Problem with my pc... Can anyone help?

[Zio]

Hi all!

I'm having a problem with my pc and was wondering if any of you tekkies out there might have an idea of how I might be able to solve it, or at least point me in the right direction.

Here it is: whenever I play a video file my pc shuts down and reboots (sometimes it happens within a few minutes and sometimes it happens after viewing half a movie...), and sometimes it shuts down completely and I have to flick off and then back on the power switch in order to be able to reboot.

I usually view video files with vlc media player (mostly for the divx files) and windows media player, but the shutdown happens when I view any kind of video file, as well as when I view video files directly from a site on explorer, or from a dvd/cd rom and, most problematic, when I'm editing.

I'll be taking my pc to the doctor on thursday but thought I might get some help here as well.

FYI, I have a NVIDIA GeForce PCX5750 video card and I updated the drivers last week thinking this might help solve the problem, but it didn't work. The pc is a Pentium 4, 3.00/3.01 GHz, with 4 GB of RAM and my OS is Windows XP professional and the automatic updates are current.

I would appreciate any input in this matter and I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this.

Be well,
Zio

[bluebrit]

My first guess would be to see if your video card is over heating. If so that could trigger a shut down to protect your pc from further damage.

A basic test for this is to try running a video with the case open so more air gets in and see if you have the same problem.

If there is no temp diagnostic for the card that will tell you the running temperature, carefully put your hand on the heatsink over the cpu and see how hot it is.

Before doing anything inside the case, touch the casing with your other hand, to make sure you are grounded and have no static in your body.

Video cards can get really hot hence i say carefully. If it is getting very hot, it can affect the card and the components surrounding the card that are directly on the motherboard.

Make sure the fan on the video card (if there is one) is clean and running freely and make sure the air holes in your casing and around your cooling fans are clean as well. All of the above can very quickly ruin a pc if not kept clean.

[NY Jester]

I second what Blue says, and also double check, that you have the newest version of WMP installed. A buddy of mine used to have an old flash player installed and everytime he would go to play a flash movie or video hed get booted from the site he was on. COuld be very simple, always start at the lowest and work your way up..saves $$ that way.

J-

[Sleep[Walker]]

Try to boot in the safe mode and check the existence of the problem.
This step sometimes may ensure you that you have/don't have any disgusting processes running.

[RageCash-Ben]

throw in a cheap video card and see what happens

[murray]

The power supply big enough to cope with the load?

[Zio]

Thanks for your help and tips gents.

I will try to do all that you mentioned.

Murray:
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by power supply, but the pc is not new (I've had it for a couple of years and have recently upgraded the ram to 4GB...) and this problem has only been happening in the last couple of months. So maybe you can explain what exactly do you mean and pardon my ignorance...

Sleep[Walker]:
Do you mean I should run it in safe-mode and try to run a video and see if the problem presents itself? Pardon my ignorance as well...|confused|

RageCash-Ben:
I'll have the doctor try that and see what he says.

bluebrit:
What you say makes perfect sense and I'll surely mention it to the doctor. What bugs me though, is: why would this problem be happening only recently, while the pc had been running without a glitch for over 2 years?!? But I'll definitely give it a try myself if I can find some time later today.

In any event, thanks again for your replies and I'll be sure to mention all that you pointed out when I'll see the doctor tomorrow. I'll let you know what happens.

Be well,
Zio

[koolkat]

You say it only when you watch videos or does this happen after a period of time while doing anything?

If it does it with anything, then I would go with something overheating and the computer shutting itself down to prevent damage.

If it is just while playing movies, then I would go with saying that either the file is corrupt or the movie player file is. I would try uninstalling the video player, and and then uploading a clean copy. If it still does it, then I would go with the booting in safe mode and trying since there is obviously something conflicting with the software. I would also run a full virus scan on your computer. You may have a virus on your computer which is causing this problem.

[murray]

Say you have a power supply and its all good and fine, you then add some new RAM a new non self-powered USB device or two, you fire up the machine and load a video, well what can happen is your machine with the new parts might need more power than the PS can supply so it shuts down.

It might run fine untill you have to push the machine to perform.

[papagmp]

Originally Posted by Zio

bluebrit:
What you say makes perfect sense and I'll surely mention it to the doctor. What bugs me though, is: why would this problem be happening only recently, while the pc had been running without a glitch for over 2 years?!?

Components fail - if the fan failed, expect it to overheat - and heat is the major reason for failure of any electrical component. I have the same video card in one of my machines and it works fine. My main machine has 7 SCSI 15K hard drives and dual xeon processors and it can get HOT - to keep the temp down, it has 7 case fans plus the cpu and video board fans. And yes, it has a whopper of a power-supply in it too. Only drawback is it sounds a lot like a large aircraft.......

[Zio]

Originally Posted by murray

Say you have a power supply and its all good and fine, you then add some new RAM a new non self-powered USB device or two, you fire up the machine and load a video, well what can happen is your machine with the new parts might need more power than the PS can supply so it shuts down.

It might run fine untill you have to push the machine to perform.

Geez murray, that is kinda spooky, cause what you're mentioning is exactly what I did in the past 3 months (I upped the ram and bought a couple of external HDs for storage) and the problem has been happening after adding the 2nd external drive... I think you might have hitten the nail right on the head...

FYI, I checked and the fan on the card is running fine, the inside of the case is clean, and I haven't noticed any overheating. I tried running videos with the case open and the problem keeps happening.

I'll have the software reinstalled and the doc will check for software conflict, I'll see what he'll say and let you know.

Also, thanks everyone for your imput, I got my list ready and will be off to the clinic momentarily.

Be well!

[koolkat]

Originally Posted by Zio

Geez murray, that is kinda spooky, cause what you're mentioning is exactly what I did in the past 3 months (I upped the ram and bought a couple of external HDs for storage) and the problem has been happening after adding the 2nd external drive... I think you might have hitten the nail right on the head...

FYI, I checked and the fan on the card is running fine, the inside of the case is clean, and I haven't noticed any overheating. I tried running videos with the case open and the problem keeps happening.

I'll have the software reinstalled and the doc will check for software conflict, I'll see what he'll say and let you know.

Also, thanks everyone for your imput, I got my list ready and will be off to the clinic momentarily.

Be well!

Well... I would say in that case to just start disconnecting things. I honestly don't think it is the power supply if the problem is only occurring when playing movie files. That sounds more like a corrupt software issue.

[Aspire]

Most of what you should try has been mentioned. You may not have to swap the video card out, as your mobo is likely to have onboard, and you could just connect the monitor to the onboard video and see if that fixes it.

Try booting with the bare minimum hooked into the computer. Keyboard and mouse, nothing else, and see if you get the problem.

The last thing I'd try is to see how far back you can do a system restore, and then restore to that point. You said three months, so try for 4-6, but you could lose anything you've installed since.

I've had many components die over the years, randomly. I had a stick of ram go bad that caused XP blue screens whenever it felt like it. Hard drives that just die. An old mobo had the AGP slot die. I burned out a P4 2.8ghz chip a couple years ago. Shit just dies.

As a very last resort, i'd do a full format with everything you need backed up. If you do that, and still have the issues with a clean xp with proper direct X and current vid card drivers, then it is pretty much guaranteed to be a hardware issue.