My PC has a Gremlin - Help

[mikeh65]

Here's my two cents. Start simple. If the PC runs for a while and the shuts off on it's own. It could be a heat issue. If you haven't open it up. Check the cooling fans and I do mean fans. Check the fans in the case, on the CPU, and on the Video Card if you have one. CLEAN them all. Check any filters also, clean them too. If you have to, start off with a vacume and suck out as much as possible. Then use compressed air, either in a can of from a compressor and blow out the dust. I would do all of this outside or in the garage. Lots of possible dust. Dust and high temps are the worst things for a computer, the easiest to fix, and most times, the most likely issues over looked.

Hope this helps.

[budude]

Originally Posted by mikeh65

Here's my two cents. Start simple. If the PC runs for a while and the shuts off on it's own. It could be a heat issue. If you haven't open it up. Check the cooling fans and I do mean fans. Check the fans in the case, on the CPU, and on the Video Card if you have one. CLEAN them all. Check any filters also, clean them too. If you have to, start off with a vacume and suck out as much as possible. Then use compressed air, either in a can of from a compressor and blow out the dust. I would do all of this outside or in the garage. Lots of possible dust. Dust and high temps are the worst things for a computer, the easiest to fix, and most times, the most likely issues over looked.

Hope this helps.

I'll second all of that - my son's HP box kept shutting off and when I opened it up there was dust in the CPU heatsink cooling fins - and really - not all that much. I cleaned it all out and it has run perfectly since. There are some tools on the web to tell you the fan speeds and CPU/MB temperatures depending on the MB make that can help as well.

[LabRat]

When your machine is open, be sure to scan/check for bulging capacitors. These are everywhere from PC's, to PowerSupplies, to LCD monitors. It's a relatively easy fix, if you identify that you have them.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

[rstehle]

I really appreciate all the replies. I want to shine more light on my issue. PC funs fine, all apps work. PC will start up and shut down as requested. After a backup, it will go in to Standby Mode as expected. After a couple of Off/On cycles (I leave it on all day, and shut off at night), it looses it's mind, and won't go automaticaly into Standy Mode. I can go in to Power Management, change settings, no effect. Iomega software is not scheduled to do a backukp (request only) Haven't loaded any new software myself, but who knows what I may have accidently downloaded. Not sure of what all processes are supposed to be running, so I don't know if something is there that shouldn't be. I have transfered some Word and Excel files back and forth from the XP Home machine to an XP Pro machine......
I'm wonding if it may be an MS update that got it screwy?

[ctmal]

There's quite a few things that can cause a machine not to go into sleep/hibernate modes.

You said you ran a full antivirus scan and spyware scan so I'll skip that. I will reinterate that you should only have 1 antivirus installed(you said McAfee) and 1 antispyware installed(I personally suggest Microsoft Defender).

Here's what I would try/check...
1. Make sure your c: drive is not running out of space.
2. Run Windows Update manually(through IE).
3. Update all your drivers...especially the chipset. If it's a big company name(Dell, HP, etc.) you can get the drivers from their website.
4. Take notice of what devices are connected to the computer...especially usb devices. If the symptoms continue you might want to remove a device at a time to check if they're causing the problem(a wacky device may be waking the computer when it's trying to go to sleep).
5. Check if your network card is set to Wake on LAN. Disable that if you're not using it.
6. When the computer goes nuts, take a look in Task Manager and see if there is any processes running that wouldnt' normally be running. It may also be taking alot of CPU cycles.
7. Check the event viewer for any warnings. These might point you in the right direction.

Since the problem does not seem to be directly following your backup and it appears that you rebooted since the backup was run I wouldn't suspect the backup software to be the issue. I would unplug the external drive though.

Oh, I almost forgot...check if there is anything running from Schduled tasks. If something is it might be keeping the computer awake.

I've got some more suggestions if those don't resolve your problem but that should do it for now.

[rstehle]

For now System Restore back to Jan 1st has Standby working again. Be interesting to see how long it stays sane..........
Windows is trying to do an update, but I am holding off for a few days. Thanks again for all the assistance.
Randy

[jpb]

Originally Posted by ctmal

Here's what I would try/check...
1. Make sure your c: drive is not running out of space.

That jogged my memory.
Do you get an error message if you try and force it into standby?
There is a bug in XP that it needs unfragmented disk space to store the memory image before hibernating, this could also affect standby.

I had this problem quite a while ago and had to download a patch from microsoft to fix it but it should be fixed in the standard software updates.
Defrag your drive and make sure your OS is up to date.

Have a look at these links
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909095
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907477


Jon