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.
This article was posted by Bob Rankin on 29 Jun 2005
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Most recent comments on "Computer shuts down by itself"
(See all 71 comments for this article.)Posted by:
daryl espiritu
08 Apr 2010
HELP!
my computer also turns off by itself, the funny thing is that it turns on by itself as well immediately after shutting down. But still I know this aint good for my PC. I have a desktop. I bought it about a month ago. :(
Posted by:
muhumuza robert
13 Apr 2010
my PC is accer type using 11 users at once but when they are working with it it restarts it's self bring comment that there is dumped memory.the count from 1 to 100%. what could be the problem.
Posted by:
cathy
04 May 2010
hello sir,
iam having hard time w/ my computer when iam browing ,explore on internet ,playing,games,listening music my computer got unexpected shutdown,what should i do to solve this problem ..pls sir help me
Posted by:
d
06 May 2010
My internet connection is very slow. I've a broadband connection but even then the downloading speed is just 30 to 40kb. Whereas my friends are having the same connection but they are getting a download speed of 150 to 200kb. Please suggest me what to do? Whether has gone wrong with the pc or the internet connection.
Posted by:
etrg
12 May 2010
HI! I have a problem with my pc!When i play a game(Lineage II) it shuts down it shelfs!Sometimes after half an hour and sometimes in 5min but when i dont play this game it stays on normally and soesnt shut down!What i can do?If anyone know help me!thx!
Posted by:
oke390
13 May 2010
When i use computer it shut downs by it self
but if you use safe mode it don't shuts down
Posted by:
xati
14 Jun 2010
When I am Playing Music files or Video files my system is shutting down... help mee!!
Posted by:
Alex
01 Sep 2010
Please help. I don't know what to do cause my computer is shuting down by itself after 10 min. when I leave it just without job. Same thing with video player. When I whatch movie after about 5-7min it stopet and minimize window, looks like computer searching for some update or something, cause mouse mark is twisting (like download mode or someting). Have any ideas what could it be? thank u for ansewers.
Posted by:
Saurabh
22 Sep 2010
Good afternoon Bob,
I am having a serious problem with my system. I have PIII 1200 MHZ processor with Mercury 815e board.
as I turn the power switch on computer starts automatically and as display appears it turns off. I check all power connectors working fine, put ram in different slots, SMPS and CPU fan working fine, put paste in between heat sink and processor, I am facing this problem randomly,After doing a lot troubleshoot ing the problem solved last time but I forget how?, please assist me to overcome with the solution.
Thank you, Saurabh
EDITOR'S NOTE: Maybe a bad power supply?
Posted by:
JT Jones
12 Oct 2010
I was having the same issue. I have a brand spankin new quad core system. It would run for a few hours, then shut down. I could not for the life of me figure out what the issue was. I then popped open my tower case and found that deep inside the green boards and fans was alot of dust and dirt. I basically cleaned out the entire tower. I took all the boards out and wiped it out. Working fine every since.
Posted by:
gova chan
27 Oct 2010
hi sir,
my computer is shotting down automatically .is the memory lose during that time for computer.
Posted by:
josh
12 Nov 2010
my computer shuts down too much, I will be working on a document suddenly it shuts down, I tried many application still not working, but recently I installed Registry Mechanic and after computer restarted everything worked perfect and has not shut down. check it and let me know if it works for you.
http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/
Posted by:
kim roddy
10 Jan 2011
I bought a new laptop with Vista installed. However i was entitled to a free upgrade to Win 7. After the upgrade When I am Playing Music files or Video files my system is shutting down... help mee!!
www.innovativeoutsource.com
Posted by:
praveen indian
19 Mar 2011
my computer get shut down automatically i don't kno Y i kno most of heat and not even for 15min y is that sooo plz mail me i want u r help :(
Posted by:
uday
20 Mar 2011
my computer get shut down automatically i don't kno Y i kno most of heat and not even for 15min y is that sooo plz mail me i want u r help :(
Posted by:
gene
23 Aug 2011
my computerheats upand shuts down then when i scan or try and upgrade it shuts down and it has erased all my medical files
Posted by:
mohammed
13 Feb 2012
Hey!!
Bob, I am also having the same problem ,but it only happens when play video games at full anti-alaising(32Q)..i dont know whats the reason behind , i have cooler system!!
Posted by:
ro
03 Jun 2012
my computer keeps shutting down or restarting whenever i open a website or music program
i did all i could even changing settings but it still has that same problem
it was working fine yesterday but then this morning it was acting odd i thought it could have been another virus...but it wasn't so can you tell me what is the problem with my comp?
EDITOR'S NOTE: Sounds like a job for System Restore.
Posted by:
faisal
09 Oct 2012
whenever i open in my office system and check my yahoo a few minutes after ( no other problem with gmail, hotmail....) computer automatically shutdown.
Posted by:
tony
27 Feb 2013
Can anyone help with my problem. its a toshiba laptop and it starts well and once it gets to the desktop screen it shuts down again > any idea's anyone please?