Pc shuts down by itself

[Having problems]

Hello, my pc has been shutting down on its own, after having it on for a 1/2 hour or more. My pc is almost 5 years old. Do you think that it needs a reformat and/or upgrade. Window Xp Home Edition is what I have.


Judy R. jud.rich@hotmail.com

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The time thing tells me it's heat related.

1. 1st check the temperatures of your components ...sounds like something is overheating......CoreTemp, Real Temp will work

2. Does the inside of your PC look like this ?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/13/ventblockers/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/06/dirtiest_pc/

3. Are all your fans spinning ?

4. Is your CPU heatsink clogged with dust ? Gran one of these:
http://www.officemax.com/catalog/sku.jsp?productId=ARS23935&history=y7dbchkz|prodPage~15^freeText~compressed+air^paramValue~true^refine~1^region~1^param~return_skus^return_skus~Y

 

[saaiello]

I would check to see if it is maybe overheating download a program called real temp or HWMonitior and see how hot your CPU is getting if its going above a certain temp the computer will throttle back and trhe soon shut off. If that is the case clean all the dust out of your case and make sure all fans are running. Post back after you have checked that.

 

[Dekasav]

Sounds like the Power Supply isn't big enough or is failing.

 

[pjmelect]

I also think that it is heat related; in particular it is very common for the front air intake vents to become clogged with dust at the front of your case. In some case designs it may be necessary to take off the front of your case to unclog these vents.