88 replies to this topic

[kvarnerexpress]

PC shuts down after a few seconds

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the situation, about 2 weeks ago one of my computers stopped in the middle of a game and shut down. That was it. I restarted the computer and it powered up and went into the normal startup sequence, it did hit the BIOS screen, then powered down unexpectedly. After that it could be turned on, but then immediately shut down, staying on no longer than about 4 seconds. The system worked flawlessly for about 2 years before this problem.

System Specs: AMD 2000 on an ECS K7S5A mb with appropriate RAM and a 300 W psu.

I searched the net, found out it could/most likely was, a power supply problem. I bought a new power supply (a 320 psu), swapped it out and nothing changed. I have a couple other computers with similar configurations so I swapped out components looking for the 'defective' part. The CPU/RAM were easy enough, but did nothing, finally I tried a new motherboard (ASUS A7N8X-X), again nothing. I eventually swapped everything out into a new case, using the same RAM/CPU/Video card. (Please note: I have not had the hard drive plugged in since early in this debugging period, as I cannot get to the BIOS, I did not figure having the HD plugged in would help in any way.)

I still figured the RAM/CPU must be bad so I put in spares, and I put in an old PCI video card just for good measure too. It still powered down before hitting the BIOS. What the heck? There was not one original piece of hardware in the box and I had the same problem. Then I made a terrible mistake. I took the original RAM/CPU and plugged them into a machine I knew to be working (on an ASUS A7N8X board). Guess what? Now that computer exibits the same behaviour, it simply will not boot up. It shuts down after a mere 2-3 seconds. The fans start, the leds go on, then it shuts off.

I have tried clearing the CMOS on both systems to no avail.

I am getting paranoid about some sort of a RAM virus and that I inadvertently infected a 'good' computer with it by mistake.

Does any of this sound remotely like something anyone else has ever heard of?

[BuffaloHelp]

I lost two good laptops that way back in 1997 due to BIOS virus that was going around that year. And during my reading, I would have quickly replied with, “yes, it’s your BIOS problem.” However, when you mentioned that you placed your original, thought to be faulty, CPU into your working computer and the same symptom exhibited, it got me wondering if a virus can exist within CPU’s cache?

So, tracking from your steps you took, I believe there’s something wrong with your original CPU. And this CPU is probably causing some kind of short circuit that causes motherboard to “fry.” My reasoning is that you changed out to a new motherboard but used your old CPU. And you used that same CPU on a working system as well. Ergo, both of your systems are inoperative.

Further question I have for your is any sign(s) or error beep(s)? When you start your machine without at least having a CPU, RAM and video card you will hear error beeps in codes (this will also denote that a part is defective).

Hopefully someone from this forum would see this thread and come up with a right answer.

Cheers.

[Wyllt]

No such thing as a RAM virus. Once you power off your system nothing resides in RAM so a virus cannot infect the RAM, the closest thing to a RAM virus would be a virus that loads in a TSR (terminally stay resident) program.

You seem to have eliminated a good number of problems, but I have to ask, have you eliminated the power source (not supply) as your problem. Is it possible that the PC's are plugged into a bad outlet? I know it seems like such a silly thing, but I have seen it before where an unreliable outlet would power up for a few seconds then shut down the second the PC tried to draw any more power. Try plugging into a different outlet, using a different power bar or UPS. If your power outlet is off it may also be frying your powersupplies, and that could be why the comptuer you knew was working is now exhibiting similar symptoms.

[cragllo]

What you have is: Blaster.worm/Lovesan.worm

Search for: Blaster.worm/Lovesan.worm removal Tools
They are made by Microsoft and Symantecm should be free. I got the oficial 'free' CD here.

[RGPHNX]

Hi
While it's entirely possible you could have a virus or worm that causes a shutdown .. It's unlikely that it could be affecting BOTH computers .. UNLESS you previously had them on the same network with "file sharing" enabled OR transfered files via the internet between the two computers.
If you did'nt.. then.. practically the only cause left is the CPU/RAM which you transfered between the two puters..most likely the CPU.

Quote

I took the original RAM/CPU and plugged them into a machine I knew to be working (on an ASUS A7N8X board). Guess what? Now that computer exibits the same behaviour, it simply will not boot up. It shuts down after a mere 2-3 seconds. The fans start, the leds go on, then it shuts off.

Get a linux boot up & troubleshooting CD to test the CPU.. if it has any functioning circuits left on it at all. If it doesn't.. then you'll get the same shutdown result when you try to boot up with the CD.
Hope this helps
RGPHNX

[Mosquin]

A few moths ago I had the same problem. I try the same solutions but nothing.

At last I found the problem

My AGP port crasshes with my graphic card because the speed of my AGP was slower than the speed of my card.

I try to set up my card with a slower speed like 4x and the problem was gone

I hope this case will be useful for u.

[micc]

Hi there , I guess you should reinstall your O.S to try .

If it doesn't work , try to boot your PC with a brand new Power Supply .

[Dangeroso]

I am currently having this same problem with two different Motherboards -- an MSI KT4AV with an AMD Duron 1800 processor, and an ABIT KV7 with an AMD Athlon XP 3200+. Both systems have AGP video cards based on vastly differing generations (one geforce 6600GT, one geforce 2 mx400) Both Computers run fine in Windows 2000 until I play America's Army for a while -- the time can vary. The shutdown is sudden and without warning -- then the speaker beeps an alternating High/Low tone like a European police siren. I can't reboot them immediately, but I only have to wait about 30 seconds before they will boot successfully. If I immediately check the CPU temp with the BIOS, it is 40-49 deg. C. -- so it seems unlikely that this is a temperature problem, unless the CPU's are reliably failing well below their rated max temps. I have had the problem on one of the systems where I couldn't even boot to windows - just like this other fellow, but I seem to have solved that by clearing CMOS memory -- that was on the MSI KT4AV.

My experiments (planned out, not haphazard by the way) have ruled out power supplies, CPU chips, video cards, wall power supply, memory, motherboards, temperature, and phase of the moon. By the way, both of these systems will run for days with no problem if I stay away from games.

I've researched this extensively on the net, and generally people have no idea what this is caused by. I have almost 30 years of experience with microprocessors (starting in 1976 with an Altair 8800), and I haven't seen this before -- now I've got it on two systems -- how unlikely is that if it's a hardware problem? I've only found three people on the net that spoke about this with any confidence: two mentioned a virus, and the other mentioned AGP speed. Because of everything I just mentioned, I am now virtually certain that this is caused by a virus. Let me explain:

If you dismount the heatsink from an AMD Athlon or Duron Socket A processor and turn on the system, it will immediately fail with this behavior (tried it!) -- so this is a legitimate CPU failure alarm.

Thus, many of the reports of this failure are probably just that -- CPU Failure. But that doesn't explain those of us who have sudden outbreaks of this problem on multiple systems.

I can also stop this problem by slowing the processor down to about half its rated speed.

With those facts in mind, imagine some semi-intelligent sociopath figures out that you can give an AMD CPU a certain series of instructions that confuse it enough that motherboards with AMI bioses think that it has failed -- or that actually cause the processor to fail suddenly, but not permanently. Then let's say that maybe this only works when the CPU is already stressed out by, say, a CPU intensive game program (that would explain why it isn't effective at half clock speed).

I have no explanation for the systems that simply won't boot, and transfer the infection without the disk drive attached. That's one for the AMD people to tackle.

As for me, I'm going to to looking for fixes to the Blaster/Lovesan worms, because I have nothing better to do -- my system crashes if I play games!

[ARNEL]

kvarnerexpress, on May 9 2005, 09:35 PM, said:

PC shuts down after a few seconds

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the situation, about 2 weeks ago one of my computers stopped in the middle of a game and shut down. That was it. I restarted the computer and it powered up and went into the normal startup sequence, it did hit the BIOS screen, then powered down unexpectedly. After that it could be turned on, but then immediately shut down, staying on no longer than about 4 seconds. The system worked flawlessly for about 2 years before this problem.

System Specs: AMD 2000 on an ECS K7S5A mb with appropriate RAM and a 300 W psu.

I searched the net, found out it could/most likely was, a power supply problem. I bought a new power supply (a 320 psu), swapped it out and nothing changed. I have a couple other computers with similar configurations so I swapped out components looking for the 'defective' part. The CPU/RAM were easy enough, but did nothing, finally I tried a new motherboard (ASUS A7N8X-X), again nothing. I eventually swapped everything out into a new case, using the same RAM/CPU/Video card. (Please note: I have not had the hard drive plugged in since early in this debugging period, as I cannot get to the BIOS, I did not figure having the HD plugged in would help in any way.)

I still figured the RAM/CPU must be bad so I put in spares, and I put in an old PCI video card just for good measure too. It still powered down before hitting the BIOS. What the heck? There was not one original piece of hardware in the box and I had the same problem. Then I made a terrible mistake. I took the original RAM/CPU and plugged them into a machine I knew to be working (on an ASUS A7N8X board). Guess what? Now that computer exibits the same behaviour, it simply will not boot up. It shuts down after a mere 2-3 seconds. The fans start, the leds go on, then it shuts off.

I have tried clearing the CMOS on both systems to no avail.

I am getting paranoid about some sort of a RAM virus and that I inadvertently infected a 'good' computer with it by mistake.

Does any of this sound remotely like something anyone else has ever heard of?

I just encountered the same problems as yours, this was sometimes occured unexpectedly.

This may happen if one of you devices are mulfunctioning, like hardisk failure, memory, video, board of sometimes overheating the cpu that force the computer to reboot. try to diagnose your computer for immenent computer breakdown, since you are using amd maybe is the heat that force your pc to reboot.

I have the same problem before, when i try to checked everything attached to my computer I found out that my hardisk is having bad sector and sometimes failed to read the files... if you are in the middle of the game and having this problem, the computer restart in order to prevent big damaged to your pc, especially if you are using windows xp.

Part of security and protection provided by the microsoft it is common, this will happen just to remind you of possible hardware trouble...

[ManOfSTEEL]

YES, it may be the hardware or some parts of your computer that forced you pc to reboot... If I remember when Microsoft release the new windows XP professional, they say that this OS increases the security that old windows OS don't have and one of them are the automatic shutdown or reboot once the computer detected a hardware failure in your computer.

To prevent large damage mostly to your file system windows reboot your pc and try to reload all the system files needed by windows to run properly.

Some hardwares that forced the PC to reboot when having trouble are as follows:

1. Memory - If one or more of your memory installed into your computer is not function or mul-functioning the computer will reboot and tried to refresh and check the memory.
2. Hardisk - This usually occured if you are using old hard drive or hard drive with damaged. if the windows detected damaged from your harddrive it will also reboot the computer to prevent corruptions of system files. this will also scan your hard drive once the computer restarted.
3. PRocessors - Usually AMD as this problem, amd need to maintain certain heat in order to run faster and better. if the heat exceeded, it will reboot your pc alos. Usually AMD DURON and Althon has the problem before, I don't don't if they considered this as part security or a bugs.

Motherboarth and process sometimes also the reason why your computer is restarted.

As I said this is still part of security measures to prevent more damaged in your PC.

[cuejunky]

Hi all. I have had the same problem for a couple of weeks - hell maybe a month or so, who knows. I was very confused, I could not figure this out. I have an average system xp pro sp2 yada,yada.yada. Norton AV and so on. After finding this post, I decided to try a different antivirus solution. Panda Anti virus to be exact. PROBLEM SOLVED . My system is now stabe. I can play my game or burn a DVD without the frustration of my system shutting down. Hope this helps......

[Static_Fury]

I had the same problem....I read someone slowed their processor down. And i am about 95% sure your processor is overheating take a liik at it. Make sure it not.

[Robert Lindblad]

I had the same problem a few days ago.
My computer wouldn't start and I'd have to shut the power off and then back on again before I got response from the computer which was basicaly turning on for like two seconds and would shut down. Then it would freeze on screen while doing the memory check so here's what I did....
unbolted the top part of the fan connected to the motherboard then cleaned out all the dust caught in the grill by inserting a plastic buisness card in and out of every slot in the grill and blowing the rest out....
unconnected and reconnected the hard drive, cd-rom, dvd burner and floppy.
I've had no problems since.

Edited by Robert Lindblad, 24 August 2007 - 03:12 PM.

[odomike]

You guys have to understand something very important here. Irespective of the fact that, as most people believe, that AMD microprocessors have a higher edge in gaming (I dont think so though), you also have to understand that these particular family of processors have a higher tendency to go bad than their Intel counterparts. The AMD processors come with smaller heatsinks fitted on them, unlike the intel ones. comparing a pentium 4 and an eqquivalent AMD athlon XP 3200+, you will find out that whether it is the PGA 478 or the LGA 775, they all have larger heat dissipators than the AMD. It is only the newer AMDs that come with larger heatsinks (of about the same size as the Intel ones).

So, wat am I trying to say here? Basically, Intel processors have a longer life span based on the fact that heat being generated within the processors is being actively dissipated by the heatsinks (inbuilt and overlying). I am a ssytems techie and I have come across these problems a lota times. People come complaining that something went wrong with their AMD CPU whereas you hardly get the same complaints about Intel.

So, if you are using an older AMD procesor, I would advice you not to run very multitasking applications in other tht it doesnt get overheated and fry your mobo.

As it is, this is what I suspect happened to your PC and there is about nothing you can do to revive either the mobo or even the CPU.

[OmArEmAd]

hello,
I'll try to help ya in this as much as i can...

try when starting ur pc press on F8 before the windows starts loading then select (Last know good configuration)
and see...will it run or no...

it maybe a virus or a worm as others said...
if that game is online so may someone hacked you and putted that virus or worm so it loads when the windows loads to restart it

so try pressing F8 before the windows starts loading then select (safe mode) then scan your computer well with your anti-virus
and try downloading the update for ur from other computer and install it then try scaning again...

[odomike]

Quote

I'll try to help ya in this as much as i can...

try when starting ur pc press on F8 before the windows starts loading then select (Last know good configuration)
and see...will it run or no...

it maybe a virus or a worm as others said...
if that game is online so may someone hacked you and putted that virus or worm so it loads when the windows loads to restart it

so try pressing F8 before the windows starts loading then select (safe mode) then scan your computer well with your anti-virus
and try downloading the update for ur from other computer and install it then try scaning again...

Are you sure you really read what he complained about OmArEmAd? he cant even boot at all and his computer is not even recognizing any hardware not to talk of booting into windows. this a hardware problem and not something you can cure with an antivirus.

People in this forum should try to understand the context of any posst before they start saying anything. He is looking for a way to tackle a hardware problem n not a non-booting PC.

Another thing I might wanna add is this, I you still wanna continue using your AMD microprocessor, I would advice you to provide a very good cooling system for the it. One thing some people dont understand is the fact that most games tend to throttle your processor and make it run high, in most cases, at a whooping 100% utilization and that consequently makes the processor to utilize and generate more power. the final consequence is the heating up of the processor and if there is not enough cooling system to withstand the heating, the CPU or the mobo could get fried.

It aint like I hate AMD or that I am anti-AMD, it is just that I dont buy the idea of so many dead processor in their history.

[jbgurung]

odomike, on Aug 25 2007, 10:44 AM, said:

Are you sure you really read what he complained about OmArEmAd? he cant even boot at all and his computer is not even recognizing any hardware not to talk of booting into windows. this a hardware problem and not something you can cure with an antivirus.

People in this forum should try to understand the context of any posst before they start saying anything. He is looking for a way to tackle a hardware problem n not a non-booting PC.

Another thing I might wanna add is this, I you still wanna continue using your AMD microprocessor, I would advice you to provide a very good cooling system for the it. One thing some people dont understand is the fact that most games tend to throttle your processor and make it run high, in most cases, at a whooping 100% utilization and that consequently makes the processor to utilize and generate more power. the final consequence is the heating up of the processor and if there is not enough cooling system to withstand the heating, the CPU or the mobo could get fried.

It aint like I hate AMD or that I am anti-AMD, it is just that I dont buy the idea of so many dead processor in their history.

Yes, Odomike you are right! people here are not reading the problem properly. if he can't even see the post screen, then how can he access to last known good configuration or resolve antivirus isssues.
I am having the same problem and browsing through the net. But my problem is due to different cause. My front usb port had broken and one of pin was bent and touching probably another metal part. I inserted a usb flash drive without even noticing that the port had damaged. Windows froze and i pushed power button to shut down and restart it. Since then problem started and everytime I switch on the machine, it seems everything is going to start fine, like lights come on, fans spin but momentarily it switches off. I cant see anything on the screen. It cant even output bios information or complete the post screen. I doubt short circuit some where but can't figure out. I ruled out the power supply and power switch button cause I tried with another power supply and switch. This could either be cpu or ram or motherboard damaged. I doubt it is the BIOS which has be damaged. What you guys think about this problem? As most of others, I am using AMD system with Athlon X2 64X CPU, asus M2N SLI Delus MoBo and 1GB DDR2 Dual Channel.

[shadowblade]

step 1.
If you're computer made error beeping sound, then it is because your RAM or VGA.

step 2.
Try to smell your computer parts one by one, is there any burnt smell?change the parts which have burnt smell immediately.

step 3.
check your cable one by one, is there any bad cable(the rubber is torn off)
n.b. some motherboards turn off automatically when get weird electricity voltage or watt, high temperature, etc...

and try to close the computer lid(some motherboards uses "detect Casing Interuption") <- maybe it is silly but still possible

step 4.
If you're computer didn't make any sound and still looking good(didn't have burnt smell in any parts), try to reinstall the BIOS(using disk or jumper), than reinstall your computer OS.

step 5.
try to unplug unnecessary parts(LAN,modem,), only use one slot of RAM,VGA, one HDD -> just use the minimum requirement for your computer to run.

if your computer still cannot run, just consider to buy a new one ^^

[iGuest]

IM having the same problem with two computers as well lol thats kinda ridiculous I have a msi k7n2 delta-l m-board, athlon 2200, nvidia 256 geforce 5700 I swapped power supplies with the computer I'm on now and it did the same thing I unplugged every thing removed the ram & cmos battery for a while and tried to just boot into bios and after about 4-5 seconds the power just cuts off and I have to unplug the power supply and plug it back in again b4 it it will start again for 4-5 sec... ive tried 3 different video cards two different processors and I swapped the motherboard with a soyo k7ada and same symptom swapped with the ram thats in the computer I'm using right now as well ?? any one got any idea?

-Dill

[iGuest]

Problem%20with%20my%20motherboard%2Fpci%20slot.
Pc Shuts Down After A Few Seconds

I am having a similar problem but not so similar. I'm also sure that it's so easy to fix but here it is.

I just built my PC a few days ago and everything works fine. That is until I decided to insert a networking PCI adapter into the system. Now every time that I try to turn the cpu on it'll load for about 3 seconds, then it'll shut itself off immediately. But then it turns itself on again. And then shuts itself off again. To keep it short this happens for the duration that the pc is on. I tried updating the BIOS, didn't work. Try downloading new drivers for the pci off the website; also didn't work

Eventually I assumed that the problem was the pci card so I bought a new one. But once I plugged that card in, the same situation happened.

So here's where it gets confusing: when you take out the pci adapter, the cpu runs fine. No problems whatsoever, which is what makes me believe that it's the pci adapter or the pci slot. Also, if you put the pci adapter in, take it out once the cpu loads, and then put it back in again when the OS starts running, it'll be detected by the computer and it'll work fine until you turn the cpu off; in which case the exact same situation happens all over again.

I assumed that the problem is simply the booting sequence since both the pci slot and the pci adapter work fine, but alas, that is the limit of my knowledge at the moment.

I would greatly appreciate as much help as possible for this. I don't wanna go to geek squad for something that can be fixed easily. Please help me.

-dijudgment

[iGuest]

fixed the shuts down in a few seconds problem
Pc Shuts Down After A Few Seconds

I had the same issue and this is how I fixed it.

Check your motherboard and make sure all the tiny jumper connectors are correctly connected. These are the connectors from your case to your motherboard. Usually these include power switch jumper, hdd light connector etc. Once I verified all the connectors were properly connected the board worked fine without issues.

Hope this helps.


-Paul

[iGuest]

my PC shut down again & again after few seconds of interval.
Pc Shuts Down After A Few Seconds

My pc works properly.I have reinstalled os again after perusing this problems.But here is no prob concerning to the software. But still it creates problem while working on it.I have checked out its hardware too. But still there's no any prob there.No any virus at all.I m not able to find out dat actually what's the prob here.

-Smriti

[indrazam]

It is probably something wrong with a new hardware you installed... Try installing system Mechanic and diagnose the problem...

Thanks
Alen

[rayzoredge]

odomike, on Aug 25 2007, 05:44 AM, said:

People in this forum should try to understand the context of any posst before they start saying anything. He is looking for a way to tackle a hardware problem n not a non-booting PC.

x2 on that, odomike. Very often if not occasionally I'll read a response that's completely out of the ballpark... usually one-liners that look like people are just either throwing in for credit or just read a couple of lines of the original post and posted whatever came to mind first.

There should be a specific (and not just implied) rule or more enforcement on that... *hint hint*

As for the AMD issue, would that be doubly worse than Intel's design as far as heat goes? If I've interpreted correctly, AMD uses an on-chip die that is the equivalent of Intel's northbridge, which is why it can push out single tasks much faster (which is why it's recommended for gaming application) as there is no travel time as with Intel's processors and the need to communicate with the northbridge, which is physically AWAY from the processor (on the motherboard). I would imagine that with this increased efficiency in performance that AMD processors would generate more heat in this way, and it doesn't help that their heat sinks aren't up to the task of cooling the unit as a whole...

Now, with that said, for the original post...

Someone said something about the processor earlier... I would have to concur. Trying to follow all the troubleshooting steps that you laid out, process of elimination is saying that the processor that's causing the problem. Maybe it finally gave in. Were you overclocking it at all? (That would have killed the life much quicker than if you ran it at the default, stock clockspeed.) What was the cooling like in the case for 2 years? See if you can put your original configuration back together minus the processor and use another processor of the same socket type to see what happens. If it boots, you've confirmed that the processor is bad. If not... whoa.

[iGuest]

pc shuts down after few seconds
Pc Shuts Down After A Few Seconds

I read all the replies in this thread and thought it would solve my problem.. It seemed so alike.
A8N-SLI Deluxe
Athlon 64 3000+ @ 2700MHz (for 3 years now..)
1023 MB RAM A-Data 500MHz (2x512)
NVidia 8600GTS @ 770MHzGPU & 2200 RAM DDR3
Spire PSU 500W +3.3v 28A, +5v 35A, +12v 15A, +12v(2) 16A, +5vSB 2.5A

The only way the PC boots is when the ram is in single channel. But.. When I leave the PC turned off for a few hours and then I boot it up it first shuts down as soon as I boot it, after the second retry it shuts down after detecting the HDDs, the third retry it shuts down after displaying the OS choices menu and finally when loading windows vista. In the last retry it boots up fine and I can keep it alive for as long as I want.

When I put the ram in dual channel I get it very very hard to work... It takes tens of retries to get it to boot up in vista. Ram is ok, tested it on other PC, cpu is ok, tested it also, video card is ok, tested it on another mb. I cannot test another PSU and the MB.. For now..

That's it.. I told you before that after a few hours of having the PC off it does these problems... If I turn it off and then on again after a few minutes it works fine. My suspicion would be some components that cool down and must take some time to warm before working fine. I don't know what these components would be in a PC.. Can someone brighten me?

Thanks,
John

-reply by John