unscheduled shut downs

[MPTech]

my friend contacted my earlier today about his PC shutting down:

PC just arbitrarily shuts itself off (not touching anything)? It just decides to do a hard shut down periodically. Started doing this several times per day now. Hardware or software issue? I ran a registry checker on it and found a bunch of problems and cleared them off but it’s still doing it (just did it again minute ago).

I suggested it may be related to overheating, especially the CPU fan and he informed me that it's a laptop (no cpu fan(?), but he'll check the case fan when he gets home.

Any other ideas?

[Train]

The air passages are probably plugged up.

Seen that more than a few times. Cleaning them is normally all that is needed.

[MPTech]

ok, he's going to check that the fan is working, I'll tell him to blow it out with compressed air too.

[Broni]

Download, and install SpeedFan: http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php
Post your computer temperatures:



Provide processor info (hold Windows key, and hit Pause/Break key to find out).

[SpywareDr]

Before he hits it with compressed air, tell him to block the fan blades with something. Spinning the fan(s) too fast can destroy the bearings.