Computer keeps shutting off and on
By sirnose
@sirnose (2436)
United States
October 17, 2011 1:44pm CST
I’m having a problem with my Dell D600 it had been overheating and caught a very nasty virus. I fix all these problems now for no known reason my computer shuts down and reboots itself continuously and sometime it will just click off and I would have to reboot the computer.
Some techies say it could be my on/off switch and some say it’s my harddrive or the motherboard is defective. just wondering what do some of you think the problem could be? I've look at some parts at a computer store and the clerk told me if I buy the computer parts and they don't work I can not return the computer parts.
It's cheaper this way than buying another computer which I'm in the process of doing but if I could just get a little bit more life out of this one for a few more months I could buy me a new computer.
1 person likes this
7 responses
@lovedude (4447)
• India
17 Oct 11
first of all.. try to start your laptop in safe mode with networking.. don't connect with internet for almost an hour.. is it getting shutdown? no? 2 possibilities your system just infected with virus or it's just heating issue.. if it shutdown or reboot.. mostly hardware issue.. either hard disk having bad sector or heating issue.
if it's virus issue you can definitely do backup all data and format the best way to cure from virus.
if it's issue of heating.. you can check temperature from BIOS.. start lappy.. go to BIOS.. see temperature.. keep it on if its increasing its fan issue..
check for bad sector using CHKDSK /F command whenever you can start your system.. to check if your hard disk having some issue..
Good Luck..
3 people like this
@kareng (56291)
• United States
18 Oct 11
I agree with the above statements. Could be either one so check it out a little bit further.
Also, all viruses are not easily detected. And it could be a malware issue as well. Good luck in getting your computer fixed! Hate when mine is down!
1 person likes this
@waflay (2737)
• Nairobi, Kenya
17 Oct 11
Hi, is it a desk top or a laptop? I'm not much conversant with laptops but I have some knowledge about ordinary PCs. If the computer keeps on going on and off,then the power system is the one having a fault on it two power capacitors. Those can be removed and replaced with new ones, but surprisingly they are much costly than buying a new power supply. Mine too had that problem with overheating because the power supply fan was not running, then it reached a time when booting it took more time to be fully on and such nasty problems. I bought a new power supply and till now, it has no any problem.
1 person likes this
@waflay (2737)
• Nairobi, Kenya
18 Oct 11
I don't much about them but in my experience with power supplies, the over heating thing is good indicator that your power supply is faulty. Do you sometimes experience an effect of short circuit when touch it? If yes, then that is power supply that is having a fault. The power supply mostly comes as an independent circuit, having the capacitors that I talked about earlier, as I said buying the capacitors is much costly than buying the whole power supply- so its better you go for a whole power supply system. And it is easy to plug in a power supply than to remove and solder up new capacitors.
1 person likes this
@SuperJelly (320)
• Malawi
18 Oct 11
It could be a virus infection. If you have the OS installation CD with you, just insert it and run Repairs it will work perfectly. I mean if this has nothing to do with hardware. After this, install a good antivirus.
1 person likes this
@ravi_s2025 (510)
• India
18 Oct 11
If you want to know if it is a OS issue then reinstall the whole OS ,but i am sure that it is not just a problem caused by virus.You said it is overheating,but what temperature is it idling?I guess it is a hardware issue.call your computer person and they will check for the actual problem.The problem could be faulty motherboard, or even the power supply.They are able find it very easily.
Actually most of the computer parts comes with a 3 year warranty,including motherboard,processor and RAM and HDD.So why are you worried about it going defective when you buy a new one?Dont buy a new computer for the failure of just a single part.Also it is always better to replace a damaged part than trying to get it repaired unless it is in guarantee period,especially if it is motherboard.My mobo got damaged like 3 times in 2 months and i got it replaced with another one.
1 person likes this
@sreekutty (1051)
• India
18 Oct 11
This happened in my brothers house. The power went off and the computer was not shut down in the proper way. So the system would start and get turned off. The technician took only ten minutes to repair it. please call someone who is adept at this and try to turn off evrytime slowly without rush. Also try to give the laptop a break wihout continuous use which might heat it up.
1 person likes this
@ReViewMeMedia (3785)
• United States
24 Oct 11
Try to see if you can get it into safe mode, then run your antivirus scanner and see if you can remove it.
