Maholix

Using XP Home, service pack 2

If more specs are needed, I can get them (with some direction) as I often forget my specs.


My Problem:

While using the computer, without warning, my computer turns off. No shut down noise or splash screen. I should have taken note of when it began, but I was a little caught off gaurd due to a busy time in my life and didn't think to do so. Noises have begun to occassionally come from my computer while I have it on.


What I have tried:

I ran ad-aware SE and spybot, and then Avast! (with a boot scan and all) to ruke out the possiblity of infection. If it is an infection it's one that nethier are picking up on.

I did this because when my computer is working, I leave it on. I use it pretty fequently, and at various times of the day, so there isn't much point of turning it off except for maintance. This allows it to acess the internet while I am out of the room at times, as so I realize infection possiblity is higher than normal.

If it IS an infection it eludes me. But I believe it to be hardware. I'm not sure what part though. It's hard to descibe the noises, but I may have two different ones.

Once my computer shuts off, it didn't stay on very long, no matter what I did. (including just sitting in the bois) But if I let it sit for an hour, I'd get it to stay on longer. Thinking it to be a heating issue, I checked my comp and my bios. Sure enough, a little fan I have near the main HD had stopped.

I turned off the montioring in the bios, and placed two large fans near my comp to see if that would resolve the issue. No effect.

I then plugged my comp into another outlet, as the wiring in my apartment is really old. I suddenly got it to boot as though I had let it sit. I have tested pulling the cord out of the wall, and then putting it back in when my comp shuts off, and get the same longer on time result. (though the time varies as I will explain) I now thought it was the power supply. (I did have a tester for power supplies, but have lost it)

But then, I realized something. I can boot up chat programs like google talk and Ventrilo, use them all I want, and my comp never shuts off. It can stay on for days. I can even browse the web.

But try and run something else, like world of warcraft, or listen to music, even play an online game, (like a flash player or java based game) and the comp will shut down again. I've timed this, but it seems to be random. So now I am back where I started, because I doubt the power supply would be a factor in that odd shut down.


My question:

Is there anything I might could try to figure out what's really causing the problem? I am on a tight budget this month, and so when I have money for repairs, I'm not gonna be able to afford to replace a part that does not need to be replaced.

It would be a great help if I could locate the problem now, so that it's easier to fix, and not a shot in the dark.




Oh, another bit of info that may help. My montior has trouble awakening from sleep mode (where the screen goes dark) if left in sleep for a bit. I was having the problem with my montior before this shut down occarance, little while before it, but thought nothing of it. My montior is old as far as computers go and has been through alot, so I assumed it was my montior going out, but in light of this, that may not be the case.


Normal Operation:

When plugged in, and not turned off, a light in the button is green (if the computer is on) or orange. (if the comp is off) If the montior itself is off, the light is too.

When it has trouble awaking from sleep mode, that button flashes green and no visual comes on. Eventally, (though it can sometimes take several minutes) the screen will display as normal, and as long as you keep active enough to not go into sleep mode again, doesn't have any problems, (meaning no odd behavior) except in the case of logging in to a user account. (where the screen may go dark and flash again, though this exception rarely happens and tends to be shorter)


Thanks in advance for any help!

Rob 1

It sounds like either your graphics is going bad, or the psu is failing to supply it under load.

My first guess is that it's the psu, since the graphics holds up during light duty.

A failing psu can cause more problems than probably any single other issue.

Maholix

Is that just adressing the montior problem, (as they may also be different problems for all I know) or the computer shut down problem?

The music I'm talking about is Window's Media Player, with the program minized. If it was the graphics causing the shut down, I don't see how the player would be a factor in causing it, since while minized, it doesn't have to show the visual stuff.

Not second guessing your answer, as I can use all the help I can get. Just trying to better understand.

__________________
"Be aware of the world you see around you, for it contains the pathway to the unseen." -Alden Kyros

Rob 1

One problem is that you really typed way too much for what's going on.
So I didn't notice the media player causing trouble as well.

First I would check for errors. (sorry if you mentioned having done that already. I'm not going back through all that again.. )

Right click my computer > manage > double click event viewer > click on System and Application, to see if you have some specific warnings about this.

Maholix

Yes, I realize it's a weath of information, but if I had not put it, it would have been asked for, since a lot of it is often done to figure out possible problems. It's often helpful to list the process of what you have tried already. I know it's something of a book though.


As for the logs, I see no specfic warnings about shut downs at all. Perhaps it's so sudden there is no chance for it to log one?

__________________
"Be aware of the world you see around you, for it contains the pathway to the unseen." -Alden Kyros

kingofthegrill

When this happened to me, nothing helped. I tracked down the file shutting it down from the error report, deleted it, scanned full system, nothing worked. I had to end up reformatting. I backed up all files on an ipod, sorry

Rob 1

I understand wanting to fill in the details. It just helps if you can condense it.
No problem though, I'm just trying to offer advice.

The logs wouldn't tell you anything about a shutdown. But depending on
the error, it might let you know where a conflict of resources is.

Maholix

Alright,and I thank you for your helpfulness. I couldn't see a way to condense it much w/o cutting out some of the stuff I'd been doing etc.

At any rate, the ONLY error/warning I have that I didn't cause myself, (such as opening a program remanate that no longer has all it's files) is this:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 5/2/2008
Time: 3:51:27 PM
User: N/A
Computer: OTHISWAYK101
Description:
Faulting application iexplore.exe, version 7.0.6000.16640, faulting module mshtml.dll, version 7.0.6000.16640, fault address 0x0009853a.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 69 65 78 ure iex
0018: 70 6c 6f 72 65 2e 65 78 plore.ex
0020: 65 20 37 2e 30 2e 36 30 e 7.0.60
0028: 30 30 2e 31 36 36 34 30 00.16640
0030: 20 69 6e 20 6d 73 68 74 in msht
0038: 6d 6c 2e 64 6c 6c 20 37 ml.dll 7
0040: 2e 30 2e 36 30 30 30 2e .0.6000.
0048: 31 36 36 34 30 20 61 74 16640 at
0050: 20 6f 66 66 73 65 74 20 offset
0058: 30 30 30 39 38 35 33 61 0009853a
0060: 0d 0a ..


It looks like it's just saying that IE 7 crashed, which since I am using XP and not Vista, is bound to happen at some point. Web pages can lock up once inawhile. So I see no resource conflict.

And, as for windows media player, which I retested last night, if I start the music and then RIGHT away minize it, the switch off doesn't seem to occur, so perhaps it was shutting off as I switched songs in the app.

What is a good way to check if my graphics card is faulty, as you sugggested?





Edit:
On second glance I noticed this, though I don't understand it

Event Type: Error
Event Source: sr
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1
Date: 4/24/2008
Time: 4:50:38 PM
User: N/A
Computer: OTHISWAYK101
Description:
The System Restore filter encountered the unexpected error '0xC0000368' while processing the file '2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a' on the volume 'Hardd .. lume2'. It has stopped monitoring the volume.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 06 00 00 00 04 00 4e 00 ......N.
0008: 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 c0 .......À
0010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........

__________________
"Be aware of the world you see around you, for it contains the pathway to the unseen." -Alden Kyros

Rob 1

I think the last part is telling you that system restore is having trouble monitoring the os for some reason.
And that makes me wonder about the noises you mentioned.
I should have asked you this earlier, but what kind of noises are they?

If they are coming from the hard drive, that's probably a bad sign.

If it's the hard drive, it might be a clicking noise. Even unusually loud seeking sounds can be a sign of drive failure.

If you're not sure, you might want to take the side off of the computer, and put your ear near the hard drive to see if that's where it's coming from.

One thing you can try is to turn off the screen saver and sleep mode.
And set it so the monitor stays on always, as well as the hard drive.

If the hard drive is making noises, you are going to want to backup any important data asap.

Maholix

The noises are ocassional so it's had to tell, as I would have to wait for them to occur and I'm not exactly sure what triggers them. I have more or less figured out that at least one of them was the stopped fan, but as for the other, yes, noise does seem to emit from lower in the tower when it occurs.

However, since the stopped fan is by the main HD, it's tough to tell. I could take the fan out and see if the noises stop altogether, but ever since I located the fan and took care of that problem, if noise happens, it's not really very loud and doesn't usually last long.

Having two HD's also makes it tough to tell which it is. They are near each other, and both could be the suspect. If I unplug one and never hear the noise again, it would tell me nothing because it may take several days to hear in some cases.



Thinking on it though, it says "system restore" so perhaps it's the main HD? I use that for the OS and smaller files. My other HD did has windows on it, but due to a board chipset conflict, I switched it to a slave and have kept it that way, (since I can't wipe it w.o backing it up anyway) so I doubt windows home would try to read the OS files on it.

I will see about backing up my data and using the other one again for a short time and see if that helps. (if it doesn't I will not have spent any money that way) It will take awhile to do, since many of the files I have are in a large format, but I will report back the results when I have them.

__________________
"Be aware of the world you see around you, for it contains the pathway to the unseen." -Alden Kyros

dai

what
cpu
video card
m/board
power supply
brand
wattage
what does the bios list your tempretures and voltages as
run
chkdsk /r

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