Windows 7 Random PC Crash

[flerbergerber]

So, after my PC has been turned on for the first time in the day, it runs amazingly for about an hour or two. Then, however, it completely shuts down as if it was unplugged. Every time I reboot I say to repair, and every time it repairs. That doesn't help. After I get my PC back on, it runs a bit laggier, but still a "decent" speed (Not quite enough for some of my gaming needs). My specs:

Windows 7 Professional Service Pack 1 64 Bit
AMD Athlon Dual Core 4400+ Processor running at 2.30 GHz, not overclocked
2GB RAM (DDR2)
I was told updating my BIOS might help, but I don't know how. Here's my current BIOS version according to msconfig: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 4/27/2007 (wow, 2007...)

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

The first thing I would do is to open the C:\ prompt as administrator that type SFC /scannow.
It will search for and repair any bad system files.

You may just be running out of memory, 2 GB isn't much anymore.
Most new computers come with at least 8, and many have 16, I have 32.

Your computer could be overheating, have you cleaned it out lately?

You can check the temp using HWMonitor...

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Look at the temperature after a half hour and then at 2 hours or about the time it goes off and see it they have gone up a lot.

How long has it been doing this?

Do you have a restore point from before that?

Any new software added?

Run CCleaner...

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

That's all the easy stuff that I can think of, it's possible that you have some component failing or overheating.
That's hard to guess at, the fact that it works for a certain amount of time then fails sounds like heat to me.

But it's only a guess, if none of these ideas help, come back and maybe someone else will have an idea.

Mike

 

[flerbergerber]

I'll make sure to monitor the temps today. I plan on getting more memory, but I don't really have much money at this point. I think it may be overheating, and I already ordered a Yate Loon processor with 80 CFM, which should definitely be enough for a simple dual core CPU. It's being doing this as long as I remember, so I doubt I have a restore point. However, the computer is quite old (As you can most likely tell... DDR2 ). Don't believe it's a software problem, because a wipe hasn't even helped. I'll let you know when I've monitored the heat.

 

[flerbergerber]

Wow! Quite sure it's a heat problem. While I'm almost completely idle (Running HWMoniter and Chrome (1 tab)), both cores are jumping randomly around 60-75C. I heard that that was quite hot for idle, but I'll let you determine that. Not quite sure what these other (extremely hot) temperatures are, so I'll post them:

THRM 83C, TMPIN0 88C, TMPIN1 25C (Not nearly as hot), and TMPIN2 128C (... o_0).

I seems to have dual fans (I've never opened the case, but I will be soon). One is running 4K RPM, the other 2.5K RPM. My NVIDIA graphics card temperature is staying at 55C. I'll check it again later and report back.

EDIT: I'd just like to add that it'd be nice if you could link me to a free BIOS updater. I used BIOSAgentPro which claims to be free, but after it finds an update (Which is does) it asks for 30 dollars.

 

[flerbergerber]

... Definitely an overheating problem! I opened up my PC and dusted it out. It was insanely dusty so I thought it would help. It kinda did. My fans are constantly running full speed, but they aren't powerful enough. My current temperature for one core is 90C, and the other is 100C! I need a new fan before my whole computer case just melts to the ground! ^^

 

[MikeHawthorne]

I opened my old computer after 3 years to remove the hard drives, (after it was hit by lightning) and was surprised how packed in dirt the processor was.

I don't set my computer on the floor specifically to avoid it sucking in dog and cat hair and all the other stuff.

One of the reasons that I turn my computer off when I'm not using it, is so the fans won't run and suck in more junk.
My new computer is liquid cooled, but I do monitor temps to make sure that they aren't going up.

Glad that you have figured out the problem, has you computer quit shutting down since you cleaned it out?

Mike