Comptuer Trouble

[japmans]

Vaheguruji kakhalsa Vaheguruji ki fateh

K.... my computer today jus started randomly shutting off..... I'll try to start playin NBA Live 06, and after about 3 minutes the whole computer jus shuts off

I have played the game before, a couple days ago, and played for a few hours, my computer meets all system requirements.

P4 3.0GHZ

512 DDR ram

160 gb HD with currently 20 GB of free space (the game recommends 2 gb free space)

i've googled and it saays that i should check my power supply... now... i dunno what the blood that is, except that i'm pretty sure they don't mean to make sure it's plugged in .... Anywhoo, according to some googling, i should be looking at replacing my power supply...

i dunno what to do , and i'm not sure if this is the root problem.... I'm wondering if any of the more technologically advanced singhs/singhnees cacn fill me in on any potential courses of action

thanks alot

vaheguruji ka khalsa vaheguruji ki fate

[ms514]

Sat Sri Akal:

Setp One - Throw computer out of window.

Step Two - Go outside, get your computer back, wipe the dirt off of it and repent.

Now that formalities are out of the way:

1) Did you change any hardware in your computer...change a video card, add a hard drive, use your computer as a punching bag, throwing a magnet at the computer?

2) Did you recently add, change or remove any software to your computer...you know...like Virus.exe or Thiswillkillyourcomputer.com? Perhaps new drivers or an update of a driver?

3) Was your computer recently moved around or had its position changed while running, like using it for weight lifting, playing a tablaa taal on it, doing Gatka against it or perhaps using it as a shot put?

4) Did you drop any drink or food on it or attempt to flush your computer down the toilet?

5) Lastly, is NBA Live '06 the only software causing this crash, or are other applications also causing a crash?

SO lemme know so that the problem can be narrowed down

[japmans]

Sat Sri Akal:

Setp One - Throw computer out of window.

Step Two - Go outside, get your computer back, wipe the dirt off of it and repent.

Now that formalities are out of the way:

1)  Did you change any hardware in your computer...change a video card, add a hard drive, use your computer as a punching bag, throwing a magnet at the computer?

2)  Did you recently add, change or remove any software to your computer...you know...like Virus.exe or Thiswillkillyourcomputer.com?  Perhaps new drivers or an update of a driver?

3)  Was your computer recently moved around or had its position changed while running, like using it for weight lifting, playing a tablaa taal on it, doing Gatka against it or perhaps using it as a shot put?

4)  Did you drop any drink or food on it or attempt to flush your computer down the toilet?

5)  Lastly, is NBA Live '06 the only software causing this crash, or are other applications also causing a crash?

SO lemme know so that the problem can be narrowed down

148267[/snapback]

hahahahahahahahhahaha

1)changed hardware a long time ago.. .added a DVD burner, but this is about a year ago now.

2)recently (on friday) updated my video card drivefrs

3) it might have shaken a bit, maybe it disloged the power supply to the motheroard... so it needs to be plugged in firmly again... but nothing extreme

4) no flushing attempts, i think!

5) NBA Live jus causes the crash to happen quicker... which makes me think one of two things

a) Power Supply plug

b) the game is using more than the requirements say it'll use... which means i dunno what it means...

tanks

[crayzy]

it might be the power supply, or it might be overheating.

If the computer was working fine before it *might* be the graphics drivers, try changing back to the old ones. But it isnt common for new drivers to cause this type of instability.

Personally I would think its either the power supply, cpu fan, or maybe the grahpics card fan that are at fault.

google for motherboard monitor 5 and speedfan, check what temperatures they give you.

Then you'll have to google for what temperatures are safe for your cpu - I dont know anything about pentium 4s that will help you. If your temps are too high, it might be time for a new fan. Personally I'd recommend the vapochill fan or arctic freezer 64.

Try the forums at www.tomshardware.com and at www.overclockers.co.uk or anandtech.com

[japmans]

oh wicked...that's good stuff..

quick question.. if it was overheating.. wouldn't it be obvious?

i had an overheating problem a couple years ago with a previous desktop, but it was obvious that it was overheating because the case would heat up to extremely high temperatures.. (turns out i wasn't cleaning my fan enough and dust accumulated on the blades to such an extent that it couldn't move on its own power, so it wouldn't move at all ), but yeah it used to get really hot... i now regularly clean my fan with compressed air to make sure there's no dust impeding the movements...

is there more to overheating than just the temperature of the case? could the computer still be overheating even if the case or the air that is leaving the computer shows no sign of overheating?

i guess i could try restoring to befre i updated the drivers, but (this is gonna sound dumb), will i lose all my saved data from NBA Live when i do a system restore?

[crayzy]

dont do a system restore - it wont help

I mean the temp of the actual cpu - nothing to do with the ambient temp in the case.

it coud be a bunch of factors to be honest.

Use your computer with the case open and watch the fan, if it seems to be working fine it might have been unseted when you 'shook it around' - get some thermal paste ( I would recommend arctic silver 5) , take off the fan and heatsink, clean off all the old paste and re attach with new paste.

Check that the graphics card fan is also working well.

If this fails then its prolly your power supply. THe power supply must one of the *most* important parts of a pc, but people tend to buy $20 supplies and complaind when their pc dies (im not saying you did this) - so if you do buy a new one, buy high quality. Vantec, seasonic or hiper, for example, all make good supplies.

check out those forums i limked - people will prolly have more ideas.

Also download CPU-Z (google it) - it has a voltage reading for the cpu (usually called cpu vcore). Watch the reading and see if it fluctuates. If it does, tell me by how much and I'll tell you if its your power supply.

[japmans]

ok wicked.. i won't be home till about 6pm my time (EST canada). i'll do all this when i get home... thanks a lot! very very VERY helpful

[Talwinder Kaur]

Sat Sri Akal:

Setp One - Throw computer out of window.

Step Two - Go outside, get your computer back, wipe the dirt off of it and repent.

Now that formalities are out of the way:

1)  Did you change any hardware in your computer...change a video card, add a hard drive, use your computer as a punching bag, throwing a magnet at the computer?

2)  Did you recently add, change or remove any software to your computer...you know...like Virus.exe or Thiswillkillyourcomputer.com?  Perhaps new drivers or an update of a driver?

3)  Was your computer recently moved around or had its position changed while running, like using it for weight lifting, playing a tablaa taal on it, doing Gatka against it or perhaps using it as a shot put?

4)  Did you drop any drink or food on it or attempt to flush your computer down the toilet?

5)  Lastly, is NBA Live '06 the only software causing this crash, or are other applications also causing a crash?

SO lemme know so that the problem can be narrowed down

148267[/snapback]

loooooooooool

[Khalsa4ever]

Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

I've had troubles like this before, especially with laptops.

Make SURE that the fan is working (ie: to prevent overheating) and that it is well ventilated and cleaned out (no dust). That can easily cause small amounts of overheating which causes the computer to automatically shut itself down to prevent overheating.

Also, check your BIOS to make sure your CPU isn't being overclocked.

Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

[noonespecial]

I also had the same problem about a month ago...then I realized my chair kept bumping the power button...

I just bought a new chair.