Heeeelllpppp!!!!!
02 October 2005, 08:54 PM
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Heeeelllpppp!!!!!
My problem is that my 2 year (in 28/10) old Dell dimension 8300 PC keeps randomly shutting down.
The problem started in march of this year. At the time i phone dell technical service and the lady said i had to remove each hardware cable and re connect it. Have no idea what this was going to solve?? anyway the problem went away untill a month ago when it started to happen again. So i phones Dell again and told that person the problem. She made me do a hardware test which proved all to be ok. Then she asked me to leave the PC in bios mode as if the pc was to shut done in this mode it would mean that itwas a hardware problem rather than a software problem. The pc did not shut down Thus resulting in it being software problem. She said that a clean/fresh install of XP etc would resolve the problem. err Nope!
Phone Dell again and the guy this time said that i would have to get in contact dell software people and i would have to pay them as this was not covered in our 3 year warranty. This i did not like. The guy said that a person would call back later that nite, this being 5:20pm. Nobody phoned back that night. The next night a porson did phone back from dell software @ 20:50 and my dad answered the phone and did not want to go through doing it at this time, plus he explained to the man the problem and that i had just re instalkled everything and got the pc back up to 'my' standard with software and updates etc...The guy told my dad that he was going to get their manager to contact us to try and solve this problem, rather than we phone them. This was to be the next night. My dad again answered the phone and explained the situation again. Dell kept of instaling that it was a software problem.
In the mean time I have some ex-neighbours that i phoned and asked them what the problem might be and we came to the colclusion that is might be the power supply??
Anyway as what my dad said to the manager they said that the clase was closed and we did not what to re install XP and software again even if they were going to wave the charges this one time. We said on and the clase was closed.
Since then the PC has shut down again 2 or 3 times since. And i am getting really fed up of this, as i this is my PC that i use for uni work and its my final year - the important year - What is causing this.
when the pc does this all i am doing is in the net using IE or listening to music iTunes or in Photoshop.
Pease can some one shed soome light into the matter.
Sorry for the long-ish essay
Darren
The problem started in march of this year. At the time i phone dell technical service and the lady said i had to remove each hardware cable and re connect it. Have no idea what this was going to solve?? anyway the problem went away untill a month ago when it started to happen again. So i phones Dell again and told that person the problem. She made me do a hardware test which proved all to be ok. Then she asked me to leave the PC in bios mode as if the pc was to shut done in this mode it would mean that itwas a hardware problem rather than a software problem. The pc did not shut down Thus resulting in it being software problem. She said that a clean/fresh install of XP etc would resolve the problem. err Nope!
Phone Dell again and the guy this time said that i would have to get in contact dell software people and i would have to pay them as this was not covered in our 3 year warranty. This i did not like. The guy said that a person would call back later that nite, this being 5:20pm. Nobody phoned back that night. The next night a porson did phone back from dell software @ 20:50 and my dad answered the phone and did not want to go through doing it at this time, plus he explained to the man the problem and that i had just re instalkled everything and got the pc back up to 'my' standard with software and updates etc...The guy told my dad that he was going to get their manager to contact us to try and solve this problem, rather than we phone them. This was to be the next night. My dad again answered the phone and explained the situation again. Dell kept of instaling that it was a software problem.
In the mean time I have some ex-neighbours that i phoned and asked them what the problem might be and we came to the colclusion that is might be the power supply??
Anyway as what my dad said to the manager they said that the clase was closed and we did not what to re install XP and software again even if they were going to wave the charges this one time. We said on and the clase was closed.
Since then the PC has shut down again 2 or 3 times since. And i am getting really fed up of this, as i this is my PC that i use for uni work and its my final year - the important year - What is causing this.
when the pc does this all i am doing is in the net using IE or listening to music iTunes or in Photoshop.
Pease can some one shed soome light into the matter.
Sorry for the long-ish essay
Darren
02 October 2005, 09:24 PM
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One thing you might want to check is the CPU fan and heatsink. I had this a while back where the fan sometimes didn't spin up when booting so the CPU got hotter and hotter before shutting down, generally only when in windows and the strain on the CPU is greated.
David
David
03 October 2005, 08:43 AM
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Try pressing the delete keu or F1 key as the computer boots up, then go to hardware monitor or PC health in the bios and have a look at the temperature.
If it is 50°C or above without any CPU load then there is a fan/cooling problem either at the PSU or CPU end.
May just need cleaning.
If it is 50°C or above without any CPU load then there is a fan/cooling problem either at the PSU or CPU end.
May just need cleaning.
03 October 2005, 10:31 AM
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Although you have had a hardware check, seems to me that the problem is memory resident.
How many sticks of memory have you got in your pc. Also what brand of memory is it.
Many times have i gone out to repair computers after customers explaining that the hardware is fine, but then i have found that the memory has a faulty chip.
www.pc-medic.net
How many sticks of memory have you got in your pc. Also what brand of memory is it.
Many times have i gone out to repair computers after customers explaining that the hardware is fine, but then i have found that the memory has a faulty chip.
www.pc-medic.net
03 October 2005, 11:06 AM
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I have got two sticks of 512mb. the make is Kingston. It is the right type of ram for this PC. I orignally had two sticks of 256mb kingston that that dell put in.
Keey point: The PC still sunt down before i put the new ram in.
Darren
Keey point: The PC still sunt down before i put the new ram in.
Darren
Originally Posted by John1uk
Although you have had a hardware check, seems to me that the problem is memory resident.
How many sticks of memory have you got in your pc. Also what brand of memory is it.
Many times have i gone out to repair computers after customers explaining that the hardware is fine, but then i have found that the memory has a faulty chip.
www.pc-medic.net
How many sticks of memory have you got in your pc. Also what brand of memory is it.
Many times have i gone out to repair computers after customers explaining that the hardware is fine, but then i have found that the memory has a faulty chip.
www.pc-medic.net
03 October 2005, 11:37 AM
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what model is your computer.
if the problem is not your memory then i might sugest a post above that explains about the heatsink/fan. also unplug any usb devices from your pc, just incase you have a usb issue.
if the problem is not your memory then i might sugest a post above that explains about the heatsink/fan. also unplug any usb devices from your pc, just incase you have a usb issue.
03 October 2005, 11:43 AM
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Mine kept rebooting, sometimes 4 times a day, following a Radeon driver upgrade...
I restored back a month and the reboots stopped. The lesson I learnt was don't upgrade device drivers, unless you have a specific problem that the latest driver addresses.
I restored back a month and the reboots stopped. The lesson I learnt was don't upgrade device drivers, unless you have a specific problem that the latest driver addresses.
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03 October 2005, 12:08 PM
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It a Dell dimension 8300 dektop pc.
Originally Posted by John1uk
what model is your computer.
if the problem is not your memory then i might sugest a post above that explains about the heatsink/fan. also unplug any usb devices from your pc, just incase you have a usb issue.
if the problem is not your memory then i might sugest a post above that explains about the heatsink/fan. also unplug any usb devices from your pc, just incase you have a usb issue.
03 October 2005, 12:08 PM
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When the pc reboots does it just shutdown instantly or give you any errors/warnings?
You really need to check the temps of your CPU to make sure its not heat related.
Once your sure its not heat related then you can look at memory or power.
You really need to check the temps of your CPU to make sure its not heat related.
Once your sure its not heat related then you can look at memory or power.
03 October 2005, 12:24 PM
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The Computer just shuts down on it own accord, no warning is given.
btw, i looked the bios and i could not see anything related to 'hardware monitor or PC health'.
How else could i check the temps??
Darren
btw, i looked the bios and i could not see anything related to 'hardware monitor or PC health'.
How else could i check the temps??
Darren
Originally Posted by GaryScoobNCBR
When the pc reboots does it just shutdown instantly or give you any errors/warnings?
You really need to check the temps of your CPU to make sure its not heat related.
Once your sure its not heat related then you can look at memory or power.
You really need to check the temps of your CPU to make sure its not heat related.
Once your sure its not heat related then you can look at memory or power.
03 October 2005, 12:30 PM
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ok do this for me plz.
go to control panel> administrative tools> event viewer.
in event viewer click on system. then look for errors and double clcik them plz.
a new window will open and the error will be shown. plz cut and paste the errors for me on here. look for the ones that seems to be the same on numours occasions.
go to control panel> administrative tools> event viewer.
in event viewer click on system. then look for errors and double clcik them plz.
a new window will open and the error will be shown. plz cut and paste the errors for me on here. look for the ones that seems to be the same on numours occasions.
03 October 2005, 12:49 PM
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Done that, i too a print screen or screen dump for you
sorry its so big.
Darren
sorry its so big.
Darren
Originally Posted by John1uk
ok do this for me plz.
go to control panel> administrative tools> event viewer.
in event viewer click on system. then look for errors and double clcik them plz.
a new window will open and the error will be shown. plz cut and paste the errors for me on here. look for the ones that seems to be the same on numours occasions.
go to control panel> administrative tools> event viewer.
in event viewer click on system. then look for errors and double clcik them plz.
a new window will open and the error will be shown. plz cut and paste the errors for me on here. look for the ones that seems to be the same on numours occasions.
Last edited by SC008Y_MAD; 03 October 2005 at 06:32 PM.
03 October 2005, 12:54 PM
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thanx but i need more.
double click the errors and paste them on here for me. from what i see you have a cough cough problem mate. lets get this sorted for you.
plz have dates and times in order ie....newest date at top then oldest date underneath.
double click the errors and paste them on here for me. from what i see you have a cough cough problem mate. lets get this sorted for you.
plz have dates and times in order ie....newest date at top then oldest date underneath.
03 October 2005, 01:13 PM
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PM sent
Originally Posted by John1uk
pm me your phone number. your problem is not in the event viewer. it seems to be power. but i need to clarify this.
john
john
03 October 2005, 01:21 PM
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03 October 2005, 01:56 PM
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RESULT!
Phoned Dell and spoke to a technical support staff and i explaind the persisting porblem + they had records of your previos phone calls, she then put me onto Technical support manager and we dusscessed the problem just to make sure. I said that i had spoken to a Computer Technician suggesting that it might be the power supply she said that the PC will have to be collected to sort this problem out... The manager said it might be, but they will check it out...Either the power supply, Heat sinck or even the processor. So they are going to collect the PC tomorrow and sort ot out once and for all. They said i will get it back in 5-7 working days 
Anyway make thanks for the phone call and what you suggested. A mate of mine who is a PC modder and some ex neighbours who know lots about the PC and I have been thinking that i might be the power supply. Fingers corssed.
Cheers
Darren
Anyway make thanks for the phone call and what you suggested. A mate of mine who is a PC modder and some ex neighbours who know lots about the PC and I have been thinking that i might be the power supply. Fingers corssed.
Cheers
Darren
03 October 2005, 03:52 PM
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It really wouldnt hurt to install a motherboard monitor and check the temps first before you loose the pc for a few days.
Could be as simple as a fan failure causing it to over heat.
Have you added much hardware to the PC since you purchased it?
Could be as simple as a fan failure causing it to over heat.
Have you added much hardware to the PC since you purchased it?
03 October 2005, 04:18 PM
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All i have added is a 120gb hdd inaddiation to the one that was in there (80gb) and 2x 512mb ram instead of 2x 256mb of ram.
Darren
Darren
Originally Posted by GaryScoobNCBR
It really wouldnt hurt to install a motherboard monitor and check the temps first before you loose the pc for a few days.
Could be as simple as a fan failure causing it to over heat.
Have you added much hardware to the PC since you purchased it?
Could be as simple as a fan failure causing it to over heat.
Have you added much hardware to the PC since you purchased it?
03 October 2005, 04:45 PM
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Originally Posted by SC008Y_MAD
All i have added is a 120gb hdd inaddiation to the one that was in there (80gb) and 2x 512mb ram instead of 2x 256mb of ram.
Darren
Darren
03 October 2005, 06:31 PM
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Yes and no. it is above it, with a small gap.
darren
darren
Originally Posted by John1uk
Darren, is the new hdd directly above or below the original hdd? with no gaps?
03 October 2005, 07:39 PM
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We had a server randomly shutting down at work, no explanation for ages, turned out some new drives had been fitted and when backups kicked in the load on the psu was such that it tipped it over the edge and it shut down.
04 October 2005, 06:14 PM
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Pc went away today (this morning 9am) so will be with out it untill early next week
But i am using out 5 ish year old Dell 8100 PC. I thought that mine was slow
Just spent the best part of this afternoon getting all the updates for it as this PC (the one that i am using now to type this) has not been connected to the net in ages. What a mission it all was.
Darren
But i am using out 5 ish year old Dell 8100 PC. I thought that mine was slow
Just spent the best part of this afternoon getting all the updates for it as this PC (the one that i am using now to type this) has not been connected to the net in ages. What a mission it all was.
Darren