Computer shuts down by itself
"Lately my computer has been shutting down and rebooting for no apparent reason. When it restarts, it usually says it has recovered from a serious error. It SEEMS to happen when I am using my computer to listen to music."
Baby, It's Hot in There
Most likely this is an overheating situation. Itunes, RealPlayer, Windows Media player, etc. require a lot of processing power to decompress and decode music files, which can cause the system to get hot.
If your CPU is running at over 60 degrees you might be at risk of burning it out. Some systems shut down automatically when the temperature reaches an unsafe level.
Every few weeks I open my system unit and clean the fins on the heat sink that sits under the CPU. When they collect dust it restricts the airflow and prevents proper cooling. I just did that on my system and the CPU temperature dropped by ten degrees!
Download the free Speedfan utility and it will tell you the temperature at which your CPU and hard drives are running.
Help, my memory is failing me!
If you determine that overheating is not the problem, the most likely suspect is bad memory. The best way to find the culprit is to pop open the system unit, remove (or replace) one RAM stick and see if the problem is solved. Run your system for a while and if the problem goes away, you win!
If not... lather, rinse and repeat for each RAM stick until you find the one that's misbehaving.
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Posted by Bob Rankin on June 29, 2005 08:02 PM
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- Computer shuts down by itself (Posted: June 29, 2005 08:02 PM)
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Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved
Most recent comments on "Computer shuts down by itself"
(See all 49 comments for this article.)Posted by:
nicole
11 Dec 2008
help! my computer shuts off IMMEDIATLEY as it is taken off charge. I can never move or go wireless with it! it drives me crazy. Do u think something is wrong with the battery?
EDITOR'S NOTE: Laptop batteries are controlled by electronics and sensors inside the battery and in the computer that can fail. So yes, most likely your battery is toast.
Posted by:
Nicolas Gonzalez
28 Jan 2009
My computer was running so well after i restored it with the restoration cds but after a while it shutoff on me and when i went to turn it on the light would go on and the fan would start to move then stop.I have to wait a period of time before the computer can start and even then the computer will shut down. Any ideas of whats go? is it overheating or are my computer parts failing?
Posted by:
Olive
18 Mar 2009
my computer shuts down automatically and when i turn it on, it doesn't turn on and i have to wait 15-20 minutes before it turn on. and my cpu is easily becomes hot even if i used my computer for only 1 hr. what will i do to this problem? pls. help me
EDITOR'S NOTE: You might need to replace the CPU fan. If that doesn't help, the CPU itself may be defective. I'm assuming you have in fact monitored the CPU temp and found it to be high...
Posted by:
tyro
07 Apr 2009
my computer log itself off imediatly after logging on and i dnt know how to fix it,i tried using the Windows system32 repar tool i downloaded but it dont work cuz i dnt know how to run it and i cant have any access to anything
Posted by:
wargod
22 May 2009
hey!! my PC shutdown automatically, when i`m playing freestyle can anyone help me to solve this porblem?
Posted by:
Amel
14 Aug 2009
My PC shutdowns by itself, was aware of bad temp so monitored the temp of my CPU, its improper mounting of heatsink was the cuase but i find a way to mount it perfectly, temp when heatsink not yet fix reaches 110C then shutdown, now its 92-93C on bios reading but when i run a speedfan CPU temp is only 38C, seems my PC running ok when the CPU is not processing 100%, but when i play games or any other way to make processor go 100% processing then it shutdown again. Is it possible that my CPU itself is the problem or the OS i use(OS:XP pro SP2)? Any idea, pls help.... Thanks...
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's not the software... 93C is about 200 Fahrenheit!
Posted by:
Renie
02 Nov 2009
Change the cable from modem to computer. Is probably old and defective or poor quality.
Posted by:
Azam
08 Nov 2009
my pc shutdown itself,stop processing and using 20% memory.i have a 2GB RAM.send me the solution.
Posted by:
tina
08 Dec 2009
hello sir,
My PC gets shutdown when i play any music(on media player/on youtube/online music). but the NUM key remains on.what is the problem what can i do as i dont want my PC to be formatted..
Posted by:
Andy
09 Jan 2010
Thanks very much for this article after two years of random shutdowns where I have replaced the motherboard, RAM , hard disk, video card , processor, power supply, reinstalled the operating system, sent my PC for repair at PC World I have finally manged to stop ( and hopefully eliminate)a shutdown when ripping a CD into itunes.
Used the Everest tool to see a 7 degree Celcius rise in CPU temperature during an itunes import and I think this trips the system to shutdown. A new processor and special heat gel and two new cooling fans appear to have resolved the problem.
Thank you