Hello and my name is Christian and I am new to the forums.

Recently my brothers computer has been shutting down on its own after a certain period of time. If my brother is burning something to dvd, it will shut down after 20 min. If he is just watching something on his computer, such as a sitcom it will lag and then shut down after about an hour.

Computer Specs:

Windows XP SP2 (with all updates)
MSI P965 Platinum
2 GB Kingston DDR2 PC5300
Intel P4 541 3.2GHz
80GB Seagate 7200RPM and 1 WD 250GB 7200RPM
512MB Sapphire ATI Radeon X1300
425W PSU (Just For PC is the brand name (it came with the case)

I need any help I can get. I hope I have provided you with enough information so let you assist me as much as possible.

How does it shut down? Just powers off? Freezes? Any error messages?

First guess is heat.

Is it an old computer? Has it ever been cleaned inside?

If there are error messages this post might help:

http://www.d-a-l.com/help/showthread.php?t=50190

If it just freezes or powers off then it is most likely a hardware problem.

MemTest is always worth trying:

http://www.memtest.org/

wow. very detailed post for a problem.

1) No messages what so ever.
2) No freezing. Just powers off. I have a can of compressed air (I think that is what you call it but I have no idea how to use it)
3) As far as Memtest goes which do I download? Do I boot it off a floppy or CD? If floppy does the floppy have to be bootable for it to work properly?

MemTest floppy is the easiest to do.

http://www.memtest.org/download/1.70....70.floppy.zip

Unzip the download and see if there is a Read Me for instructions. Been a long time since I made one.

If it asks for a boot disk than create the boot disk by inserting a floppy and right clicking A: under My Computer then: Create a MS-DOS boot disk. Then add MemTest.

Yet again MemTest might create its own boot disk.

But yes it is a boot disk.

Enter your BIOS Setup and ensure that the Floppy drive is the first to boot.


As to cleaning just open the case and have a look. If there is a lot of dust try gently blowing it out with the canned air. Do not blast it and keep it upright so no moisture is released.

* Run from floppydisk

Memtest86+ is directly executable by any modern x86 compatible machine,
by writing the bootable binary to a floppy disk one can boot from the
disk to run memtest.

Simply download the appropriate package, the Pre-Compiled Bootable Binary
(.gz) package for Linux users and the Pre-Compiled package for Floppy
(DOS - Win) for Windows users.

For Windows, unzip the package into a directory like C:\memtest, insert a
blank floppy into your a: disk drive and run the install.bat file. As the
install prompts you, to use memtest directly, leave the disk in the drive
and reboot your machine.


http://forum.x86-secret.com/showthread.php?t=2807

Ok. I started the memtest86. What should I be aware of? How long will it take for 2GB of ram? What do I do if there is an error?

If there were a major problem you would have seen it right away.

If it has run for say an hour with no errors then the RAM is probably fine.

Originally Posted by jephree

If there were a major problem you would have seen it right away.

If it has run for say an hour with no errors then the RAM is probably fine.

Currently I have had it running for about 3 hours and it has passed 4 tests. No errors have occurred. Should I stop the test or keep it running?

The RAM is probably fine.

I'd go ahead and clean it out and make sure the fans are working.

Thats a go for stopping the test right? Btw the air spray, it is good when aimed at the mobo for dust removal? fans? cpu heatsink?