There are four computers in my house. The one with the problem is my mum's, which I almost never use, so I don't know very much about it. Here are the specs I do know, because I figure you'll need them: CPU: AMD Duron 1.3GHz Mobo: PC Chips, but don't know the model PSU: Not sure. It came with my Enermax Verre V770 case about 4 years ago, but I never used it, so I gave it to my mum when her PSU's fan became unbearably noisy. I think it's 350W. Graphics: Onboard Hard drive: 60GB, not sure of brand or model though RAM: 2 x 512MB, not a matched pair OS: Windows XP Home Edition with SP2 The computer has been working fine for the past few years. It's had its problems, yes, but lets stick to this one for now. Here's what happens: 1. Someone presses the Power button on the front. All seems normal. 2. POST screens do their usual stuff, all seems normal. 3. Windows XP logo fades onto screen and blue bar is animated. All seems normal. 4. After about 3 seconds after the logo fades in, the computer powers down. It doesn't restart, it powers down. The next time we switch it on, the following happens: 1. Someone presses the Power button on the front. All seems normal. 2. POST screens do their usual stuff, all seems normal. 3. Startup options appear. I press Enter because Start Windows Normally is already selected. 4. The countdown timer stops, but then nothing else happens and the computer stays on, frozen on that screen. So I press the Reset button, and the following occurs: 1. Someone presses the Power button on the front. All seems normal. 2. POST screens do their usual stuff, all seems normal. 3. Startup options appear. This time, I leave the countdown timer to reach zero so that Start Windows Normally is automatically selected. 4. A blocky, grey bar fills up at the bottom of the screen, then the Windows logo fades into view with the animated bar. 5. After about 3 seconds after the logo fades in, the computer powers down. It doesn't restart, it powers downs. Could anyone shed some light on how to fix this problem please? It only started doing this today, ad I am not sure why. Many thanks Col Immitation is the sincerest form of copyright infringement.

Sounds very much like a over heating problem. Take the lid of the case and check that the CPU fan is still working. If the CPU fan has failed that would account for the automatic shutdown as the CPU will heat up very fast without a fan. If you get the chance you should be able to check the CPU temps in the BIOS beforr it gets too hot. If it get above 60C in a matter of seconds then there's your problem. Stuart

Two things first come to mind. Power supply and the possibility the Duron1300 is overheating. The psu fix is to substitute another and see if the problem goes away. For the Duron; check to insure the heatsink fan is working and check the temperatures in BIOS. Those Morgan core Durons came with a small heatsink and fan. They also tend to run pretty hot. If temps in BIOS are in the 60-70°C range, problems are likely to occur. There should be an option in BIOS to shut down the machine if cpu temps reach a certain level (usually 70°C, 75°C, etc.) and/or an option to shut down if the cpu fan isn't spinning. It's possible the motherboard is just doing it's job. Skip

Well earlier this morning, before I got up, my mum apparently tried to get it going. She said she unplugged it from the mains and left it for a while and then plugged it in again. It seemed to work, because it now boots to Windows and doesn't power down. That suggests a PSU problem to me unless any of you have any other ideas? I used the opportunity of it working to check the CPU temp. It seems to be running at a steady temp of 69°C, but that's after idling in Windows for ages and me restarting it to access the BIOS. Immitation is the sincerest form of copyright infringement.

Waaaay too hot. You need to lose 15°C right now. Physically check the stuff Stuart and I outlined. 1. CPU fan spinning? 2. Heatsink/Fan clogged with dust? 3. Might be time to clean and reapply thermal compound. Other than cleaning the psu, don't worry about it right now. Skip