Computer shuts down unexpectedly

Jolyon33Jolyon33 Kalamazoo, MI
edited February 2005 in Hardware
Ok, I got this computer from my dad. Whenever his old computer starts having problems, he goes out and buys a new one. (must be nice). Well, I figure I'll take a look at this one and see if I can fix it. I've built a couple of computers in my time so I'm not completely inept.

Anyway, its a Hewlett-Packard 752n Pavillion with a 2ghz P4N cpu, 1/2 gig of pc2100 ram, onboard video, onboard audio. Pretty small mobo by the look of it, its an 845G mobo, manufacturer unknown.

When I get it, its totally scrambled, operating system all screwed up, can't even boot safe mode. I finally do get it to boot up and restore the OS (Winxp) to its original pristine condition. Which gets me my problem. I was busily patting myself on the back when the computer shut down. It just basically stopped, like turning off a switch. Only thing still running was the power supply. After resetting it a few times I've observed the following facts. I can get into safe mode no problem. No bootup works fine until I get into Windows and anywhere from 15 seconds to five minutes later it just stops. No blue screen of death, nothing. Monitor goes black and loses signal.

So I start testing stuff. Run memtest on the ram, it passed. Run complete scan on the hard drive, no problems. Check cpu for heat, its idling at 34c.
Onboard video has heatsink which is warm to the touch but not hot.

Anybody got any ideas?

Comments

  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited February 2005
    Did you check the voltages with a multi meter ? .
  • Jolyon33Jolyon33 Kalamazoo, MI
    edited February 2005
    Unfortunately, I don't have a multimeter. Wouldn't the computer be as likely to shut down in safe mode if the voltages were irregular as in normal mode?
  • Jolyon33Jolyon33 Kalamazoo, MI
    edited February 2005
    Oh well, I tried a different power supply in the system, didn't make any difference. I guess I'm down to the mobo.
Sign In or Register to comment.