Random Shutdown

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bodgybrp

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My computer randomly shuts off as if someone has pulled the plug out of the wall but the power light stays on.
If I try and convert video files, the computer starts it and after a while (random times) it shuts off the same way.
The computer can be on for days at a time without crashing, it can be on for a few minutes and crash but I can make it crash by trying to convert a video file.
I was told the ram, replaced that, still does it.
I was told the video card, replaced, still does it.
I was told it may be 1 of my cd-roms, replaced both with dvd burners, still does it.
I was told the hard drive, replaced and clean install, still does it.
I was then told it must be the motherboard, replaced that and clean installed windows xp, still does it.
Apart from the processor, power supply or cpu fan, there isnt much else to replace.
When it crashes, the only way to get it back on is to unplug it from the wall, wether that means the plug from the rear of the PS, the plug from the wall or just switching the wall point off... whichever way, it has to bleed out the power til the light goes off, turn it back on and it starts up, occasionally as soon as the desktop loads, it crashes again.. but thats not very often.
Any help would be more than appreciated, im going crazy!!
 
i'm having the EXACT same problem... EXCEPT I replaced my PSU. Still got the same thing. I went to the system settings and turned off "restart automatically" when there is a system failure. Now, instead of just restarting to blank screen, i get a blue screen. This has GOT to be a windows thing.

It doesn't crash often, but when i REALLY start multitasking, BAM. It restarted. Now, i turned that off and it gives me a BSOD. I replaced EVERYTHING except dvd burner (which is fine in another system). It has to be SOMETHING with windows.. I really want to solve this as well. Its driving me up a wall. It restarted on me in the middle of an online midterm test. Luckily my professor let me retake it, but still... thats ridiculous.
 
I took my system to a mates house and we got it to crash by creating a dvd using a converted video file. We then swapped parts and tried to crash it again, each part we swapped, it crashed, the ram, the hard disks, the drives, the video card, we then swapped the PSU, mine is a 300w single internal fan, we swapped to his, a 500w single 12cm fan.... no crash!!
I will be getting a new PSU over the coming weekend, going for a 500w+ PSU, will post after the weekend if this has solved my problem.
I am thinking that several things have contributed to my problem, the PSu may be on its way out and when it crashes, it may have affected other parts, hence why when I replaced my RAM originally, there was no crashing for a few hours.... I was converting and creating video files no problem, then it just let go.
Will post again, after the PSU change.
 
Im glad you suspect what I am without knowing me, so how about I dont affend you and tell you where to go?
I already have a PSU in mind and NO, its not a cheap piece of crap, its an ATRIX Extreme Power Series. 600T that supports SATA. Dual +12v outputs, all in connector for ATX, BTX and EPS,Dual PCI SLI support (Dual 12v Rails), Silent running, Active Power Factor Correction with dual ball bearing fans, manual speed control... and to top it of, it has built in blue leds.
So considering you know bugger all about me, only that I am having a random shut down problem.... keep your personal opinions to yourself.
I appreciate the info but not the judgemental opinion of if I am cheap or stupid.
 
I had a similar problem for some time, it took ages to resolve!

It turned out to be the primary hard disk drive.

Symptom: Every now and then, the machine "freezes", a couple of seconds later, the sytem switches off. Might happen every few minutes, but might not happen for hours! Seems to be loosely corelated to temperature though. (seems to happen more often on hot days!)

I suspect the drive has a fault that shorts one of its supplies! The result is that after some period of time, the power supply recognises the overload and shuts down! (Normal HDD's need both +5 and +12 volt supplies)(Most, if not all, computer PSU's have overload detection built in to them!)

There may be another explanation though... (I have not fully investigated the actual fault)

There is a "Reset" line going up the IDE bus. I dont know if the HDD can actually pull on this line, thus reseting the machine, but it may actually be possible. Perhaps some brands of HDD do this when they panic?

PS: The Faulty HDD is an 80 Gig WD which has given reliable service for 3 years! Curiously, before this problem occured, I could hear the HDD make "ping" noises every now and then. (and a 1 to 3 second pause while the HDD recovered. (noticable when "logging" a drive, launching a program, etc). Trying different power supplies with this HDD in the system also also proved illuminating. Most behaved identially, but some made the fault produce a distinct electrical "Splat" noise (from the HDD electronics?) before the system shut down.

As stated above, it could be your power supply. Over the years I have seen many "weird" faults associated with strange PSU issues. One machine I owned would switch itself off (or ON!) if another item in the area was switched on/off. (Not all the time, but definitely associated behaviour.)
 
The original HDD that was in the system when it started crashing was a 60g seagate, after that died and could not be recover, it was replaced with an 80g seagate, that has had no problems occur but seeing as I replaced the motherboard, I replaced the primary hard drive to set up a clean install of win xp, the new primary is a maxtor 80g.
I have run both drives as primary with no secondary's to check if its the drive itself... both still crash.
As I say, I will replace the PSU over the weekend and load it up, post what happens.
 
bodgybrp said:
Im glad you suspect what I am without knowing me, so how about I dont affend you and tell you where to go?
I already have a PSU in mind and NO, its not a cheap piece of crap, its an ATRIX Extreme Power Series. 600T that supports SATA. Dual +12v outputs, all in connector for ATX, BTX and EPS,Dual PCI SLI support (Dual 12v Rails), Silent running, Active Power Factor Correction with dual ball bearing fans, manual speed control... and to top it of, it has built in blue leds.
So considering you know bugger all about me, only that I am having a random shut down problem.... keep your personal opinions to yourself.
I appreciate the info but not the judgemental opinion of if I am cheap or stupid.

I was correct you did exactly what i thought you would, enjoy your crappy Power supply.
 
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