Computer Keeps Cutting Out

[mittheimp]

I presume this is due to overheating. The fan is quite noisy too. Any suggestions how to deal with this?

Cheers

Mit

[cnxpat]

I presume this is due to overheating. The fan is quite noisy too. Any suggestions how to deal with this?

Cheers

Mit

define "cutting out" please

[jdinasia]

Cutting out how?

BSD? Does it tell you anything etc?

Are you using a good realtime anti-virus?

Have you run a full scan?

checked for other Mal-ware?

[bazmlb]

Try replacing the noisy fan, dont think it will help much as a noisy fan is still owkring just not as well, clean the rest of the fans with compressed air as dust can lead to overheating issues as well.

check the bios for temps if its capable, see if there are any alerts in bios if it tracks overheating.

some boards you can download utilities to see whats going on with the pc on

[mittheimp]

Cutting out - turns itself off - like there was a power cut

on restarting the computer i do sometimes get a message saying the computer has over heated.

somedays its fine - other days it happens quite frequently.

thanks for any help

Edited September 15, 2006 by mittheimp

[geoffphuket]

Cutting out - turns itself off - like there was a power cut

on restarting the computer i do sometimes get a message saying the computer has over heated.

somedays its fine - other days it happens quite frequently.

thanks for any help

Use if for a few days with the case cover removed. If the problem goes away then it is the overheating that's causing the problem....Replace the noisy fan and fit additional ones if possible.

[endure]

If you get reports of overheating it's more likely to be the fan on the CPU rather than the power supply fan. Take the lid off and make sure the CPU fan is actually spinning.

[kayo]

visit less raunchy sites?

Chang Chompuu Woz `ERE

Edited September 15, 2006 by kayo

[nomadspike]

i had this issue on my toshiba satellite laptop and it turned out to be a faulty power cord. once i replaced the power cord it stopped 'cutting out'...

[endure]

visit less raunchy sites?

We're talking about fans, not fannies k-k-klown!

Jeez, what goes on under that wig of yours?

[SnakeBite]

With the computer off, take out the ram cards and replace them, make sure your processor fins are clean and that the fans are working properly.

[mittheimp]

Ive took off the cover now - see if that helps.

I wouldnt want to try anything else as i dont know what im doing really!

For example what are ram cards?

[xyz]

Ive took off the cover now - see if that helps.

I wouldnt want to try anything else as i dont know what im doing really!

For example what are ram cards?

Have you tried looking at your manual (There's a saying: When all else fails, read the manual ) or doing a Google search for your problems ... well, maybe not google search since your computer keeps cutting out.

I had a problem w/ the computer keeps cutting out. I eventually had to throw the dang thing out -- the problem was the mobo, I think. But your problem could be something simpler, like overheated processor caused by too much dust on your fan or heat exchanger, or processor/or other components such as ram not seated properly, or a loose connection.

[Farma]

Cutting out - turns itself off - like there was a power cut

on restarting the computer i do sometimes get a message saying the computer has over heated.

somedays its fine - other days it happens quite frequently.

thanks for any help

I had the exact same symptoms with an INTEL 2.4 chip a few months back. The chip was dying and I had to replace it. I don't know if there was a bad batch or not but since then I've heard of 4 other people in my small community having the same problem which required the chip to be replaced.

[mittheimp]

with the side cover off the problem has stopped.

do you think i need new fans then? (they are quite dusty but i guess thats normal!)

are they expensive?

[xyz]

with the side cover off the problem has stopped.

do you think i need new fans then? (they are quite dusty but i guess thats normal!)

are they expensive?

Fans are cheap but do you really need a new fan? Does it run OK? If it's running OK, you probably just need to clean the fan and the heat exchangers using canned compresse air you can pick up in computer stores.

[gwkenny]

just need to clean the fan and the heat exchangers using canned compresse air you can pick up in computer stores.

Do you have a source for canned air in Thailand? All I see here is Contact Cleaner. I've been looking for quite some time and really would appreciate a source!!!

Dust does impede the heat sink and the canned air will help.

If you really want to find out if this is the problem, download something like SpeedFan, http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php.

It's free and you can keep a log of your computer temps.

If the CPU is really hot when the computer cuts then you could do the things said by previous posters.

The next step after that is to refresh the thermal grease/silicone between the CPU and heatsink. I had to do this "recently" with my Server after 5-years. My laptop after 4 years. Both exhibiting the same problems of cutting out before I refreshed the thermal grease.

g-

[xyz]

just need to clean the fan and the heat exchangers using canned compresse air you can pick up in computer stores.

Do you have a source for canned air in Thailand? All I see here is Contact Cleaner. I've been looking for quite some time and really would appreciate a source!!!

Dust does impede the heat sink and the canned air will help.

I don't know of anywhere in LOS. As an alternative, I have used a small brush and vacuum cleaner (with a small brush attachment on low suction) instead.

[Jing-jo]

just need to clean the fan and the heat exchangers using canned compresse air you can pick up in computer stores.

Do you have a source for canned air in Thailand? All I see here is Contact Cleaner. I've been looking for quite some time and really would appreciate a source!!!

Dust does impede the heat sink and the canned air will help.

g-

Hi mittheimp

you can use a long straw to blow the out the finned areas of the heat sink( the big alloy block the fan sits on) and a long thin paint brush to dust the blades of the fan if you dont want to disassemble anything

remember to lean into the computer to blow through the straw and lean away when taking a deep breath to do the second blow otherwise you may sneeze all over the computer and thats a whole different ball game

raychem make an infra red thermometer (about £20) thats uses a sniper type red dot to measure temps very accurate even over 100 to 200 yds this I have found very usefull for all manner of temp related problems both computer and other things including checking out running and starting problems with multi cylinder motor bikes with out the need for very expensive test gear

P.m. for details

this is so accurate dot is 3 to 5mm across you can measure the temp of individual diodes and capacitors on your mother board even the memory chips to find out which is causing crashing i.e. way hotter or way colder than the others

hope this helps

Jing-Jo

[Jing-jo]

Hi mittheimp

forgot to post pics here is mintemp pic and pic of it in use

raychem make an infra red thermometer it's called the minitemp looks like a pistol grip see photoe(about £20) thats uses a sniper type red dot to measure temps very accurate

this is so accurate dot is 3 to 5mm across you can measure the temp of individual diodes and capacitors on your mother board even the memory chips to find out which is causing crashing i.e. way hotter or way colder than the others

hope this helps

Jing-Jo

[JimsKnight]

Hi mittheimp

forgot to post pics here is mintemp pic and pic of it in use

raychem make an infra red thermometer it's called the minitemp looks like a pistol grip see photoe(about £20) thats uses a sniper type red dot to measure temps very accurate

this is so accurate dot is 3 to 5mm across you can measure the temp of individual diodes and capacitors on your mother board even the memory chips to find out which is causing crashing i.e. way hotter or way colder than the others

hope this helps

Jing-Jo

That looks pretty swish jingle! They sell them in pantip?

[Tony Clifton]

When my pc box needs a good dusting, I take the pannel off and drive to the local gas station or motorcycle repair shop where I use the air compressor to blow out all that dust. I do the same every now and then with the car cd player.

Edited September 22, 2006 by Tony Clifton

[Jing-jo]

When my pc box needs a good dusting, I take the pannel off and drive to the local gas station or motorcycle repair shop where I use the air compressor to blow out all that dust. I do the same every now and then with the car cd player.

this is a very good way to clean the main box but only if you take the optical (cd and dvd) and hard disc drives out first

the reason is that they both are a virtual sealed unit but have breather holes that open and close due to thermal expansion of the mechanism and the air inside the devices and if you use compressed air you can drive the dirt into the hard drive and cd/dvd mechanism areas thereby causing more problems

I work in a Marble company and just after i started working there the computer kept cutting out.

they had nobody to fix the computer,so i said i would have a look,when the panels were removed you couldn't tell what processor was fitted? let alone spot where? not what ? the memory was

the whole mother board was about an inch deep in fine man made marble dust from the stone italiano material we use,this is incredibly fine dust (like talc powder) luckily it is non conductive but very nasty to the lungs.

Now the company has expanded we have an I.T. guy that explained about the drives also the electrician that services all the switching units in the two CNC machines said the same that is was very bad for any electrical contacts and switching gear especialy from garage that probably doesnt have the water filtration and condensor dryer system we know have

In thailand,with the high humidity,there will be even more water vapour in the compressed air and this will cause damage eventually either through short circuits or corrosion also garages use or should do an automatic oiler so the air from the garage will be slightly wet and oily to say the least!

also never use a domestic or commercial vacuum cleaner they produce a lot of static electricity due to the amount of air flow passing through the plastic or metal tubes and if they touch a computer part can instantly zap it deader than a dodo

all air inlets on all the machines and computers now use dyson vacuum cleaner filters they are very fine allow a good airflow through the panel and are very cheap compared to the propriotry filters

sorry for the length of the thread but trying to give advice and reasons why by example

hope this helps to stop somebody's machine overheating