Hi - i hope someone can help me. For the last week my pc has been randomly turning itself off. At first I thought it was connected to the printer but after uninstalling and reinstalling, the problem still happens. i have run spyware scans, virus scans, cleaned out the casing, disconnected the usb hub, changed the power cable, run memtest and tests temperatures. Nothing has come back unusual but still the pc cuts off for no reason. Sometimes it doesnt even start windows before it cuts off, other times it can be 3 to 4 hours into a session. there is no rhyme nor reason. Has anyone got any ideas please? I saw previous posts about this some 3 to 4 years ago, but they came to no conclusion, so i am trying again. Thanks in advance Jan

maybe it's your power supply.

Well as I said, I changed the power cable but what else can I do to check?

Failing power supplies are common and can cause your symptoms. Check your PS. See response 4 in this: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... If it is failing, you can usually replace it with any decent standard sized standard ATX PS with the same capacity or greater. Standard (PS/2) power supply size - 86mm high, 150mm wide, 140mm deep, or 3 3/8" h x 5 7/8" w x 5 1/2" d , or very close to that, though the depth can be more or less for some PSs. Don't buy an el-cheapo PS. See response 3 in this: http://www.computing.net/answers/ha... ....... Examine the mboard to see if you have bad capacitors, and/or other findable signs of mboard damage . This was the original bad capacitor problem - has some example pictures. History of why the exploding capacitors and which mboard makers were affected: http://members.datafast.net.au/~dft... What to look for, mboard symptoms, example pictures: http://www.badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5 Home page that site - what the problem is caused by - he says there are STILL bad capacitors on more recent mboards. http://www.badcaps.net/ Pictures of blown capacitors, other components, power supplies, Athlon cpu's, etc.: http://www.halfdone.com/Personal/Jo...

Last post is a good one if the problem happen consistantly u can try unplugging power to different componants in the pc and see if it still shuts down it possible that the psu is insufficent for the pc look at the caps around the cpu area and see if they are swollen and or leaking this will also look like a bad psu