automaticaly shutting off

well i've recently had some problems with my comp (Dell 8400) where i would be able to go on for 3-5 minutes then it would jsut freeze... i tried everything i could think of.. eventualy i thought that maybe it was a hardware problem so i decided to open it up... that's where my problem starts i think... at first i jsut took out as much dust as possible to make it clean...then plugged everything back in... then when i tunred it on it didn't freeze.. instead after a minute it just shut off...so i tried to turn it back on and after turning back on it shut off again...so i was jsut wondering if maybe someone knows what's been happening to it.. is there any way to fix it? or am i jsut screwed and should get a new comp...thanks

 

Ok buddy, your problem sounds rather common is it just turning off completely? or is it rebooting?

 

it just turns off completly

 

Well considering you get very little time, before it shuts off , i would have suggested scanning for viruses or spyware, but seeing you don't, it may pay to try such programs like mem-test (which if you don't know pretty much tests your ram outside of Windows.) I run it off a bootable CD which i was given from work , so unfortunately i don't know where u'd get it. But yea if you can check the status of your RAM with that, if it turns off without giving you a chance to scan , then i suggest if you have more than 1 stick of ram, to take one out and see how you go then (could be a corrupted stick.) if there is no change.. then put the stick u took out back in and take out the other, and try again if after that nothing happens and it still shuts off, test other parts of your hardware such as video card , HDD etc. ( But i won't try fitting information like that all into one post =P ) , I suggest u try that method first, then let me know how it went, if it fails, i don't mind giving you further assistance ^_^

 

yeah i'll check. thanks for the help!

 

If it worked somewhat before you unplugged and cleaned everything, I would suggest making sure that everything is plugged in securely, and in the proper place/orientation.

 

well i won't be able to try anything for a while and i won't have access to a computer when i am working on it... so what would i have to do to get it to work if the RAM thing didn't fix anything?

 

Well... why not try that same method with the video card . (Though whilst doing that run off onboard video. =P ) If you don't have onboard video den ur screwed if it's the video card, though i guess u can always buy a new card, lol. Though if that method is no good , u might wanna check the condition of your powersupply, coz who knows it could be a faulty powersupply, though i vaguely recall awhile ago i had a friend who had the same problem though it was just something simple such as a faulty power cable, lol . See how ya go.

 

i've solved the restarting problem, but now i have a freezing problem where it goes for about 5 minutes and then freezes up. i can still use my mouse, but I can't select any programs or applications. what can i do to fix this???

 

honestly that sounds a lot like a problem i had with my recent 3 yo tower, and the problem was overgeating of the cpu, if you actually get enough time to dl programs and run things you mihgt be able to dl one of the programs that read ur heat from here im not too sure where they though

 

You could try taking the side cover off your PC, booting it up and verifying that the CPU heatsink fan is spinning/working properly. Also check to see that it doesn't slow down noticably before the computer freezes up. In addition to this, you might try leaving the side cover off and directing a window fans output into the PC. If this helps, then I would definitely consider overheating as a prime suspect. Hope this helps!

 

okay i don't no what i've been doing to it but now i have another problem.... now it dosn't recognize my hard drive!! i don't no what i did but it jsut can't recognie it.. i could've sworn i've plugged it in...and again..and again... any suggestions?

 

er really bad virus?....thats what it sounds like.

if you have ur stuff ghosted, wipe ur hd and use the ghost image, if not you could just reformat, but you will ose everything you had..

but get some more opinions before you go wiping anything

 

Oh so you resolved it? what was the problem? How did you resolve it.

 

well i think i resolved it... i just did the ram thing that u told me to try and it worked!! thanks

 

ok well i was finaly able to get it to recognize and i jsut wipped my hard drive... thanks for all the help!!