[bboy0001]

Hi my computer has been shutting down randomly by itself, i have taken it back where i bought it from, he said there was dust in the ram slots and he cleaned it out, the next week it started happening again. I am running Windows Vista with a custom built PC. any tips would be great

[Nebastion]

Sup, need more info.....................

spec Of machine But Specifically::
How ofen does it shut down?? And does it happen when you DO a specific thing or is it just Random??
1st whats the make of your PSU and MoBo?

It could be a few things.: Short circuiting, Overheating, You may need the latest chipset drivers, faulty capacitors on your MoBo, Faulty PSU Or a damaged Circuit on your MoBo

But to narrow it down you should eliminate the possibility That its either the Mobo Or the PSU.

More info would be Great though.

[bboy0001]

Ok, 320gb hardrive, 4gb RAM, AMD triple core phenom, and i will get back to you with the motherboard brand.

[bboy0001]

The motherboard is an ECS A77OM-A

[Nebastion]

Does it happen RANDOMLY or when you do a specific thing? And the make of the PSU.....

And How much hands on experience with hardware do you have?
Do you trust yourself to dismantle your System?

[Nebastion]

Try this software issue 1st:

Start> Control panel> Device manage>:
And look for anyYellow ! Marks like this

[bboy0001]

Ok it happens randomly, i am comfortable with opening the case, i dont know what make of PSU it has because it is a custom built by a local computer shop but i have had the PSU tested and it is fine. I always keep my computer up to date it has no software issues or abything like that.

[Nebastion]

Sorry bout delay..... Check the mobo for Leaking capacitors, While your doing this, eliminate other possibilities, By taking out some Ram And storage hardrives, and anything not needed, The process of elimination. if you know how to check for over heating Do so if not report back and ill assist, itt root out some helpful web pages to the best of my ability.

Neb

[bboy0001]

Thanks mate ill open it up and have a look, ill get back to you ASAP

[bboy0001]

Ok i opened it up there seemed to be alot of dust everywhere i cleaned it up and such, there was no leaking capcitors there was no over heating, and the hardrive and ram are fine.

[Nebastion]

OK lets be clear; Does your system "shutdown" or just "power off?"

To be honest this isn't an easy problem to fix, All you can do is Check each and every individual component:

If you have a second System this would make the job alot easyer, You need to swap each part to another system,
A system that you KnoW works correctly.

In order this is what Has to be done:

1) Software, (make sure you have the latest Chipset Drivers for your machine, (even if that means uninstalling the ones you have and Re-installing the latest ones))

2)Check to see if your MoBo is Earthed properly.

3)Check the capacitors, (they don't have to be leaking to cause a problem If they aren't perfectly cylindrical they're not good, look for very slight bulges in the top of them Use a magnifying glass if you have to)

4)Eliminate other possibilities.
I really hope you don't get this far, because if your machine "randomly shuts down" With most of your components missing it means that is either your PSU or Your Motherboard.

Its possible that you have a faulty PSU.

Its possible that your Motherboard is faulty, maybe has a crack in it and with heat it opens up causing it to "short"

Theres a big difference between Shutting down and powering off

[bboy0001]

ok well it powers off not shuts down, all of the capacitors are perfectly fine, i dont have another pc to check all of the components. So i will check all of the chipset drivers

Thanks mate

[bboy0001]

all of the chipset drivers are up to date, since i gave the computer a clean from all the dust it has not powered off so what do you think?

[Drebin]

Does your PC restart on its own? What kind of video card do you have? I had a similar problem and after a while, found out that one of the drivers for my ATI video card (catalyst control center driver) was the cause.

Before doing that I also ran a program called Memtest to test the RAM.

[bboy0001]

I have an Asus video card all of the drivers and such are up to date, and yes it does it on its own