pc switches off and on at random

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Srack0verflow

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good afternoon everyone

stange things happening here. last week my pc shutdown by itself -the refused to come back on no matter how many times i made a little wish before pushing the power button.

So i take it to a shop, and as luck would have it, the kid plugs it in and it works perfectly. i just ended up looking like a poe...err, banana :)

short story long, not even two hours later the same happens, but this time there's the added bonus of it also comming on by itself only to go off again before booting. i unplug everything, take off the cover to jiggle the wires and ensure everything properly seated. oh ja also borrowed the neighbour's blower to eradicate the dust-colony that was growing in the case. only plug the power, screen, and k/b back in but leave the cover off. but still, nothing.. think to myself -'well it cant be the powerpack, coz then why is the led on the mobo lit?'


anyway, i got worried about it going on and off which seemed to be happening even more often, so plugged out the power and left it. this morning (3 days later) it's working fine again.
touch wood, but it's prolly gonna start messing around again. i've heard all kinds of stories from bad ram to corrupt files being the cause. have to admit, i broke in laughter when the IT lady told me i must also bring the discs, so she can format

so i'm wondering, what do you guys think it could be?
 
Last edited:
I had a similar problem a year or two ago.
All advice was that the power supply was cooked, but only after changing the motherboard all was well.

Is this an old machine?
 
I have a 2006 PC running as a Media Server, doesn't always start up when powered up :) So now it stays on all the time via UPS :) I'm too skint to upgrade it, besides it does it's job.
 
My money is on the PSU...

They are cheap and easy to replace so go buy yourself one fast :)
 
My money is on the PSU...

They are cheap and easy to replace so go buy yourself one fast :)
 
Maybe you can try putting the RAM in another PC and running Memtest. If it's not the RAM, I would test the PSU next and after that I would suspect the motherboard.
 
the part where it comes on by itself is making me think real ghost in the machine, but thanks for all the advice guys. for now it's just gonna stay on till the next power cut, because i'm actually scared to touch it. even typing gently now
 
I had a similar problem, mine was caused by a faulty connection from the PSU to the motherboard (ATX 12V power connector)) which caused heat. The connection fried and I eventually had to solder the cable to the back of the motherboard. Dodgy fix, I know, but it did the job.
I know it's a long shot but check it out. I didn't notice the problem until I unplugged the connector as it looked fine from above.
 
The thing about the computer switching off randomly and so is it could be a range of problems, PSU, Mobo and CPU in my experiance
 
From my PC tech experience - PSU !!!!

Also the quality of power at your house can have a major effect. Moggie also makes a good point on cables - often over looked and try a different wall socket b4 replacing the PSU.
 
Everybody said PSU when my PC had the same problem, but it turned out to be my CPU, rather test each component with a friends PC
 
I have the same problem .... I opened the side of my case and viola it has been working for a month now (The only time it switches itself off now is when there are MS updates that require a reboot ...)
All in all I think it was a heating problem !
 
*shrug* lets put it down to bad karma :)
today i made a mission of it to swop all the components with the buddys' computer and back again. no problems.
thought moggie might be onto something, so i hijacked the kettle's chord and have it running on it's own wall socket now.
thanks again for all the comments guys
keep well
 
had to be the mobo

ding ding ding!
ladies and gentts, we have a winner :)
Mamajyot said:
I had a similar problem a year or two ago.
All advice was that the power supply was cooked, but only after changing the motherboard all was well.
Click to expand...
yep, i also tried replacing the power-pack first. cheapest fix right? for a while it managed to fool me into thinking that was the cause, untill it started happening again but now much worse. with all this random off/on business the booting drive got corrupted resulting in an immediat blue -screen.
i had to leave a few days and on return the case wont close properly because it's bent, and some screws are missing. i dunno, did you guys' roaches also evolve the ability to use screwdrivers? ;)
so a new mobo, elcheapo case, and a good format later, and all is 100s. thanks Mamajyot
 
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