Random Shutdowns

[SoloGarth]

I just purchased parts to build a new computer, which ended up costing
me about $450 dollars. I have had a good amount of expierence working with computers and so thought that i was easily up to the task. However when i assembled the computer (A Pentium 4 2.4ghz with 512 mb of ddr 2100 ram, USB 2.0, DVD and CD-RW Drive, 30 gig and 40 gig hard drives, a 450 watt pw supply and a 64 mb ATI Radeon Video card) and installed windows xp Pro on it started randomly shutting down. Sometimes it will simply shut down, going from running normally to completely off in an instant, othertimes it will shutdown and then restart, and then other times it just freezes and there is nothing to do but pull the plug, so to speak. I have never expierenced this sort of freezing with windows xp before and the computer will shutdown or freeze every time it is used after a seeminly random ammount of time. The CPU usually is running at about 45 degrees celsius and never higher than 50. If anyone could help i would be so very grateful.

Adam

[cscgal]

I've had a lot of problems of this sort related to bad RAM. Take the memory to your local computer store, where they usually have the lil devices to test the memory.

[SoloGarth]

i will try having it tested but it is brand new. What type of store would you suggest me trying this at? Also i just checked what my power supply is putting out and it is normal all except for the -12 volt lead which is reading at 12.77 to almost 13 volts. Could this be the problem?

[TallCool1]

Sometimes it will simply shut down, going from running normally to completely off in an instant, othertimes it will shutdown and then restart, and then other times it just freezes and there is nothing to do but pull the plug, so to speak.

Before you go yanking the memory for test, downloadMemTest86 from http://www.memtest86.com , which creates either a bootable floppy or, if you download the .ISO file, a bootable CD. This is the best memory tester out there and may help diagnose the problem.

[jabberwock486]

memtest is nice, can take some time too. however i also own the equipment that u use to test memory, but i still run memtest first. hey im lazy

[Lynn]

As you probably already know, one of the best troubleshooting procedures is to substitute parts. In this case, as you have noted I would recommend subbing the power supply.
BTW you have received some good advice already. Another way to check the memory is if you have two memory cards, would be to take
one out and see what happens. Of course if it is all in one piece then you wouldn't be able to do that. HTH

[xargon]

I had random shut downs and spent two days trying to sort it out. it was only the dicky psu. Get a new one before anything else. Mine only cost £20.
Poor psu's cause weird and wonderful effects to a computer. Computers should be sold with a spare! Psu fail gradually unfortunately.