Thermal Shutdowns

[Computer Beginner]

I don't have a clue what the problem is, so I just thought this is the most obvious place to post it. About 4 or 5 weeks ago my computer had a "thermal shutdown", it just completely shut off on me. When I turned it back on, it said the computer had a thermal shutdown, press F1 to continue, and F2 to go to some control thingy. Since I know nothing about computers I pressed F1, then a minute later it had a thermal shut down again. Next time i got about 2 minutes, next time 5 minutes, then i left it for a day and it was ok for about 20 minutes in the morning, left it for some more hours, then it lasted about 40 mins, kept giving it breaks until it was working again. A week later the same thing happened with a thermal shutdown, did the same thing, it was fine, then a week later, happened again.

Every week (not exactly 7 days, roughly) it has done this. No visible damage to the computer until today. I seem to have lost all the files on the My Documents area of the computer on my account, I havent checked other accounts. Some other areas are unharmed. But I need to sort this out now, encase there is more damage.

If anybody knows how to prevent this, or how to recover my files, I would be very grateful.

Thanks

[GX1_Man]

What kind of computer is this? It sounds like a Dell of some sort.

Take that hard drive out immediately and slave it in another machine to save your data. Then we can proceed with this.


In the future you should remember:

1) ALWAYS back up important data files to another location. All hard drives die eventually.

2) At the FIRST sign of trouble, back up everything.

[Computer Beginner]

yes it is a dell. its running windows xp. i think i have most of the stuff backed up, how do you mean "slave" it in another computer?

[patio]

How did you determine these were "thermal shutdowns "  ? ?

Here Is  a guide to slaving a hard drive.

Disconnect the power before attempting this.

[konvict]

Check if all the fans on the tower are working properly.Check if there's any dust on the fans which is making it run slower than usual?
if possible open your tower and look at the activity of the fans.
It will be helpful if u post the specifications of your computer like,
OS,Ram,Motherboard,HDD

[Computer Beginner]

i know they were shutdowns because it said "shut down due to thermal events" after i tried to turn it on again. i'm not sure what specifications it is, or what the tower is, all i know is it is intel pentium 4 windows xp.

if you mean i should system restore, i will do that, then what?

[konvict]

make sure your tower is located in a well ventilated place.check if the inside of your tower is getting heated.to know tour specs,when the computer turns on,right click on my commputer and click properties,that will display the information.post it here.have you tried booting the computer in safe mode?

[GX1_Man]

What model Dell is this? If a laptop, things may be different as well. This can happen from fan failure, either the CPU fan (if one is present) or the case fan. Open the case and start is up and see that all fans are turning (unless it is a laptop).

What happened prior to this?

Have a read here about connecting drives:

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000413.htm

[konvict]

Hi gx1_man,
Your title shows you are computer hope moderator.What does that mean? Are you an employee of computer hope?
Just curious 

[GX1_Man]

I wish it were a paid position. Then I could spend more time here!

I am one of the regular users that have proved themselves personally and technically to the point where the Admin is comfortable letting us run the store when he is out. 

[konvict]

Cool,so you should be possessing loads of info about computers 
Are you a student or do you work?
You know,i'm in india 

[GX1_Man]

I work for a living, but do all things computer in my off hours from my real job. 

I much prefer pre-Vista computers, and older software (which I grew up with.