This happened to my Packard Bell! No matter what I did, it continued to shut itself down after a short period of time. Come to find out, it was overheating and therefore, shutting itself down. The fan inside the power supply had stopped and eventually, the insides of the power supply started melting. I kid you not! Because Packard Bell was so proprietary, I couldn't replace it and had to buy a new computer...thus, I the Dell.
Check to make sure your fan is working in the power supply!!! Do NOT run it if it isn't until you get that bad boy replaced.
After your system has cooled down, open the case and remove the green cover over the fan. Below that is a large set of aluminum fins. This is the processor heat sink. Check to be sure that it is not loose. If it has come loose, or if the mounting bracket on the motherboard has broken, this will easily account for your problem. The mounting bracket may be available without having to purchase a new motherboard.
Had the same problem with my dimension 4550 when it arrived brand new from dell. As Steve said, it was the fan thingy, in my case it got lose in transport.
If you moved your pc recently that same thing might have happened or maybe something broke. It's worth checking because the symptoms you describe are identical to my prob. good luck!
I have a packard bell 'all in one' desktop and it keeps going off and i thank you for info i think it maybe the fan but it is on all the time and is quite noisy but if it keeps it cool then thats ok.
carrie640
63 Posts
0
February 6th, 2005 14:00
BigBrother
2 Intern
•
4.8K Posts
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February 6th, 2005 16:00
Lipinski82,
After your system has cooled down, open the case and remove the green cover over the fan. Below that is a large set of aluminum fins. This is the processor heat sink. Check to be sure that it is not loose. If it has come loose, or if the mounting bracket on the motherboard has broken, this will easily account for your problem. The mounting bracket may be available without having to purchase a new motherboard.
Steve
AlienOne
3 Posts
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February 7th, 2005 22:00
robo567
1 Message
0
May 5th, 2012 06:00
I have a packard bell 'all in one' desktop and it keeps going off and i thank you for info i think it maybe the fan but it is on all the time and is quite noisy but if it keeps it cool then thats ok.
yours
robert