Many Attempts Before Pc Will Boot Up

Recently my PC has started switching itself off after a short time of not being used (ie, an hour or so). Or perhaps I should say that the PC seems to be still running but the screen is just blank.

All I can do is switch it off, but then when I switch it back on again the screen just stays blank. I'm having to keep switching it off with the power button and then back on again. After several attempts it will boot up but it seems to be totally random.

 

I'm sorry but I don't really understand what you're suggesting. I don't know what you mean by "replace the power supply" - the power cable to the PC just has a three pin plug at one end and a sort of jack plug at the other, which is connected to the PC. And the Pc gets up and running, making the sound it usually does when it's working ... it's just that the screen is showing blank. So I'm pretty sure it's not a hardware problem.

 

A desktop.

 

Ah ok, thanks for that. But I think I might have a solution. Someone on another forum suggested that under Settings>System>Power & sleep I should change the Power and Energy setting from midway up to "Best performance", ie. the other end of the scale to "Best energy savings". So far that seems to have worked. Thanks again.

 

What you describe - a computer that starts up ok from cold but either shuts down or loses its screen after a while - is very common and is usually caused by components overheating, the main cause of which is a dust build up that blocks air vents and prevents the normal self cooling process from working. Where this is the problem the side cover needs to be removed - AFTER disconnecting the power lead - and a can of compressed air used to blow out all visible dust. If your computer has been in use for a few years and never cleaned there will be a considerable dust accumulation that can cause such problems. Try it.

Your latest post arrived while I was typing but doesn't change my advice.

 

Thank you very much for your reply. At the moment it's so far so good with the solution I've got but I'll see how it goes. I actually don't think it's that long since I had my PC cleaned up by the guy who looks after it but if it does start playing up again I'll definitely try what you suggest. Thanks again.

 

Thanks to everyone who replied and apologies for not posting this before now. It turned out that the problem wasn't with my PC, but with the monitor. I've now got a replacement monitor and everything's fine. Thanks again.