PC randomly switches off

charlieharper

charlieharper

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My brother's PC, about 4 months old, suddenly have been operating strangely. Every once in a while, it would randomly switch off even while using, and then when we switch it on, it would boot normally.

I also formatted the machine and completely reinstalled Windows, but that didn't change anything.

Because we live in KZN, we are always very concerned about cooling, especially summer. The temps stay below 40c on idle and doesn't go above 65 on Full Load.

We took it in to the supplier (well known wholesaler in Umhlanga) and they claim there is nothing wrong with it. ( Thought it was the Power Supply. )

Spesifications is as follows:

GA-H61M-S2V-B3 Motherboard
4Gb Trascend RAM DDR3-1333
Gigabye Odin 585 Power Supply
Intel Core i3 - 2100 @ 3.1Ghz
MSI AMD Radeon R6670 1GB
Windows 7 Home Premium

Any idea what could be the problem?

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Does it switch off or does it reboot? There is a difference. Please let me know.
 
ronald911 said:
It would switch off, as if someone pulled the power plug.
Click to expand...

You need to check the Windows Event Viewer on the machine and make sure that it isn't software causing this.

Once you have ruled out any software, I would update the drivers (the whole lot) and test it again. If it happens again, get another PSU and test it with the system (possibly yours) and see if it still does the same.

It could actually be RAM, your Graphics Card, Motherboard, PSU and the list goes on, so try to diagnose it step by step.
 
Should have bought from ngr computers rather .... I knw which supplier you are talking about ... Endless trouble around the corner.


That psu is a death trap on it own, get rid of it
 
Draconia2 said:
Should have bought from ngr computers rather .... I knw which supplier you are talking about ... Endless trouble around the corner.


That psu is a death trap on it own, get rid of it
Click to expand...

At first, we took the PSU alone, and they said there is nothing wrong with it.

For the last few months, the pc has been running perfectly, during games, video editing etc etc etc. Only the 2 weeks have been very odd.
 
Software wouldn't just shut down your PC in an instant. Has to be hardware. RAM or GPU also wouldn't shutdown your PC.

Switch PSU's and test for hours!

Are you running that PC directly from the wall power plug? Perhaps unstable electricity in the house?
 
mass09 said:
Software wouldn't just shut down your PC in an instant. Has to be hardware. RAM or GPU also wouldn't shutdown your PC.

Switch PSU's and test for hours!

Are you running that PC directly from the wall power plug? Perhaps unstable electricity in the house?
Click to expand...

A driver crashing would definitely switch the pc off in an instant. There could be malware on the system as well which does this. I've had a case of 5 year old malware earlier this year on an old XP box. The technicians that checked the system said everything had to be replaced, to the last bit. I ran a malware scan, removed it and the shutdowns stopped completely. The system is still running 6 months later.
 
teraside said:
A driver crashing would definitely switch the pc off in an instant. There could be malware on the system as well which does this. I've had a case of 5 year old malware earlier this year on an old XP box. The technicians that checked the system said everything had to be replaced, to the last bit. I ran a malware scan, removed it and the shutdowns stopped completely. The system is still running 6 months later.
Click to expand...

Cool, I've seen blue screens, freezes and 3 second hangs but never instant shutdowns from software itself.
 
mass09 said:
Cool, I've seen blue screens, freezes and 3 second hangs but never instant shutdowns from software itself.
Click to expand...

The box I was referring to passed through 4 IT techs that said the system is toast. I couldn't believe it myself, but checking with Autoruns in Safe Mode I realized that something was definitely not right. I ran a scan with SuperantiSpyware Tech Edition, removed it and it has been working ever since.

My own box with Windows 7 has an old Asus Mobo and a Core2Duo in it. After Windows is cleanly installed on it, it switches off immediately. I have 3 different Hotfixes specifically from MS for my box that I keep safe to install, which fixes the issue (as reported by the System Central, or whatever it's called).
 
teraside said:
A driver crashing would definitely switch the pc off in an instant. There could be malware on the system as well which does this. I've had a case of 5 year old malware earlier this year on an old XP box. The technicians that checked the system said everything had to be replaced, to the last bit. I ran a malware scan, removed it and the shutdowns stopped completely. The system is still running 6 months later.
Click to expand...

Can't be malware. I formatted the machine yesterday and it still does this. Didn't plug in any externals/flash drives. Only used the retail disks, that came with to install drivers.
 
ronald911 said:
Can't be malware. I formatted the machine yesterday and it still does this. Didn't plug in any externals/flash drives. Only used the retail disks, that came with to install drivers.
Click to expand...

Update the drivers then. The retail discs don't contain the drivers you should use and it's possibly outdated by months already.

Concerning it "can't" be malware, possibly not, but as I said it's a possibility as well.
 
teraside said:
Update the drivers then. The retail discs don't contain the drivers you should use and it's possibly outdated by months already.

Concerning it "can't" be malware, possibly not, but as I said it's a possibility as well.
Click to expand...

It is up to date. Just used the disk to install Ethernet drivers to access the internet so I can download the latest drivers.
 
ronald911 said:
It is up to date. Just used the disk to install Ethernet drivers to access the internet so I can download the latest drivers.
Click to expand...
Then you've got the information you need to start diagnosing the problem. There isn't a quick fix for this.
 
Ok, I just ran some Torture Tests, on both the CPU (Prime95) and Graphics Card (FurMark) for about 5minutes each and it ran flawlessly.

Didn't even switchoff once.

Really strange indeed.

I'll open the box now and make sure everything connected to the Power-Supply is firm.
 
It's the power supply

PC PSUs are very sensitive to variations in the output voltage. If the +5V changes by even a tiny amount, then the protection circuitry kicks in and shuts everything off.

Replace the power supply and you'll be fine.
 
I recently had problems trying to switch a PC on and eventually replaced a faulty RAM module. No beeps, nothing. A Linux boot CD memory test didn't pick up anything.:confused:
 
Interesting. I suspect it must be power supply, as in my Prime95 test, I also tortured the RAM modules and I didn't get any errors.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread but has anyone seen this "a clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor" as a BSOD message before. I was just wondering what could be the cause of this. I am also getting an event ID 41 error in my event viewer which relates to the kernel power. Any help would be much appreciated. I have just replaced all my components in my pc so it's not faulty anything but may have to do with the cpu voltage or something otherwise conflicting drivers maybe.
 
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