Very Strange Computer Problem

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A computer with ME I was hired to fix turns off about 10 minutes after It starts, I've tried 2 PSU's and the fans seem to be moving air. MIgght it be the software? Or possibly the motherboard?

Get a can of compressed air and clean the computer out.

If it's a clean/fresh install, I would look at taking it apart and running the bare essentials. Running the computer with the motherboard removed from the chassis and onto an anti-static surface with just keyboard, VGA, RAM, CPU/Cooler installed. Then I would monitor the temperature whilst looking for any visible tell-tale marks around the board for damage.

The board could be damaged.
Processor could be overheating.
Windows could have a virus on it.

I would try booting Ubuntu live version onto it and playing with it for a while. Anything up to an hour whilst monitoring the heatsink with my hands/fingers

You could always try safe mode ... Keep pressing F5. People saying F8, but that only brings up the menu. F5 goes straight into it

Capacitors.

agree, it could be heat.

I don't know if it's much help, but Dr. Watson (if it's coming up) will generate a log file that you can find some info. ME was not one if MS's finer OS's... There's also other logs generated by startup/shutdown, etc.

Do you get any warning alarms, or messages popping up after it comes back up?

It the time exactly 10 minutes before shut down ow is it variable by a few minutes? I had a computer that did the same thing, and it baffled the hell out of me. On a hunch, I turned the computer on and then unplugged the on/off button switch, and when I did so, it worked perfectly. I made a replacement on/off button and a little bit of money.

heat is probably it, the windows instillation has never been on the internet. It is variable, 10 is about the average, sometimes it won't boot, and others it will stay of for up to 30 min.

Have you *checked* for capacitor bulging and/or leakage??? This sounds like a cap problem.

Could be a bad PSU? even if you've tried 2, weirder things have happend. Loose wires maybe? Also sounds daft, but make sure all the case fans are spinning, if not certain components will overheat, as you probably know. Some cases have more fans than others, so I'd pop the side off the case while the machine is running ( I know they tell you not to do this, but it's ok so long as you don't touch anything, I've seen it done many times). Also give it a quick squirt round with some compressed air while it's turned off, place a pen in the fans to stop them spinning & spray them too. Clean the fan filters & check over the other components for dust bunnies.

Where are you sitting the case unit? Make sure there's at least 6 inches each side for the fans to pull air in.

Also this will probably sound stupid to you, your obviously an expert, but I'd double check the power saving settings, make sure it's not going into sleep mode. I had a problem a while ago on my computer that allowed it to go into standby, but each time it did, it shut the system down as turning it off would. This got fixed when I had it repaired back in feb for conficker.

It also sounds like a symptom of some worms, because a while ago, when blaster was the latest threat, mum got it on our computer, which made it shutdown over & over. Get it into safe mode, run virus & spyware scans.

Also have you tried running it in safe mode? I'd leave it in safe mode (no networking), with minimal stuff running for a while to see if still turns it's self off. This way you can find out if it's the OS or hardware, because if it's hardware, it will still do it, albeit later than before because less data is being processed. Just a thought.

I'm not experienced with ME, but I assume it uses simlar principles to other windows OS.

By the way, I want to steal your job It's something I've always wanted to do.

It wouldn't hurt to get a can of compressed air, open the side, and give it a good 'hufflepuff'..

Power switches on a lot of models are integrated into the power supply, but not always. Usually it has maybe a screw or two holding it on. But power supplies are so cheap nowadays, it's easier to just replace them.

I replaced the PSU twice. Both of them were working when i tested them in my ubuntu machine.

This is classiclly a case of a dirty fan or sensor. This can also be caused by a badly joined CPU and heat sink with too little too much paste. There is one other thing that it can be cuased by a PC will power off if the power demand becomes greater than the available offered by the PSU.

I would do this - strip the computer off all cards and drives (flopyy, roms, HDD etc) and take out all but one stick of RAM. Now it should boot and carry out a POST (Power On Self Test) with a resultant beep (or beep beep).

The computer is now doing very very little and should stay with a lack screen telling you it has nothing to boot to. Let it sit there and see if it acts up. If it does Everything that you pulled out is off the hook. If it is fine add them back in one at a time until they are all back. Odds are one item will show up as the faulty thing or you'll realise that the wattage rating of all items plus MB > PSU.

If it still fails you have only the RAM stick, CPU and MB left to eliminate. Swap in a different stick and repeat. This illuminates the RAM as a cause or proves it as the cause.

If the new RAM stick gives you the same result of a power off then it is the CPU and/or MB. You have a few offers above of things that it could be. Dust and dirt is the easiest to fix so start there.

Does the CPU, display card, etc. supports temperature reporting? If so run any software that can reads the temperatures and see if the computer shut downs after reaching certain temperatures. Also, does having the side cover removed affect the time it takes to shut down? And what about cold start vs warm start? If none of these make any difference then thermo issue alone may not be the answer.

You may also want to boot into BIOS and see if it still shut down on its own. If not then it could also be a software problem.

I stuck HDD in another computer and that works, so there's no need to fix the dead tower. It had a 350mhz processor and 64 megabytes of ram, the new tower has 384bm RAM adn an 850 mhz processor, so its a large improvement over the last tower.