8 replies to this topic

[tarnhelm]

I've built quite a number of computers over the years, but this problem has me a little puzzled.I was plagued with random shutdowns recently,and had decided to do a full scan of my boot drive. this is a homebuilt machine running xppro. in the middle of scanning my documents folder the machine shut down. it now gets the bsod if I reboot, shortly after windows starts. an attempt to boot in safe mode results in immediate shutdown. booting off the windows cd ALSO results in a shutdown. I'm inclined to blame defective memory, which is easy enough to replace, but I'd be interested in an opinion.

thanks.

[exile360]

I'd say it probably is bad memory, or possibly a bad power supply. Memory sounds like the most likely culprate though. If you have anything like a memtest disc or a full diagnostic disc it could be handy (if the machine will stay running). If not, use a voltage tester or swap power supplies to determine if that's the culprate.

[tarnhelm]

exile360, on Jun 13 2009, 12:28 AM, said:

I'd say it probably is bad memory, or possibly a bad power supply. Memory sounds like the most likely culprate though. If you have anything like a memtest disc or a full diagnostic disc it could be handy (if the machine will stay running). If not, use a voltage tester or swap power supplies to determine if that's the culprate.

thanks. I have a power supply tester, and maybe a bootable diag disk from an old utility suite - if I can find it...

[exile360]

Excellent. Good luck in your quest to determine the issue. You should also check all the cable connections to the motherboard and test it's voltage as well. Also, in rare cases I've even seen a bad CMOS battery on the motherboard cause somewhat similar problems so that could be worth testing as well. The batteries are pretty cheap and you can find them at most electronics stores. Even if you end up not needing it, it's good to have a spare or two around in case you do need them in the future for testing and replacements.

[yardbird]

There is a free download of a memory tester, and ram tester on here: http://www.softpedia...Tag/memory+test
maybe it will help?

[tarnhelm]

exile360, on Jun 13 2009, 09:48 AM, said:

Excellent. Good luck in your quest to determine the issue. You should also check all the cable connections to the motherboard and test it's voltage as well. Also, in rare cases I've even seen a bad CMOS battery on the motherboard cause somewhat similar problems so that could be worth testing as well. The batteries are pretty cheap and you can find them at most electronics stores. Even if you end up not needing it, it's good to have a spare or two around in case you do need them in the future for testing and replacements.

Well, the power supply is bad, so i start there and pick up the pieces. I replaced the cmos battery, though. I've been caught out by that in the past. thanks for the reminder there...

[exile360]

No problem, looks like your hunt has been successful .

[tarnhelm]

well the punch line to all this, after false positives on power supply problems, and false reports of corrupt memory, the culprit really was a failing cpu heat sink. so i went out and bought a reasonably high performance model, and bingo, no shutdowns. well so far. I'll let it run for a couple of days....

[yardbird]

Glad to hear you tracked it down.. keep us posted. regards....