Lately I'm having the problem that my PC turns off at random (happened again just an hour ago). No crash, no messages, just as if I had cut off the power. First I suspected something with the power management, so I turned off all ACPI / APM functionality, but it still happened.
My question: Why? Could the cause be a dirty PSU? I've opened my PC and once again cleaned it out, and there were LOADS of dust in the PSU and the CPU cooler; as the PC didn't crash, I assume it wasn't an overheated CPU. Does an ATX PSU cut off the power when it gets too hot? I didn't exactly burn my fingers, but the PSU was quite warm when I opened my case.
Any opinions?
edit: Oh, I forgot: The PC was running all day, but being idle (just running a screensaver and some ISDN stuff like answering machine and fax receiver), but when I decided to go surfing a bit before bed time - bang! - it went down after a couple of minutes....
November 18th, 2002, 07:13 PM
Ford Prefect
nope. Cleaning didn't help. Happened just again.
Any ideas?
November 18th, 2002, 07:22 PM
Ford Prefect
As a side note, I don't know if there's any connection or if it's coincidence... it never happens when I sit and watch my PC, like watching DVD's or some fancy game fly-by (did that for testing purpose... really boring ;)). Most times it happens when I scroll my MOUSE WHEEL.... (MS Intellimouse Explorer USB). Possible? Could the mouse be defective and causing a short or something? I don't really want to buy a new PSU and then realize that it's not the PSU's fault....
November 18th, 2002, 11:19 PM
Nukfutz
Please list your complete system specs, and cpu/case temps.
November 19th, 2002, 03:42 AM
Ford Prefect
Epox EP-8KTA2 KT133
AMD Duron 750
MSI Geforce2 Ti
Creative SB Audigy
Realtek NIC
AVM Fritz! Card Classic
No-name ATX case w/300W PSU
Win98SE
I guess it's not a heat issue. My sensors read 38/33/26°C for CPU/Board/Aux. Must be either the mobo or the PSU; or could Windows somehow be sending the signal to turn the PC off "by accident"?
November 19th, 2002, 04:39 AM
PrestonZX
Try updating your mouse drivers or try a different mouse. If that doesn't do it, then I would think it's your Power Supply Unit (PSU). Good Luck! :p
November 19th, 2002, 05:26 AM
Ford Prefect
hmmm I've tried a different mouse, even different types (PS/2, serial). No change. I have, however, noticed that the problem only *seems* to ocur when I'm using MSIE.... I can work / surf for hours, even heavy tasks like video encoding, but when I have to us the IE for certain pages that don't support Mozilla (which is a shame that those pages even exist), it's a matter of time that the PC turns off. I've made an intense scan of my HDD, but haven't found any viruses.... now this is becoming really eerie....
November 19th, 2002, 10:32 PM
Todd a
What OS? I think Windows 98 had an AMD patch for it. I personally thnik it is the PSU.
November 20th, 2002, 01:49 AM
Ford Prefect
believe it or not.... I've tracked it down to a software problem. I can work fine as long as I avoid the IE. Use the IE - bang! - the lights go out.
November 21st, 2002, 06:06 AM
Berserker
What version of IE are you using??
Probably you can update your version to the latest IE6 SP1..
