Need some help/ advise

[flyboyhunt05]

Hello all. I know I don't post much anymore, but I got a problem with my FS system that I can't figure out and figured I would turn to you guys for help. I just wanted to get an opinion before I go off replacing things that I don't need to. Here is my problem. My computer will boot up XP correctly, sometimes. When it does, it will let me log in and get to do whatever I want. After about maybe 15-20 minutes, without prompt, windows starts to shut down. When XP doesn't boot right, it gets to about the sign in screen and then shuts down. Another thing is that it will randomly turn on by itself unless the power is pulled from the power supply. I thought maybe at first, it was something I may have downloaded, but the system still does this even after taking off everything I recently downloaded. I now THINK the problem is the power supply going south on me, but I am not totally sure. I will say that the system is kinda old.... ok it's really old. So am I on the right track, or does it sound like something else is the culprit? Thanks in advance.

Flyboyhunt05

[Dangerousdave26]

On of my co-workers had the same issue on his laptop a few weeks ago. He brought it in for me to look at and I found it was a heating problem. Part because of the normal congestion but mostly because the HP Image Monitor program was pegging the CPU by 70% constantly. It would cause the system to over heat and shut down.

I disabled the program and that help with the over heating then I cleaned up start up programs half of the programs he had on it were starting when the laptop booted. Once we got it cleaned up it is running fine.

Look in task manager and see if you have anything using a lot of resources. Check your Fans to make sure they are working first. Clean all of the cooling fins and go from there.

[stansdds]

Yes, make sure the inside of the case and all the heat sinks are free of dust and that the cooling fans are working. Aside from that, a failing power supply may be the culprit.

[flyboyhunt05]

Well, checked all the fans and heat sinks, cleaned the what small amount of dust there was, tried to fire it up, and no video feed coming off the video card. Switched the video card to a older one I had that didn't need a line from the power supply, and it worked. This is looking more and more like a power supply problem to me. When it did start working again, no programs were running the CPU up to high and it only pegged at maybe 25% usage at idle. So I am guessing that this is a power supply problem. Thanks guys.