PC does weird shut down thing? Help!

Hello, I have an HP Pavilion Slimline s3200t Desktop PC. I put more specs below. Here's my problem. A few months ago I had this problem where the computer would just abruptly shut down & then restart, sometimes several times in a row. No error message or anything. A friend of mine said it was probably an overheating issue and suggested I move my CPU from a tight cubby to an open space on my desk, which I did & the problem stopped.

Now I have a new problem which may or may not be connected to that problem. The computer just shut down (no restart) or at least it looked like it shut down. The monitor went black but was still on. I went over to the CPU and moved my router (which was sitting on top of it) and all of a sudden the PC sprung back to life (restarted). This reminded me of a problem I used to have with this PC awhile ago, right after I first bought it (late 2007 / early 2008) in which the PC would just shut down and the only way I could get it to turn back on is if I squeezed the sides of the CPU. But then if I let go, it would turn off again! I never reported the problem because it went away on its own. Do you think having my router sitting on top of the CPU could cause a problem? Do you think that this problem is related to either of my previous ones? And is this even a hardware issue?

Specs:
Windows Vista Home Premium
32 bit
2 GB RAM
160 HD

Thanks so much for anyone's help!

~ Andrea

 

What your describing sounds like a loose connection,check your power connector for movement,check your comp is securely connected and you have a decent surge protector.

Check your temperatures with this,

http://majorgeeks.com/SpeedFan_d337.html

While monitoring temps run this which will stress your cpu.

http://majorgeeks.com/Toast_d867.html

Also download and run the best 3dmark your comp will run and run it for 30 mins,this will also stress your computer.

http://majorgeeks.com/google_search...f;S:http://majorgeeks.com;LP:1;FORID:11&hl=en



If it doesn't crash after 30 mins running either one of these it isn't over heating.

Go to control panel,system,advanced,start up and recovery and uncheck auto restart,hopefully the next time it crashes it will write a dump file.

 

Take the side off your comp and clean all the heatsinks and vents out with canned air.

If its a loose connection other than the power supply you will need to check the connections on all the components.

 

It just happened again. I unplugged it (not from the surge protector, but from the back of the CPU) and then plugged it back in and it sprang back to life again. It's not an overheating thing I don't think, because I ran all those programs last time and it came out OK. Also, the plugs are all tight and secure. My friend told me that Slimlines are bad because they squeeze everything together. I don't know how to take the sides off of it. I also don't know what condensed air is. I'm good with computers but on strictly a software basis. I don't know anything about hardware!

 

I really,really think you mean PC instead of CPU.

 

I went to uncheck "restart on system failure" but it was already unchecked. does this mean a *dump* was written? I don't know what that is, can someone tell me how to check it?

Thanks.

 

Also can you tell me how to read the results of SpeedFan? What is a good temperature and what's too high? And what do all these things mean: Local Temp1, Temp2, HDQ, Temp1, Core0 and Core1?

Thank you.

 

The mini dump file is a small record of what the computer was doing just before a crash,they are located in C:windows/minidump if there isn't one there it may not be a process that's causing your computer to shut down,if it is a hardware failure one will not be written and since your not getting a BSOD either this may be the case.

When looking for a dump file make sure the file corresponds to the date of your last crash,if you get stuck you can zip the file and attach it here and I'll try and debug it if I have time tomorrow/or today or which ever way you look at it,Sunday:-D or someone else on here will.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315263

We also have a guide here which you may find easier to understand;

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35246

For the temperature anything under 70C should be fine,if it is overheating the stress tests I have posted should cause you computer to crash,this is a good thing as we have found the problem,be sure not to touch or move near your computer in case there is a loose connection while the tests are running so we can properly eliminate heat.

Core 0 and 1 are your CPU cores,they are the ones to keep your eye on when you run toast.

 

OK I found no folder or file in C/Windows called minidump. So...I guess that means it is a hardware issue?

Also, I ran toast.exe and Speedfan for exactly half-an-hour and the highest temp I saw was Core 0 and Core 1 at 52C.

Does this mean we can rule out overheating?

 

Pretty much,just double check your cpu usage is at 100% in speedfan,if it hovers at 50% its only using one core so open another instance of toast,this should max out your CPU,run 3d mark also to stress the entire system,check the smart data in speedfan and post that in your next post.

I'm going to bed see you tomorrow:cool

 

You are exactly right it was hanging at CPU 50% so I opened another toast.exe and it went right up to 100% CPU. So now I am going to look at the SMART info and try and find that other thing you told me to download.

Thanks!