[Leonardo]

MY wife's computer, is now shutting down by itself... it also turns up bu itself what could it be??


It's a Pentium 4 from back 2004 (home built)... it runs dual boot windows xp and ubuntu 8...

thanks!

[Maximus3D]

It sounds like overheating, possibly the coolingpaste on the cpu cooler is too old and it's not transferring enough heat from the cpu to the cooler unit and that causes the overheating and automatic shutdowns to avoid damaging the cpu. That would be my guess, but it could ofcourse also be that the system (OS) is full of junk and needs to be cleaned..

/ Max

[Leonardo]

It sounds like overheating, possibly the coolingpaste on the cpu cooler is too old and it's not transferring enough heat from the cpu to the cooler unit and that causes the overheating and automatic shutdowns to avoid damaging the cpu. That would be my guess, but it could ofcourse also be that the system (OS) is full of junk and needs to be cleaned..

/ Max

would that cause it turn on by itself too?

How can I figure out what type socket my old MB have? it's a Pentium 4.. I think it's a 2.0 bought it in 2004, but it might be a little older (not sure)

[polynurb]

would that cause it turn on by itself too?

nope...

turning on by itself is very suspicious... it only happens if wake on lan is turned on in bios and you actually get a wakeup call from somewhere, or if you go into hibernation or standby, and have scheduled tasks set up with the option to reactivate computer for execution.

maybe you want to create a bootable cd to check virus/trojans, these are free;

http://www.avira.com/en/support/support_downloads.html

look for the iso of "Avira AntiVir Rescue System"

as usual.. backup all important data before scanning....

[polynurb]

... thought of something different..

does it only turn on by itself when it turned off by itself before?

because if it is a temperature related thing, it could be that you have the bios option "previous state" activated, which might brings the machine back up when temps are back to normal... but that is just a guess... usually that setting refers to power losses, or system crashes

[Leonardo]

... thought of something different..

does it only turn on by itself when it turned off by itself before?

because if it is a temperature related thing, it could be that you have the bios option "previous state" activated, which might brings the machine back up when temps are back to normal... but that is just a guess... usually that setting refers to power losses, or system crashes

One more thing... My wife told me the computer goes straight to the BIOS menu (I think it happens when she tries to start the pc again after it dies)

I believe the computer is all the way off when it start by itself.... ( no in standby)

[Bubbaloo]

There are viruses that cause that behavior...

[JCAddy]

What kind of freaky virus could turn your computer on when being completely off?

[Bubbaloo]

It's happened here in the office in the past... Just kept restarting.

[Leonardo]

more info: I went home during lunch... the cpu fan was very dirty and I was able to get the MB info
ASUS P4S533-MX

it's a 478 Socket... the the chip it's a 2.8 (not 2.0)

any ideas on how to clean it... the dust/dirt is burried in the heatsink and I don't have any "gray-looking thermal liquid stuff"

[yolk]

you have a wife? when did THAT happen? last thing i knew you were starting your studies in architecture..you had pimples and a few hairs that you called a mustache...time flies in this forum!

[Leonardo]

you have a wife? when did THAT happen? last thing i knew you were starting your studies in architecture..you had pimples and a few hairs that you called a mustache...time flies in this forum!

I don't know what you're talking about

Joined: Sat May 14, 2005

[yolk]

sorry..i thought you were the one who had a motorcycle accident years ago

[Leonardo]

sorry..i thought you were the one who had a motorcycle accident years ago

well, it does sound like me
In 2005 graduated w/ a bachelors in architecture. Also a few years back an SUV hit me and totaled my sport bike too. I got another sport bike (which I sold it last year)

[tom]

[joke]Computers may eventually resemble their users. [/joke]

If that's not CPU heating, try changing power supply of the case.