Member Avatar for LadyMcbeth

Hi,
Will anybody help me troubleshoot my winxp pc please? Its shutting down itself for few seconds without any error messages at all n it on itself and keeps the same routine time and again. But now i cant even on it, seems to have no power. Please Help. :cry:

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Good to see this was resolved — ’s follow-up shows the problem was dust-related. That outcome matches the suggestions from and the monthly-clean reminder from , and it also highlights ’s safety concern about static. Below are practical, safe steps and checks to prevent the same failure or to diagnose similar intermittent shutdowns in the future.

When cleaning and inspecting hardware: always power down and unplug the PC, discharge static by touching the metal case, and use short bursts of canned compressed air from a slight angle. Hold fan blades so they cannot free-spin from the air burst. Avoid a household vacuum near components (static and strong suction can damage small parts). Check that every fan (CPU, case, PSU, GPU) actually spins freely and replace any with noisy bearings. If temperatures remain high after cleaning, carefully reseat the CPU heatsink and renew thermal paste or have a technician do it.

If shutdowns recur or you want to capture what happened: check Event Viewer (Control Panel → Administrative Tools → Event Viewer → System) for critical or error entries just before the shutdown time. Disable automatic restart on system failure (System Properties → Advanced → Startup and Recovery → Settings → uncheck “Automatically restart”) so a blue screen will stay visible if one occurs. Run memtest86 from a bootable CD/USB to rule out bad RAM, and use BIOS hardware-monitor screens (or a monitoring utility while the system runs) to watch CPU and board temperatures.

If the system shows no power at all, verify the outlet and power cord, check the PSU switch, and look for motherboard LEDs or beep codes. Swapping in a known-good PSU is the safest way to test power issues — avoid risky DIY PSU “paperclip” tricks if uncomfortable; get professional help when in doubt. Regularly inspect for bulging capacitors or burnt smells and repeat light cleaning every 3–6 months to keep the machine stable.

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Member Avatar for dlh6213

Hi,
Will anybody help me troubleshoot my winxp pc please? Its shutting down itself for few seconds without any error messages at all n it on itself and keeps the same routine time and again. But now i cant even on it, seems to have no power. Please Help. :cry:

Dear Lady, there are many possible causes for this behavior; here are a few things you can try to see if there is any improvement:

You may have a bad power supply -- test it if you know how or, if you have another one around you could put in just to check it out, you could do that, then run it and see what happens.

It could be overheating -- take the cover off and vacuum and/or blow off (with canned air) as much dirt as you can, especailly from the fans, power supply, and CPU/heatsink. Run it again and see what happens.

Have you tried running it in Safe Mode? If not, try that and see how it works. If it seems to run okay, then it is probably a software issue.

Bad RAM (memory) can also cause random shutdowns. It can be tested if the previous suggestions don't help.

Viruses and the like are also known to cause random shutdowns and/or restarts on occasion. If you can keep your computer running long enough, look through the posts in the Security section for ways to detect and remove this junk.

After you've tried some of these things, post your results. Good luck!

Member Avatar for caperjack

Note:Not Assumming you or anyone else is an amature !:)
1: Vacumning [static electrisity has over 20000 volts ,its only missing the Amps or is that Wats ]you computer is not for Amatures ,neither is testing a power suppy .
2: Boot to safe mode by hitting the F8 key on startup.

Member Avatar for DaveSW

how long does it run for before shutting down?

Member Avatar for LadyMcbeth

Thanx for the great help everybody. When i opened the casing, there were dirts accumulating the ventilation. I've cleaned them and run my pc. Its ok now. I guess its overheated.

Member Avatar for DMR

You'd be surprised how quickly dirt and dust can build up inside your computer's case- it isn't a bad idea to check on the accumulation every couple of months.

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