Computer help forum: Computer shuts down randomly

There are a whole host of reasons why this could be happening- virus, bad power supply, overheating.... the list goes on.

If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem.

Jeff
Windows Outreach Team

Do you do the following? (see video!)

-> http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11319_7-6240575-1.html

Different processors run at different temperatures. Without a description of the machine people would be in the dark on what to suggest. For example, AMD processors , in general, run hotter than Intel. If you have a AMD laptop ,a cooler may be needed.

-> Or rather read this post.

This advice is good. It can help you avoid the repair counter.

I support hundreds of PCs in a network.

With those symptoms, it can be a problem with almost any component. We have Dells and their diagnostic CD will catch these issues, although you have HP. While overheating can be one reason, it can also be a bad component. See if HP has a diagnostics CD and run it overnight.

http://download.cnet.com/2300-2094_4-10000439.html?tag=mncol;txt

Should I download all of them or just a couple?


my computer specs are:

HP pavilion a450n
windows xp home edition service pack 3
pentium 4 cpu 3 ghz
512 ram
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200

Let me introduce myself. I am a technician and I've worked for HP computers. I understand that you've worked a lot to find a solution for overheating.

I do not know the computer you are referring to. If it is HP laptop, I am sure your Notebook might be covered under one time service enhancement program.. Because few HP computers are covered under this process as their mother boards are defective. In this case, I suggest you to perform Power drain procedure, install the new BIOS update for your Notebook and check it out. This should help you. I hope you have cleaned the air vents through which heat is dissipated out.

I suggest you to contact HP customer care online chat support or send them an EMail with the Product number and the Serial number of the computer which are indicated as P/N and S/N so that they will be able to send you the exact web link to download BIOS Update. Installing wrong BIOS update might damage the whole computer.

You can also find the BIOS update with the exact product number of your computer. We just need to enter the exact product number in the search box of www.hp.com. This will provide you the exact details of your computer specification if you have purchased a BTO model(Built to order). Through this you can trace out latest BIOS update released for your computer. The BIOS update is listed in the software and driver download page.

Please do contact the HP customer care so that you will know the warranty details of your computer. If your computer is covered under warranty (either one year manufacturer warranty or the extended warranty provided by the company), then please send your computer to the technician so that they will replace your computer's mother board for free. They will not charge a single dollar if it is covered under warranty.

I am sure these details will really help you.

With regards,
Santhosh.

May I know the operating system in the computer?

Thank you for providing the details. You have a pretty good computer. I've got the details from the HP website:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00058235&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

As the overheating being the issue, I suggest to contact the HP online customer support so that they can provide you exact web site to download latest BIOS update to fix the issue. This might also be due to the power management installations or the battery or the Mother board. You will be provided with a software to test the battery and few steps to re-install power management. If Mother board being the issue, ask them to replace it with a new one.

They will replace it with a new one if the computer is covered under warranty or any warranty enhancement program.

I can't guess why you put this under an old discussion but in short, if it's only a few months old, it's a warranty issue. Keep going back till it is fixed.

Also MY LAPTOP RESTARTED 2 times on its own last week as Microsoft issued updates that mandate a restart.
Bob

I have a HP P6653w tower with Windows 7 64-Bit OS install on hard drive and an AMD Athlon II X2 250 Processor on the MB. My computer does the same thing and I even sent to computer back to the service center to be checked out and I could not tell the difference when I got the computer back. I did have problems with losing power and the computer turned off, where it would not boot up and I had to use the "ESC" key when booting up to choose the drive to boot from. I am beyond that problem, but the same problem with the computer shutting down when it is not being used. I have checked it for trash blocking vents inside the computer and sure HP service people did the same thing when they had the computer.

I checked the Screen saver, which I changed the time before going into sleep mode, but without much luck. I am going to check a friend's computer tomorrow to see if her computer is in need of cleaning since she is having a similar problem with her Gateway tower. I was thinking that it could be the location where this computer is hooked up since a tower I built had the same problem. The room is cool and the vents are clear so air can flow into the unit and out freely. If the problem continues I may install another fan in the unit to see if that helps it.