Need some advice

[Viridian]

Hey all :)

 

I never use the computer from which I'm typing this message right now. But my brothers do and of lately they have been complaining that if keeps on randomly shutting itself off without giving a warning. My parents have thought of buying a new computer (Which would be profitable for me because I would get this faster one), but instead I offered to help them.

 

The computer looks fine from both software and hardware for as far as I can see. I wonder if any one here has a hardware checking program/device that they could share with me? I want to know if perhaps there is just a broken stick of RAM or something else that could easily be fixed or taken out. I'd like to try and fix it, if at all possible.

 

I've already reinstalled windows XP on this computer (after formatting it of course), just to see if that was the cause, but it turned out it was not the cause since it's still giving many issues.

 

--

 

If I have tried to fix it and it's still broken I would like your opinion on the computer that might replace this one. My brothers mainly use this computer for browsing the web, but also for playing videogames, for example Team Fortress 2 or Left for Dead 2. Would the following specs be okay, when also looking at the price?

 

HP Pavilion p6550 (nl) for 580 euros.

 

 

Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 3,06 GHz

RAM 4096 MB

videocard - 3D-chip ATI Radeon HD 5450

HD: 1TB with 7200 rpm

With Windows 7 Home Premium.

[vampire_girl]

I THINK that it's very good computer. I have got a little bit weaker than this one you mention, and I still can play Spore on my computer. :)

[Gemkitty]

Were there perhaps overheating or fan issues with the one that kept shutting off? My computer was doing that for some time and eventually it just wouldn't turn on anymore. Open it up and find out the fan had become detached from the processor. A piece that holds it in place got melted and broke.

 

In regards to the replacement computer, it sounds like it would be a nice enough computer for what you are looking for. I am a fan of HP, have one myself, though I personally wouldn't go with an Intel processor. I recommend AMD. Especially if games and lots of multitasking are involved.

 

Good luck!

[Viridian]

I was thinking of that too yeah... Overheating, but I don't think so since this computer has been to the shop for the fan a thousand times, since my dad finds it makes soo much noise. The last time was only 2 months ago, and I can't see it being bad.

 

Other options are of course something in the powersupply or... the motherboard. I'm running a memory testing program right now to see if it is maybe the RAM that's broken.

[Gemkitty]

Sounds like a good place to check next. Not that I hope your RAM is broken but honestly, aside from that and everything else you've checked and done, I don't see what else it could be.

[vampire_girl]

How old is your computer? Maybe that's the reason?

[Viridian]

That computer is just 2 (or possibly 3) years old actually... I myself work on a 5 year old computer which is functioning perfectly fine.

[vampire_girl]

Hmmm... Then I don't know why is this happening... That was the most common reason to everyone I know...

 

Actually, I had the same problem with my laptop. It was shutting down almost exactly one or 2 hours after I turned it on.

So, you have reinstalled your Windows, right? Then what could it be...?

[Viridian]

Most likely something to do with hardware.

 

The computer shut itself down while I was doing the memory check... Somewhere inbetween 50% and whenever it died (50% was the last time I checked). So whatever the problem might be, it might be because of some dead RAM. I'll remove one of the 2x 1gb sticks and see what the result of that is, then I'll try the other one if it keeps on crashing... If it's not that, I fear it might be worse :P

[vampire_girl]

Yeah, it's probably iether RAM or... Ughh... I don't know it's name on English. :S Ah, nevermind it then. You probably know the reason that could be causing this now. :P

[Mouseykins]

I've been having the same problem with my laptop as well. its an hp pavillion dv2000 series and about 3-4 years old.

Its not an over heating issue because when it restarts itself its on a table with great ventilation. I hope you figure out the cause of your problem!

[Guest Yoshinho]

My other laptop which I already sold did that. Try these steps and ways

 

1.Maybe it is overheating too much - Make sure to put your laptop or PC in a nice open space with AT LEAST 1-3FT of space on all sides and make sure to have it rest a bit at times if you use it a lot (4-8 Hours)

 

2.Maybe you are using too many programs - Usually if you use a lot of programs it gets slow and it basically eats up your CPU. If you use Windows Task Manager (Right Click on Taskbar or as microsoft calls it "Superbar" and press windows task manager) You will see it is using 99 CPU. and if it uses 100. There will be no CPU for other processes which includes the critical program "System" if "System" has no CPU to use, it doesn't operate causing your computer to shut down. Check your programs and see which one is hogging a lot of CPU.

 

3.Hardware - Maybe something is wrong with your hardware. Send it to a computer repair store or your company brand to have it repaired or refurbished.

 

4.System - Maybe it is your computer. There might be some corrupted files or registry settings.

[antiaircraft]

The suggested replacement computer certainly seems like a good choice. :yes: The processor's a little on the slow side compared to a lot of the shiny new systems on the market these days, but it's still pretty powerful, and it's generally the GPU that caps game performance anyway. I'd say go for a new computer now so you can still use the faulty one as a backup if you manage to fix it.

 

As far as the random shutdown issue goes, it looks like it's almost certainly a hardware problem. Stress-testing the RAM is a good idea, although it might not be entirely conclusive if another part of the system is failing under the pressure. If your computer has internal temperature sensors, I'd suggest monitoring them to try and catch any overheating (I'm not familiar with Windows tools for doing this though). You should probably also check the power cables and plugs for damage.

 

I'm not sure what else there is that you could check without special equipment... anyway, good luck!

[Viridian]

My other laptop which I already sold did that. Try these steps and ways

 

1.Maybe it is overheating too much - Make sure to put your laptop or PC in a nice open space with AT LEAST 1-3FT of space on all sides and make sure to have it rest a bit at times if you use it a lot (4-8 Hours)

 

2.Maybe you are using too many programs - Usually if you use a lot of programs it gets slow and it basically eats up your CPU. If you use Windows Task Manager (Right Click on Taskbar or as microsoft calls it "Superbar" and press windows task manager) You will see it is using 99 CPU. and if it uses 100. There will be no CPU for other processes which includes the critical program "System" if "System" has no CPU to use, it doesn't operate causing your computer to shut down. Check your programs and see which one is hogging a lot of CPU.

 

3.Hardware - Maybe something is wrong with your hardware. Send it to a computer repair store or your company brand to have it repaired or refurbished.

 

4.System - Maybe it is your computer. There might be some corrupted files or registry settings.

Those are quite basic steps, which I naturally thought of. We sent this computer to a repair store over 10 times and it's still a mess, so we're not doing that anymore. as I said I reinstalled windows, so it won't be corrupted files, either.

 

I opened up the computer yesterday. It was not dusty at all, since it had been brought to the store about 2 months ago and they cleaned it out. I took away some small pieces of dust, but nothing really too bad.

 

There was only one RAM stick, so I could not take it out to test it. I checked if the fans were all working when they were running, and yes they were. I felt if anything was overheating with my hand, but I don't think so. Today I'll run Austin's program and see what's going on.

 

By the way, also the PSU's fan was running, and it was like 350 watt if I remember correctly.

 

It's an Asus computer, and the front on the case says 'Spire' (not aspire, I think) never heard of that before, but meh.

 

As far as the random shutdown issue goes, it looks like it's almost certainly a hardware problem. Stress-testing the RAM is a good idea, although it might not be entirely conclusive if another part of the system is failing under the pressure. If your computer has internal temperature sensors, I'd suggest monitoring them to try and catch any overheating (I'm not familiar with Windows tools for doing this though). You should probably also check the power cables and plugs for damage.

 

I tested the ram on memtest and after it had been testing 1800mb of ram (out of 2gb) for 20 minutes, without finding errors, it crashed again. I think the fact that it lived for 20 minutes is a bit weird. I can't just take the RAM out though, so if that's the issue we have a problem. Also, after rebooting immediately after it crashed, it will crash within a minute again.

 

I just checked the power cables, they seem all good. Nothing to be seen from the outside anyway.

 

I'm going to monitor the heat today, a computer friend of mine handed me a simple, useful device which I'll be using.I'll keep you guys updated.

[antiaircraft]

Alrighty. :yes: I'll go and bug a friend of mine who's more familiar with computer hardware and see if he can suggest a fix.