Computer just shut down?

Question

I was running my anti virus proram, and downloading a movie at 200kb/sec. It may have been an overload on my computer. Itll start up just fine, but if this continues to happen, what is being dammaged? The harddrive? the mobo? the processor? all?

help

Answer 1

"Its overheating" he says. How helpful. 2 points.

well, it is Overheating, yes. But wouldnt you like a solution? Oh yes.

I reccomend you pull the power plug (shut it down) and open up the machine - just look at all that nasty, nasty dust. Yucky.
Its acting like a thermal blanket on your processor and is why its overheating.

Your processor will always kill power to your computer (or restart based on your BIOS settings) when it reaches a critical temperature ceiling of around 80oC. The actual value varies by processor. In mine its a fixed value that cant be changed. It is in my machine anyway.

Happened to me when I played Doom3 with my old video card - upgrading it took a huge load of the processor. But for you, I think its just a dust problem.

Keep your computer clean! Air-can the inside of it every 2 months and you can add years to its lifespan.

Answer 2

It sounds like either Hardware failure or a corruption of your System Files. Both will cause Windows to Shut Down. It sounds like you are running XP as XP has this automatic feature built in. Shutting down won't damage the HDD but you can damage the Processor and the Memory (RAM) through forcing power through them too often (booting up too many times in short periods of time. Before booting up, switch the power off at the mains and open the PC. Check that the RAM hasn't come loose and that all cables are attached and undamaged. The next time you run Windows, go to "Start", "Run" and type "chkdsk\f" in the dialogue box, then click OK. If the scan shows no problem, it's not the HDD or any of the System Files that are causing the problem. Go to "My Computer" and Right Click on it. Select "Properties" then "Hardware" then "Device Manager". Look down the list and see if any of the menu items are open. If any are open, you will see a Yellow icon next to the problematic hardware. Open the Properties for the problem hardware and see what it says. It may be that you just need to click on "UpDate Driver" to solve it. If so, let Windows find and update the driver automatically. If it tells you that a piece of hardware is "Not Working", you will need to replace that piece of hardware.

Answer 3

I would start with the power supply.
The other components that you mentioned would most likely show and error on the screen, or just freeze the PC.
They would not likely turn the PC off.
(The MoBo MIGHT, but most likely not.)
If you do replace the power supply, be sure to buy one rated at 550 Watts or better.
Probably cost about $40 to $80 for a fairly good one.

Answer 4

Its over heating or the cpu max temperature in the bios is set too low and you need to do a bit of research as to what cpu you have and what is the max temperature you are allowed to run it at so that you can set the maximum temp in the bios to a reasonable temperature.

Answer 5

probably overheat. try to use some ventilation like desktop electric fan near your pc. it can also be caused by the powersupply. try also to check if u hear weird noises comin out from the cpu, it could be the cpu fan. also heatsink.

Answer 6

am not sure but i would think its the power supply or computer overload (usually cause by virus)

Answer 7

The same problem happend to me yesterday, i would recommened to check your powersupply, as it might be close to dead. Mine was close to burning (cheap - no brand name), otherwise, it could be that the system is overheating.

Answer 8

Its overheating