did not add any hardware besides the power supply nor did i update any drivers. Someone at an other forum told me to switch the socket the my PC is plugged into now. It hasn't turn off in a while gonna wait and see before i switch sockets, but thank you very much for the Prime95 knowledge.

Yes, it could be due to poor/inconsistent power in the mains. But this is rare, and usually doesn't affect the computer. But has been known to happen. Hopefully that fixed the problem!

__________________
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (@2.6 GHz)
2x1GB OCZ Spec. Ops. PC3200
ASRock Dual939-SATA2
Antec TruePower 550 watt PSU
80 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200 rpm
300 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200 rpm
120 GB Maxtor ATA/133 7200 rpm
ATI Radeon x1950 Pro

Ok fellas, I switched wall socket and so far so good. Wanna thank eveyone for their response, thank you for the help.

No problem - let us know how it goes. Remember computers can be quite sensitive to power fluctuations, and you might have one or two sockets that don't provide "clean" power.

Now that we've helped you, I hope you can help us by visiting in the future and telling your friends about us

__________________
Thanks,
Ash
CF Founder
Great Webhosting. Shared starting at $2 per month. VPSes starting at $6 per month.
www.Centicero.com
Want to get in touch? Send me a PM | Do you want to continue receiving free help? Or do you want this site to close? Become a premium member.

Ash I'm here to stay, and will be passing this forum on to others.

It might overheat. Ive got a really crappy laptop and when i play the game "Runescape" It overheats and turns off after 10 minutes. Yes thats it... the screen goes blank and it Turns off without any warning or anything! Very annoying and it only happens when i play that game

Yes i think it is something to do with the power supply as you have just changed it and obviously that is effecting it somehow.

Maybe try a new power supply or something around those lines.

I Had a similar problem my rule always start simple

Right click on My computer

Then Click on properties

Then under Start Up And Recovery Click Settings
Then on the dialouge box under System failureYou will see and option
Automaticly restart uncheck it if you get a blue screen it is something i cant explain
Some one here may be able to help