weird problem

[waley]

My parents have a friend, who is not very smart about computers.

one day, his son was playing on the computer, and he told him to get off, but he didnt.

so he got mad, and pulled the plug out of the computer.

this has been done many times before.

and now, when ever you turn on the computer, it will stay on for 30 seconds, then automatically turn off.

does anyone know the problem?

thanks.

[homer]

the problem is that the kid doenst listen to his parents.

but seriously, he may have just damaged the harddrive. it may need a reformat, and if that doesnt work, a replacement.

[waley]

haha youre right.

but yeaaaa. ill try reformatting it, and if it doesnt work then its going to suck for the parent.

soo yeee. thanks.

[waley]

i tried reformatting.

the computer just turned off.

 

[quaxo]

i tried reformatting.

the computer just turned off.

 

At any particular point during the format? And has it done this repeatedly or have you tried only once?

[patio]

Don't be afraid of giving us TOO much info on how you're doing this....we thrive on details here.

[waley]

same thing happened.

i turned it on. inserted the disk, 30 seconds later, the computer turned off.

[homer]

it might be one of three things...

1. bad power supply (most likely)
2. comp is sensing that the CPU fan is not working correctly and shutting down to avoid damaging the CPU. (little less likely)
3. comp is overheating (least likely, as it turns off after only 30 seconds of operation, but is still a possibility.)

check to make sure all fans are spinning in the computer. if they are and you are still having issues, it may be the power supply.