Computer keeps shutting down

[Rock_darren]

Hey Peeps wonder if anyone out there can offer me some help!!

My comouter tends to shut down and restart of its own accord, usually when i'm gaming but sometimes not, games always tend to fail a lot on my computer and crash. My comp is fairly good and i'm underclocking my cpu to try and help it aswell.

Heres Some info about my comp.
Summary

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Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.2180 (IE 6.0 SP2)
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name DARRENROCK (Dazlers)
User Name Darren Rock

Motherboard:
CPU Type AMD Athlon XP, 1700 MHz (11 x 155) 2000+
Motherboard Name MSI KT4AV (MS-6712) (6 PCI, 1 AGP, 3 DIMM, Audio)
Motherboard Chipset VIA VT8377A Apollo KT400A
System Memory 512 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type AMI (05/16/03)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM2)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter RADEON 9200 SERIES - Secondary (128 MB)
Video Adapter RADEON 9200 SERIES (128 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon 9200 SE (RV280)
Monitor Gateway EV700 [17" CRT] (90858792)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller

Storage:
IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive ST380011A (80 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optical Drive ASUS DRW-0402P/D (DVD:4x/2x/12x, CD:16x/8x/32x DVD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 4996 MB (203 MB free)
E: (NTFS) 71319 MB (747 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Optical (IntelliPoint)

Network:
Network Adapter VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter (192.168.1.100)

Peripherals:
Printer Epson Stylus COLOR 740 ESC/P 2
Printer HP DeskJet 930C/932C/935C
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB2 Controller VIA USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Device Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Optical

Problems & Suggestions:
Problem Disk free space is only 4% on drive C:.
Problem Disk free space is only 1% on drive E:.


Anyhelp would be much apreciated!!
Cheers

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

The lack of free space could cause problems like that. I know you cant defrag a drive with out 15% free space. Have you tried spy ware removal tools? ALso what is your psu?

 

[Kadahaf]

Or it has become unstable bf 1942 does that sometimes and freezez and then restarts also with diablo 2

 

[Hefemeister]

Couple of ideas. It could be a heat issue. Make sure all of your fans are working properly. Secondly with all of the computer info you gave I did not see what type and wattage of PSU (power supply unit) you are running. You have a bunch of stuff running and your psu may not be able to handle it when the video cards kick in with cd's spinning. Much less than 450 could be the problem.

 

[Rock_darren]

cheers for the ideas guys...

I suppose lack of disk space could be an issue but i know it has been happening before i was down to this low space. i went on a deleting mission so i could properly defrag.

The problem definately occurred before 1942, so don't think anything to do with that.

High temps could be the issue....does that mean i don't have a good enough heatsink and fan? My PSU wattage is 250...is that much too low?

cheers guys

 

[TheMajor]

I would get a more powerful PSU. 250w is very low. Check your temps in your BIOS after it crashes or run SpeedFan to monitor the temperatures.

 

[didi]

I think dont cpu is overheating because when cpu over heating, it will shut down the computer automatically with continuous beep sound~~~

 

[Rizinc4]

Make sure that your BIOS are up to date to avoid screwy voltages. You may want to check out MotherBoard Montior 5 to assist in tempurature readings and other nifty info . Run a Burn In Test, see if that picks up any errors. Dust your system, make sure no fans are broken, and if you have multiple things in your PCI slots, take some of the unneeded things out for a day or two and see how your system runs then.

Also, your PSU... I agree that it is low powered, however it SHOULD run your system fine! You make want to check that though, before going through all the trouble above.

 

[hu_xu]

I don't think the PSU should be a problem for you even though it is only 250W and most standard PC come with 350W now a days. Why? None of your hardware is overly power consuming. The 9200SE is a very weak card...make sure you didn't max out all of the detail options both in the ATI control center and in game especially AA. Don't even turn AA on that card is actually too weak to use it. If you do that card will overheat and automatically reboot your PC even though you have AMPLE enough power to run it. Also update your cat drivers.

Also update your mobo drivers especially the realtek AC97' new codecs.