Member Avatar for sanes02721

Hi,

For like a year now my computer has been acting up. It was working perfecct before but then it suddenly started shutting offafter a while. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it but then I wiggled the VGA wire and it started working again. This went for about a week.After this wek was up it would start up snf once the vista screen appeared it just shut down. I think it might be the power supply because I heard somewhere else that the power supply can sometimes overheat over a long period of time from being too dusty. For a while I thought it was the graphics card because I had wiggled the VGA wire before and it worked. But the graphics card seems fine and has been cleaned. If anyone needs more information or pictures of it just ask. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

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Quick summary for : the symptom—machine powers, shows the Vista logo, then cuts power—most often points to either a sudden power-delivery failure (PSU or motherboard power circuitry) or a driver/hardware initialization problem when Windows hands the display to the GPU. is right to ask about error logs, and ’s hunch about the PSU is reasonable; the next steps are to isolate software from hardware and to confirm whether the shutdown is a true loss of mains to the system. (learn.microsoft.com)

Do this software-first check before swapping parts: boot into Safe Mode (F8 on Vista) so Windows runs with minimal drivers; if the PC stays up in Safe Mode the problem is likely a driver or Windows-level service. Also disable automatic restart on system failure and inspect Event Viewer for “Kernel‑Power / Event ID 41” entries (these records show an unexpected power loss). If you want a quick independent check of Windows, boot a Linux Live USB and “Try Ubuntu” to see whether it crashes outside Vista. (learn.microsoft.com)

Hardware checks to run next (keep them safe—if unsure, stop and get a bench test from a shop): run a RAM pass with MemTest86 from USB to rule out memory faults; verify the PSU with a basic bench test or a commercial PSU tester (paperclip test shows whether the PSU spins, a tester or multimeter checks rail voltages) and, if possible, swap in a known-good PSU—this is the fastest definitive check. ATX rails should stay roughly within ±5% of nominal under reasonable load. (memtest86.com)

Short triage checklist:

  1. Safe Mode ok? → reinstall/clean GPU drivers.
  2. Event ID 41 present? → suspect power loss/PSU.
  3. MemTest86 errors? → test/replace RAM.
  4. PSU tester or swap fixes it? → replace PSU.

If live-voltage bench testing or opening the PSU feels risky, bring the machine to a repair shop and say you need a PSU bench test and a look for bulging capacitors on the motherboard.

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All 6 Replies

Member Avatar for JorgeM

Before it shuts down, do you see an error on the screen? Have you opened the PC to make sure the expansion cards are secured?

Member Avatar for caperjack

acting up for a yearnow,well yo ucant say it didnt give you warning ,i would have the power supply checked

Member Avatar for sanes02721

The computer shuts down immediately after booting up. There doesn't seem to be a pattern to it. There is no error message that pops up. I also opened it up and secured all the screws for the graphics card and such. And when I said a year I meant this problem started about a year ago and I haven't consulted for help yet, sorry for the confusion.

Member Avatar for caperjack

did you unplug the video card[also make sure if the card has a fan on it ,that the fan is spinning when turned on ] and reinstall it back into it slot on the board ,also do same with the ram chips .and make sure that the cpu fan is clean of dust build up

Member Avatar for sanes02721

In all there are 3 fans in my computer. One on the motherboard, one on the graphics card, and one on the glass cover on the side of the computer. All three were already cleaned and spin perfectly. I did unplug both RAM chips and the graphics card again and the same problem occurred.

Member Avatar for caperjack

remove all addin cards ,if any ,is you video device built into the mothereboard or a addin card ,if addin card remove it and try booting ,see if it shuts down ,,remove all but one ram stick ,if more than one ,bootup and hope like hell it boots .

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