Weird PC trouble

[cdcq12]

I am quite good with computers and can solve quite a few problems, however, I have run into a little glitch. My computer is shutting down randomnly every so often. I have no viruses and no settings that will shut down the computer. Do any of you have any ideas as to what is wrong with my computer?

[mjc]

Heat or power supply...check/clean all heatsinks and air intakes.

Test the power supply with a multimeter or PSU tester...

[Whyzman]

One additional thought would be to also run a RAM tester: www.memtest86.com

[cdcq12]

I'll try that thanks!

[cdcq12]

In the meantime, would you have any other suggestions as to what might be the problem?

[cdcq12]

Whyzman, that memtest doesn't seem to be working for me. Am I missing something?

[Whyzman]

Are you putting in on floppy?

[cdcq12]

How am I supposed to do it? (the recommended way?)

[Whyzman]

A common mistake is to download the zip file directly to the A: drive...

If you have a floppy drive you would want to download the program to desktop. It works best to create a folder on the desktop (name it memtest) and download into it. Right click the zip file and chose to extract the files into the folder. There will be an install icon which you want to double click to get the process going...

First, though, put a blank floppy into the floppy drive.

If I remember correctly, memtest is self-booting (it has system files to boot and load the program)...

[cdcq12]

There is no way that I can do it from a flash drive?

[mjc]

If your machine can boot to a USB device...maybe. But since most machines can't boot directly to a USB drive, that could be a bit of a problem.

There is also a CD version, an ISO that creates a bootable CD.

[cdcq12]

Thanks whyzman and mjc, ill try that.

[Whyzman]

No floppy? They're cheap and are a valuable diagnostic tool because they can do their thing before Windows even loads...

As mjc points out, you can also run this from CD... Again, happening before windows loads...

[cdcq12]

No floppy? They're cheap and are a valuable diagnostic tool because they can do their thing before Windows even loads...

As mjc points out, you can also run this from CD... Again, happening before windows loads...

You say that I can run it from CD, however when I use the process that I used to put the bootable file on a floppy, it won't work for a CD. Any suggestions?

[mjc]

There is a separate CD download. It is an ISO of a bootable CD...you need to burn it using the "Burn Image" option in your CD writing software...

[cdcq12]

O, thanks.