What causes computer to shut off while working?

My computer suddenly shuts off for no particular reason. It cannot be started up unless it is unplugged for a few seconds then plugged back in. Any idea what is going on? Sometimes it does it surfing eBay. Other times Google. Lately it has done it 3 or 4 times in 1 day using photo processing software. No rhyme or reason.

Thanks
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
If you have to unplug it to get it to turn back on my guess its a psu issue. Have you tried just waiting a few minutes to see if it will turn back on? Usually if its overheating, you just have to wait until the cpu cools back down.
 
If you have to unplug it to get it to turn back on my guess its a psu issue. Have you tried just waiting a few minutes to see if it will turn back on? Usually if its overheating, you just have to wait until the cpu cools back down.

No, have not tired letting it cool down. It really heats up when doing video work, the internal fan roars, so I use an external fan to pump air in. It has never shut down even when you can feel the heat coming out of it.
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
If your temps are within normal range, I'd replace the power supply. Gotta know those first though before saying that for sure.
 
I think the little fan inside may not be working. I have a mini desktop. It used to pump out heat like a blow dryer when I'd do some video processing. Now don't hear the fan. I ran a small external fan to blow air inside and it seems to work OK now. All the shutdowns have been non-video work, just average use. Need more use to tell if external fan fixed it.
 
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