[listentothis]

My computer has been running fine for years but just this morning it has been shutting down for no reason. I'm running XP SP2. I started it up after it shut down, then it shut down again, only quicker. Tried to power on again but it powered off immediately, then it wouldn't power on at all. I gave the machine a rest for an hour then tried again. It worked for about two hours after that then it started shutting down again. I've run a few virus scans (in safe mode and in DOS) and nothing has come up.

Any help, please? Thanks.

[zabusant]

My first thought would be overheating, is the fan running when you turn it on?

[listentothis]

Yes, I have one in the front and one in the back. I've also cleaned some dust out from the inside, especially near the heat sink.

[zabusant]

Is it shutting down or restarting? If it's restarting it's a simple BSoD, but if it's shutting down it's either overheating or maybe a PSU problem.

Do you have any USB devices connected (keyboard, external HDD, mouse) - disconnect them.

And you said if you leave it for an hour (to cool down), it works for some time. So this would be a symptom of overheating.

[listentothis]

It's completely shutting down.

It does work for a while after I let it cool down, but overheating has never been a problem before, which is what I can't understand. The weather was actually nice today and I haven't been doing anything out-of-the-ordinary on my machine.

Thanks for investigating.

[listentothis]

My computer has really worsened now...the machine won't even turn on. I've tried unplugging the power source but don't know what else to do. What could it be?

[listentothis]

It's been over a week since my last post. I had switched the RAM sticks and blew some dust out of the power unit and the system was up and running again..though it did sound a bit louder. However, the machine shut down on me again.

Last call for anyone who might know something. Thanks!

[Rich-M]

That's a bad or dying power supply.

[listentothis]

Awesome! I'll buy a new one.