Computer automatically shutting down

corsair · 01-21-2008, 06:43 AM

Hi everyone
I dont rightly know if this problem is software related or hardware related so please forgive me for posting here.I am currently running WIn XP and Mint Linux in my puter and the problem is, after I have worked in XP and reboots to go into Linux, after the boot loader screen ( I mean that place where I select which OS to load- dunno the right name for it), my computer just automatically shuts down. No error messages or anything, it just shuts right down. This happens whether I try booting into XP or LInux or even when trying to run Linux off the live cd. So far, if I wait for sometime computer starts working normally again. And I have only seen this problem after I have worked a bit in XP, restarting from LInux itself hasnt so far produced the problem. I hope someone here can shed some light on this erratic behaviour of the computer. Could this be even a hardware problem?

shuuhen · 01-21-2008, 11:10 AM

What make of computer are you using? Some WinXP installations seem to have something in them that overwrites sections of the MBR, which causes strange behavior.

bradleylester · 01-21-2008, 11:30 AM

Hi
You may find this strange, but I had a similar problem a few months back when I booted up with windows xp, my pc remained on for maybe a minute or so and then just completely shutdown, or restarted by itself. I found that my Memory Card was faulty.
cheers
Bradley

corsair · 01-21-2008, 10:45 PM

TY for the replies :)
Shuuhen, sir, I have a P4, 1.5 GB RAM, 40GB HDD,Asus motherboard(P4GE-MX-UAYZ),onboard sound,Geforce 4 MX 4000, running Windows XP SP2 and Mint Linux (Daryna).My computer is an assembled one btw.I used to run XP and Ubuntu without having any problems though.Also, the extra fan in my cpu tower isnt working.Hope you can make some sense out of all this,sir

Bradleylester, well sir, once I do manage to load the OS properly,the computer seems to work well enough until I manually shut down- the hitch is in loading up the OS-if I choose Linux it shows me a couple of lines of text as if it is going to load and then shuts off, if I choose XP, it doesnt show anything, just shuts off.Also, this problem seems to manifest itself after I log out from Windows and reboot.I will check my memory cards as you advised.

ncsu1983 · 02-09-2008, 08:53 PM

To test RAM, use memtest86+.

I use Ubuntu, so this procedure may or may not work on Mint.

Press ¨ESC¨ key just as Ubuntu (Mint?) starts to load.
Tab down to memtest86+
Press ¨ENTER¨ to run the default settings.

On my 1.2 Ghz AMD Athlon, memtest86+ needs about 2 hours to run a full complement of tests one time on 1024 mb of RAM. However, if you have bad RAM, you´ll find out soon enough.

01-21-2008, 06:43 AM	#1 (permalink)
corsair Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 458 OS: windows XP home edition	Computer automatically shutting down Hi everyone I dont rightly know if this problem is software related or hardware related so please forgive me for posting here.I am currently running WIn XP and Mint Linux in my puter and the problem is, after I have worked in XP and reboots to go into Linux, after the boot loader screen ( I mean that place where I select which OS to load- dunno the right name for it), my computer just automatically shuts down. No error messages or anything, it just shuts right down. This happens whether I try booting into XP or LInux or even when trying to run Linux off the live cd. So far, if I wait for sometime computer starts working normally again. And I have only seen this problem after I have worked a bit in XP, restarting from LInux itself hasnt so far produced the problem. I hope someone here can shed some light on this erratic behaviour of the computer. Could this be even a hardware problem?

01-21-2008, 11:10 AM	#2 (permalink)
shuuhen Manager Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 988 OS: Mac OS 9.1, Mac OS X 10.5.8, WinXP Pro, FreeBSD 6.0, Gentoo Linux My System	Re: Computer automatically shutting down What make of computer are you using? Some WinXP installations seem to have something in them that overwrites sections of the MBR, which causes strange behavior. __________________ Has it been a few days since I replied to your thread? Don't panic! I'm a busy college student and may forget a post if I'm extra busy (or it might just take me a while to be able to do a decent reply). If you still need help and are awaiting my reply after a few days, PM me about it. When posting what errors you get, please give the full message. It makes helping you much easier.

01-21-2008, 11:30 AM	#3 (permalink)
bradleylester Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 2 OS: windows xp	Re: Computer automatically shutting down Hi You may find this strange, but I had a similar problem a few months back when I booted up with windows xp, my pc remained on for maybe a minute or so and then just completely shutdown, or restarted by itself. I found that my Memory Card was faulty. cheers Bradley

01-21-2008, 10:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
corsair Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 458 OS: windows XP home edition	Re: Computer automatically shutting down TY for the replies :) Shuuhen, sir, I have a P4, 1.5 GB RAM, 40GB HDD,Asus motherboard(P4GE-MX-UAYZ),onboard sound,Geforce 4 MX 4000, running Windows XP SP2 and Mint Linux (Daryna).My computer is an assembled one btw.I used to run XP and Ubuntu without having any problems though.Also, the extra fan in my cpu tower isnt working.Hope you can make some sense out of all this,sir Bradleylester, well sir, once I do manage to load the OS properly,the computer seems to work well enough until I manually shut down- the hitch is in loading up the OS-if I choose Linux it shows me a couple of lines of text as if it is going to load and then shuts off, if I choose XP, it doesnt show anything, just shuts off.Also, this problem seems to manifest itself after I log out from Windows and reboot.I will check my memory cards as you advised. Last edited by corsair; 01-21-2008 at 10:48 PM.

02-09-2008, 08:53 PM	#5 (permalink)
ncsu1983 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Midwest USA Posts: 38 OS: Linux My System	Re: Computer automatically shutting down To test RAM, use memtest86+. I use Ubuntu, so this procedure may or may not work on Mint. Press ¨ESC¨ key just as Ubuntu (Mint?) starts to load. Tab down to memtest86+ Press ¨ENTER¨ to run the default settings. On my 1.2 Ghz AMD Athlon, memtest86+ needs about 2 hours to run a full complement of tests one time on 1024 mb of RAM. However, if you have bad RAM, you´ll find out soon enough.