Computer shuts down

[ribakit01]

please help. I have a Dell 360. Simple set up: Windows XP. MS Office. Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard.
The computer randomly shuts off. No warning. The screen goes black. The light in the 'on-button' remains on, you can hear the fans and the hard-drive spinning, but nothing brings it back to on mode. It sounds like it's hibernating, but without waking up. The only way to get it back is to hard boot it off by holding the 'on-button' and then switching it on again.
Thank you
PS not sure if Hardware or Software problem.​

 

[BikerEcho]

is it when you are not using your pc. like watching a movie or something without you touching the keyboard or mouse.
if so:
have you overclocked the cpu?
overclocked cpu's dont like hibernating. i have a core i7 920 and if i overclock it to more the 3,3 ghz, it will do the same thing.
so you have to turn off hibernating.

 

[ribakit01]

The computer will shut off at any time. Usually durring a function like looking up stuff on the internet or typing a word doc. Very irregular.
How do you overclock or under clock the cpu? Can I underclock it so it doesn't hybernate? I don't want it to hybernate at all, but it seems that's what it's doing. (Hybernating without the option of waking)l

 

[BikerEcho]

i think you are missunderstanding something. underclocking will not help. it is just that hypernating is most likely not working when overclocked, but you dont have your PC overclocked.
i dont think now that it is hypernating.
does the fans spin faster when it happens?
does any screen come to show. like a blue screen or i black screen with some text?
have you tryed to have sound on at the time where it goes black. if so, did the sound continue?

 

[ribakit01]

The Hybernating is disabled. Should I enable it?
the screen turns black. no text or arrows show up. the fans and the hard drive keep spinning, but not any faster.

 

[sjw40364]

Do you have access to a different monitor to eliminate that as a possible cause? What temp is your graphic card running at? If you do not know here is a free program to find out.
GPU-Z Video card GPU Information Utility
This will at least tell us if it is a heating issue on the GPU.
Also unhook your monitor cables and blow out the connectors then make sure it is seated firmly, you would be surprised at how many times things are related to dirty or loose cables.
Also is your monitor power supplied by the computer or a separate power brick?
How old is your computer? Laptop, desktop? Separate graphics card or integrated graphics card?

 

[ribakit01]

do you have access to a different monitor to eliminate that as a possible cause? will try different monitor what temp is your graphic card running at? If you do not know here is a free program to find out.
gpu-z video card gpu information utility
this will at least tell us if it is a heating issue on the gpu. will try running gpu-z video
also unhook your monitor cables and blow out the connectors then make sure it is seated firmly, you would be surprised at how many times things are related to dirty or loose cables. checked cables all clean and secure
also is your monitor power supplied by the computer or a separate power brick? power from the same power strip (not from cpu)
how old is your computer? Laptop, desktop? Separate graphics card or integrated graphics card?

desktop about six years old. Graphics card not sure.

 

[ribakit01]

I am getting this message: 'monitor is in power save mode, turn on using pc'
I will try a different monitor.

 

[sjw40364]

Borrow one from a friend before you buy, it may be a GPU or cord issue and not a monitor issue. Also take your monitor to a friends house and try it ion theirs.

 

[ribakit01]

we tightened all the connections. it seemed to work the whole day. as i was watching you tube later that day the screen shut off again. i plugged in a different monitor and then the computer showed a message that the graphics card needed updated drivers. i set it up to update automatically.
is there another way to update the graphics card driver?