Desktop keeps crashing and switching off

kidcat

A few months ago my son built a computer with the help of a friend, using all brand new parts.

After a few weeks it began crashing and switching off at random times, and has now progressed it being a nightmare as it is switching off so much its unusable.

My son is 15 and autistic and its upsetting him so much that I am at my wits end.

My initial thoughts are thats its the power supply - but how would I go about checking it?

Thank you for any advice.

matilda.cs

Hi,
Could be a number of things.
Does it just switch off, or does it give a blue screen with an error message?
If the first thing, I'd try running it in safe mode to see if it still turns off. (Could be overheating - if it stays on in safe mode it would point to a software/driver problem)

kidcat

thank you matilda - there is no blue screen and no warning, its just as though someone has pulled the plug.

Will try safe mode with it later and see what happens with that, thanks.

matilda.cs

Pcs have an emergency cut off when they overheat.
If it turns off when in safe mode, I would reseat the CPU and make sure heat sink is in place properly.
Otherwise, it could be a too low power PSU, but if its got worse recently and you haven't added any more hardware... It's unlikely.
If not the CPU, Id be tempted to have a pro look at it. Too many possibilities and without the oils / spares it would be tricky to find the fault.
Also, do make sure all up dates are in place.

kidcat

Thank you matilda - yes it still goes off in safe mode as well, will have a look at the cpu and heat sink.

All updates were done up to one week ago,

johnmc

Open the case and check that the CPU fan (and any others) spins when it is turned on.

Unplug the PSU from everything and turn it on. Any sounds? Any smells? Does it cut out?

When it reboots do you get a blue screen?

Start it in BIOS and watch the temperature screen. Does it stay stable?

Will it stay up in safe mode?

kidcat

Thank you Johnmc - no blue screen on reboot, fans all spin,

Havent done the BIOS bit or the PSU bit yet - will need to be tomorrow when I can have space to work with it and strip it again.

Sparhawke

When I had this problem a long time ago it was the computer CPU fan put on the wrong way round which meant overheating, took it to get sorted properly and no problems from then on and then I had a similar problem a few months ago, my computer would switch off, and then back on and then after 15 seconds before it switched on it would switch off again, ad infinitum.

The problem for me the second time around was a faulty memory stick, if you have 2 of them might I suggest removing one for the time being to see if it clears up?

kidcat

Thank you sparhawke - we have done the memory swap and it didnt make any difference.

It looks like its going to be way above my level and I will need to find a professional to look, but will try the other suggestions first tomorrow

johnmc

The first one I had that did this drove me mad! I cleaned all the fans, changed the graphics card, memory etc to no avail.

I took the PSU out and plugged it in on the bench. I immediately noticed a high pitched whistle, which I couldn't hear in the case.

Accepting it was dead I (unplugged it!!) opened it up and found burning on the board caused by dry joints.

Upgraded the PSU and it worked fine.

As others have said it could be almost anything from a dodgy component on the board to a fan not working properly and unless you have diagnostic equipment or can swap out litterally every component then it is very hard to track down.

Good luck!

Naf

I had this issue with a poorly seated GFX card once.
If the motherboard has its own display port, try using that and taking out all peripheral cards & devices except monitor, keyboard, mouse.

Do you know if the CPU & its heatsink & fan came packaged & already assembled, or did the heatsink have to be seated manually? If the latter, then perhaps this was not done correctly and so the heat transfer bond is not performing properly.