# [SOLVED] System boots up, then shuts down.



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

My main Windows 8 computer recently developed a problem: It starts up, boots up, and then, just about as soon as I finish logging in, it shuts down cold. When it shuts down it will not restart from the front panel on/off or reset switch; I have to pull the 120v plug and then plug it back in before the system will respond.

The first time this happened I pulled the side off the tower and found the CPU cooler blocked with crud. I vacuumed it out, pulled the CPU cooler and gave it a fresh coat of thermal grease, then tried again. Same story. I thought that perhaps the CPU had been damaged by high temperatures, so I obtained a new CPU (Core 2 Duo E7600) and fan cooler and swapped them out. The hardware monitor in the setup screen shows that the new CPU is running a lot cooler but still, after 3 to 5 minutes the system shuts down.

The power supply, chassis and video card are vintage 2007; in 2010 when the original mobo gave out I swapped motherboard, CPU and hard disk as well as upgrading to Windows 7. Late last year I upgraded to Windows 8. There have been no recent hardware or software changes, and the system is (was) used frequently. I don't want to just keep swapping parts; if the problem is something simple like a bad power supply then I don't mind fixing it and continuing on but if it needs major surgery then I'm just inclined to save my pennies and start building a new system from the ground up.

Any suggestions for this situation?


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

HI and Welcome to TSF!

Full make and model number of everything found inside the PC?

Can you boot to the BIOS at all?


----------



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*



> Can you boot to the BIOS at all?


Oh, yes; that's where I was able to access the hardware monitor to verify that my CPU temps had dropped. The system will crash stop while in BIOS also, though, if I leave it run for more than 3-5 minutes.



> Full make and model number of everything found inside the PC?


I don't have access to my old emails so I don't remember all of the details, but here are the essentials [along with year purchased].

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 3.06 GHz; socket 775 [2013]
Motherboard: ASUS P5QPL-AM [2010]
RAM: 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 MHz [2010]
Video card: EVGA 8600GT 256MB [2007]
TV Tuner/Capture: AverMedia AVerTV Combo G2 PCIe TV Tuner [2007]
The case and the power supply was a no-name combo unit with 450W PSU purchased from TigerDirect as part of a package deal.
Primary HDD: Seagate ST3500418AS (500 GB SATA) [2010]
Secondary HDD: Western Digital WDC WD3200AAJB-00J (320 GB IDE Master) [2010]
DVD-RW: Optiarc (IDE Slave) [2007]

The new CPU cooler is a CoolerMaster. There is also a 120mm intake cooling fan in the front of the case and 2 80mm exhaust cooling fans in the rear of the case.

ETA: Motherboard BIOS version is 0314 dated 7/22/09. Windows 8 is the 64 bit version.


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

Go into the BIOS and let me know of the 12V, 3.3V, 5V and VCORE voltages.


----------



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Go into the BIOS and let me know of the 12V, 3.3V, 5V and VCORE voltages.


12V: 12.408V
3.3V: 3.296V
5V: 5.248V
VCORE: 1.312V

On the reboot after leaving BIOS, a screen came up which I had not seen before with the Windows 8 logo and the words, "Trying Automatic Repair". After about a minute of the wait animation, I received the message, "Windows did not load correctly. Would you like to restore the system to a point at which it worked correctly?" I understood this to mean returning to a restore point, and I approved the action. The system ran for several minutes during the restore process with the Windows logo and wait animation displayed, then rebooted. However, as soon as the reboot left the BIOS and began to load Windows, the machine crashed. That's where I left it last.

I should also mention, in case it becomes relevant, that I have a full current Acronis True Image backup of both hard drives on my NAS, as well as my original Window 7 install disk (Win8 was a downloaded upgrade). I also have an Acronis restore disk for that computer (which I have not tried using yet).

Thanks for your help so far.


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

So the PC isn't now crashing until it attempts to boot to Windows?

Please preform a hard drive test using this guide here: 

How to perform a Seagate's Seatools Test | Tech Support Forum


----------



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> So the PC isn't now crashing until it attempts to boot to Windows?
> 
> Please preform a hard drive test using this guide here:
> 
> How to perform a Seagate's Seatools Test | Tech Support Forum


It's very inconsistent. It stayed up for that restore point process, then crashed when it rebooted into Windows. I loaded the DOS version of SeaTools to perform that test, and it crashed immediately when I began a long test of the primary drive. I rebooted SeaTools again and it ran a short test of both drives (both passed) without incident. I am trying the long test again, and it's at the 10% mark on the 500GB drive and still going.


----------



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

No need to preform the long test. The article doesn't ask for it anyways, only the short test :wink:

If it passed the short that means the hard drive is working.

Where did you get the download of Windows 8 from?


----------



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> No need to preform the long test. The article doesn't ask for it anyways, only the short test :wink:
> 
> If it passed the short that means the hard drive is working.
> 
> Where did you get the download of Windows 8 from?


hxxp://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=262XXX

That's copied and pasted from my Microsoft invoice, which is dated 10/28/12.


----------



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

It completed the long test OK...that was 90 minutes of run time. Now it's doing the "Diagnosing your PC" and "Attempting Repairs" thing again.

I've got to get some sleep. Back tomorrow afternoon....


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

Let me know if it finds any repairs.

Will it boot to Safe Mode?


----------



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

I haven't been able to find a Safe Mode booting option. I've tried F8, but all that does is bring up the boot device menu.

I tried using that Acronis rescue disk; it is supposed to have a System Report feature but when booting from that disk the computer kept crashing and resetting literally every 10-15 seconds. Why would it run for two hours last night doing the SeaTools test but no more than a few seconds from the rescue disk? (My malware protection is AVG Internet Security, if that is relevant.)

I'm very near to using SeaTools to wipe the main hard drive, then restore from the original software and my backup. But I'm willing to try a few other things first, if there are any suggestions.


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

What's the make and model number of your PSU?


----------



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> What's the make and model number of your PSU?


Here's the link to the original catalog item:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2549296

I don't see any sign of a manufacturer's name on the power supply. The sticker just says, "ATX Switching Power Supply 450W" and lists outputs and voltages.


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

According to your voltage readings that you gave me the PSU is providing the correct amount of power but after seeing all that you described it still sounds like a PSU failure.

Plus that PSU is pretty low quality.


----------



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

All right, a replacement power supply shouldn't be too expensive. I'll give it a try.

Any brands you would recommend? I plan to stay with about the same size unit; I'm not going to add any new hardware to this box.


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

A XFX or Seasonic branded PSU are the only recommended power supplies as they are top quality.

Let me ask another tech just to take a look before you go buy a new PSU.


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

Having to unplug to reset the PSU usually means the power supply is failing, do you have another to test with?


----------



## ehbowen (Sep 3, 2013)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

It does look as if the problem was the power supply all along. While I couldn't find an XFX or Seasonic PSU in stock locally, I did find a Thermaltake TR2 450W unit at a reasonable price. I installed it earlier this afternoon, and as of right now it has been running 5 hours with no crashes. I have rebooted several times to install updates and repair corrupted files, and I had to uninstall and reinstall AVG completely (the update function was stuck in an infinite loop), but it seems that I am back up and running. Thanks for the advice.


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: System boots up, then shuts down.*

Good to hear you have it up and running.


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Glad to see this as [SOLVED] :smile:


----------

