Periodically my PC will power off without warning and will not let me restart until the power has been off for a while. When restarting the computer will usually shut down while booting up unless after a failure I enter the BIOS and let the computer 'idle' for a while before returning to boot up. Any thoughts?
It could be heat issues, virus, or any number of things. Check your mobo and CPU temps, after the computer has been running awhile. If they are high, you might need a new heatsink and fan for your CPU.
Shouldnt be neccesary Sounds like you're having an overheating problem (or a voltage destabilization problem which is usually provoked by PSU heat). What kinda system do you have and what cooling solution do you have in place?
running a 1.8G Athalon proessor c/w cooling fan on the motherboard. I got a can of air this weekend and cleaned everything out, still no luck.
More then likely it's your power supply beginning to fail. It will give you tell tale signs until it stops all together.
can you try another psu. make certain heatsink is seated properly on cpu. check the cans on your motherboard to see if flat or domed as they are to be flat topped. reseat all cards, ram & cables to motherboard & drives
just borrow a psu that is rated for your systm just to see if psu problem or not. have to eliminate all possibilities 1 by 1
Just came across a spare ps at work this am and plan on trying things out tonight, will let you know how things shake down, hopefully tomorrow
Replaced the power supply last night and my pc ran without a hitch! Thank you all very much for the troubleshooting tips. The fact that it seemed to stay running while in BIOS really threw me. Thanks again.
Your welcome zwick. It doesn't hurt to keep your eyes open for sales on cases or power supplies now and then. Sometimes you can get a great case with a power supply included for about the same price as the power supply by itself.
