couchtripper

my computer has started turning itself off it doesn't crash, theres no error message or anything, it just turns off - it doesn't shut down, just turns off

a friend thought it might be a problem with the memory but i've two memory chips and the problems the same with just one of either of them. i've unplugged hard drives and the dvd and its not any of them.

anyone have any ideas what it could possibly be, or how i could find out?

possibly the power supply - or something overheating, maybe the processor. Try removing the fans and cleaning the heatsinks etc. As a smoker you'll probably find the insides are pretty dirty.

Could be a power related or overheating problem...suggest power air-blasting (using one of those compressed air cans) the power supply and various fans around the unit to get rid of accumulated dust from the unit.

Sometimes the build up of dust can cause or encourage short circuits.

snap!

Great minds think alike.....and simultaneously.

thanks, i'll have a look for one of these air compressed cans and a have a blast about

i was to impatient to wait until tomorrow to get one of those cans so i opened up the case and wow, i'm surprised the computer even worked with the amount of dust that was between the fan and heatsink! i don't know if i'm imagining it but my computer seems faster now its all cleaned - i don't know if it being dusty and getting to hot could actually slow it down but it really does seem faster. its not crashed yet either but the real test will be trying to watch some video for over a couple of minutes or doing something with a big .psd ... but i'm feeling confident

nice one, that'll be £30!

The overheating was probably causing the processor to automatically shut itself down and you'll definitely get more speed now that the processor can run faster without overheating.

You should clean the blades on the fans too if you haven't already. Dirt on those can decrease the airflow.

It's good to hear about these free tips, in case myself or friends and family run into this problem! Kewl! Glad your up and running again Luke!

well i'm watching the bbc iplayer, i've got fruityloops running loads of plugins and i've got photoshop open with a big file and no problems yet i'm really surprised that its dust thats been slowing my computer down and making it turn itself off!

its funny cos a while back i was using the laptop instead of this and the laptop was faster, and yet its a lower spec and i couldn't really understand why this had got so slow, because it should be alright. and now it is

thanks so much faceless and maycm, i would never have thought my troubles were down to dust!

DUST? ANYBODY? NO?

pirtybirdy wrote:

DUST? ANYBODY? NO?

faceless wrote:nice one, that'll be £30!

I only charge $30...and that's Canadian dollars, so its especially cheap.