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June 30, 2011 9:31 AM Subscribe
I have a PC issue that is making me crazy!
I recently built a Windows 7 computer and it has an issue that I have never seen before and don't understand. Every 24 minutes or so (give or take a minute) the computer shuts down. And by shuts down, I mean it turn off instantly, like it was unplugged. No blue screen, no errors. The event manager only shows programs complaining that the power shut off. Here is the part that really confuses me -- the only time this doesn't happen is when i am doing something that strains the computer some, like playing a game or working with video or audio files. When I'm doing something like that, the countdown timer seem to be postponed and then resumes when I stop. Low-level activities like web sufing have no effect on the countdown. I've turned off any power savings and that had no effect.
Does anyone have any ideas? Or barring that, know of a good forum where I could post this question? Thanks.
I recently built a Windows 7 computer and it has an issue that I have never seen before and don't understand. Every 24 minutes or so (give or take a minute) the computer shuts down. And by shuts down, I mean it turn off instantly, like it was unplugged. No blue screen, no errors. The event manager only shows programs complaining that the power shut off. Here is the part that really confuses me -- the only time this doesn't happen is when i am doing something that strains the computer some, like playing a game or working with video or audio files. When I'm doing something like that, the countdown timer seem to be postponed and then resumes when I stop. Low-level activities like web sufing have no effect on the countdown. I've turned off any power savings and that had no effect.
Does anyone have any ideas? Or barring that, know of a good forum where I could post this question? Thanks.
The fans may be set incorrectly. When the computer is not under heavy load the fans may not be running, allowing heat to build up to the point it turns off. When the computer is under heavy load the fans turn on and the heat is dissipated. You should be able to control the trigger points for the fans, not sure how to do that on Windows.
posted by ChrisHartley at 9:38 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by ChrisHartley at 9:38 AM on June 30, 2011
Response by poster: Windows response to the shut-downs is generally to ask if i would like to start in safe mode. Which reminds me of something i forgot to mention -- I don't have the issue when I am in safe mode, it just runs and runs. Which brings me to the other point I forgot -- I did a clean reinstall of Windows and it made no difference, the problem remains.
posted by rtimmel at 9:42 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by rtimmel at 9:42 AM on June 30, 2011
Check your bios settings for the fan speeds like ChrisHartley recommended. In fact, maybe just reset the bios to the factory defaults.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:43 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:43 AM on June 30, 2011
I just had a reinstall of Windows 7 64 that was doing something similar. It wasn't every 24 minutes, it was every cold boot. It would load Windows then instantly reset and complain. Eventually I traced it down to a Asus motherboard driver (mine's a P5N-D), ATK0110 driver if I recall correctly. I did another install on a spare disk with the same hardware and didn't install that driver and it hasn't reset like that since, just using the built-in Win7 driver.
posted by BeerFilter at 9:51 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by BeerFilter at 9:51 AM on June 30, 2011
On turning off, what temperatures does that BIOS report on boot? It could be a fan issue, or another heat issue, and just checking the temperatures immediately after it turns off should tell you if that's likely.
Are you running Windows7 64bit? If so, are you updated on all drivers, particularly motherboard and graphics? Driver issues are still far more likely in 64bit windows.
Do you have the option of testing the box with another PSU?
posted by Dysk at 9:59 AM on June 30, 2011
Are you running Windows7 64bit? If so, are you updated on all drivers, particularly motherboard and graphics? Driver issues are still far more likely in 64bit windows.
Do you have the option of testing the box with another PSU?
posted by Dysk at 9:59 AM on June 30, 2011
I had a problem with my desktop where the standard fan setting wasn't enough to cool the computer and it would just randomly shut down. Setting the fan to a much faster speed in the BIOS solved the problem but was loud as hell.
I bought an additional internal fan (about $2) and screwed it onto the back grate and set the original fan back to the default speed. The problem is still solved but it is slightly noisier than the original setting (thankfully not as loud as the fast speed).
posted by cali59 at 10:00 AM on June 30, 2011
I bought an additional internal fan (about $2) and screwed it onto the back grate and set the original fan back to the default speed. The problem is still solved but it is slightly noisier than the original setting (thankfully not as loud as the fast speed).
posted by cali59 at 10:00 AM on June 30, 2011
Since it does it when you are surfing/cruising, but not when gaming that makes me think its not a big hardware or heat problem, what about network or wireless drivers? Have you disabled your network card(s) to try to isolate that? I've also had luck checking newegg reviews of motherboard and other hardware, people sometimes post solutions to their problems there.
Also, did you disable automatic restart?
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 11:07 AM on June 30, 2011
Also, did you disable automatic restart?
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 11:07 AM on June 30, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks. I'll see if its a fan issue. My biggest cooncern is the regularity. If i let it run all night, the reboots are almost exactly 24 minutes, which makes me think that it is some bit of software that has that cycle time. But i have no idea what that might be.
posted by rtimmel at 1:08 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by rtimmel at 1:08 PM on June 30, 2011
Look through your even logs for any additional clues (right-click Computer > Manage). Sudden shutoffs are usually hardware or BIOS related...Windows would normally attempt to shut down more gracefully if given the chance.
posted by samsara at 1:46 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by samsara at 1:46 PM on June 30, 2011
I had a similar issue to this and it turned out that a driver for power management wasn't installed. As such, whenever the pc went to sleep, it would die a horrible death.
Check the device manager.
posted by mr_silver at 2:52 PM on June 30, 2011
Check the device manager.
posted by mr_silver at 2:52 PM on June 30, 2011
If you can leave it running overnight and see a reboot every 24 minutes, this is not a heat buildup issue. If it were, the second and subsequent reboots would happen more quickly than the first. The fact that it runs OK in Safe Mode confirms this.
I think you're going to need to do a bisection search of your startup programs. Use msconfig or whatever the hell 7 comes with instead to turn them all off, reboot, and leave the computer running overnight. If it crashes, it's not a startup app and you can start doing a bisection search of your automatic-start services instead. If it doesn't crash, turn half the startup programs back on and try again. If it crashes now, turn half the programs you turned on back off again, and so on. Eventually you will narrow it down to one thing.
If it turns out to be the scheduler service, you can do a bisection search of your scheduled tasks.
Personally I'd be switching out the power supply before starting a process like this.
Good hunting. I'd be interested to find out what turns up.
posted by flabdablet at 6:11 PM on June 30, 2011
I think you're going to need to do a bisection search of your startup programs. Use msconfig or whatever the hell 7 comes with instead to turn them all off, reboot, and leave the computer running overnight. If it crashes, it's not a startup app and you can start doing a bisection search of your automatic-start services instead. If it doesn't crash, turn half the startup programs back on and try again. If it crashes now, turn half the programs you turned on back off again, and so on. Eventually you will narrow it down to one thing.
If it turns out to be the scheduler service, you can do a bisection search of your scheduled tasks.
Personally I'd be switching out the power supply before starting a process like this.
Good hunting. I'd be interested to find out what turns up.
posted by flabdablet at 6:11 PM on June 30, 2011
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When you reboot it, does it say "would you like to start normally after your unexpected shutdown?"
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:33 AM on June 30, 2011