Sudden PC Shutdown

[schuarta]

I have a Systemax PC, 3 years old, Intel Pentium 2.66 GHz CPU, 992 MB memory, 250G hard drive, Windows XP Professional, which has worked like a "champ" since I bought it.

About a month ago it started to instantaniously shut down while in use.  It happens using the internet, working internally (IE closed) as in the word processor, running my anti-spyware/anti-virus software.  Sometimes it happens when I "click" on something with the mouse, sometimes it happens when I am not touching or using the PC.

After the instantaneous shutdown, the unit restarts by itself, and after the bios initial boot, when it says "starting Windows" it will go to a light blue screen, stating that it needs to check the disc drive.  It will spend 5-10 minutes doing this disc check, counting up 10% complete, 12% complete, 22% complete, etc., to 100%. It will occasionally show a file wich required "action", usually ending with the word "trunkaded".  When 100% is complete, it will show the disc drive info including total space, space in use, and then finish the reboot.  HELP?

[Allan]

It's checking the drive because the system is detecting a dirty bit on the drive. That was caused by the anomalous shutdown of the system. The autocheck process is not connected to your spontaneous shutdown problem, which -- if you don't get a blue screen error -- is probably caused by heat, bad memory, or another hardware component failing. I'd suggest running checks on all hardware components and checking the system temp when it's running.

Also, to "absolutely" (or almost) rule out a software problem you can boot to safe mode and see if the system reboots from there or if everything works well.

[schuarta]

Thank you for your information.  I suspected "heat" as well as these shutdowns seem to occur when the CPU is very busy.  I checked all fans in the unit and they all are operating.

Does the fan atop the CPU very in "speed"?  I thought I heard the fan speeding up during hot days in the summer, but I'm not absolutely positive. It seems to stay at one slow speed now.

Thanks again

[Allan]

Download and install either Everest or Speedfan and monitor the cpu temp.

[Broni]

Also...

After the instantaneous shutdown, the unit restarts by itself

Disable "Restart on error" feature...

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Advanced tab (Vista: click Advanced system settings).
3. Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings to open the Startup and Recovery dialog box.
4. Clear the Automatically restart check box, and click OK the necessary number of times.
5. Restart your computer for the settings to take effect.

You may see some error message. If so, post back what it says.