OT: desktop computer just turns off unexpectedly

[Dave Labrecque]

I'll be working along, doesn't seem to matter what I'm doing, usually with several apps open (maybe only because I've been working on taxes lately -- so lots of PDFs and spreadsheets and browser windows and QuickBooks and Quicken...), and, suddenly, the computer just shuts off. This has happened twice in the last week.

It shuts off every night automatically after my Macrium Reflect does an image backup, and I turn it on every morning. It's plugged into a decent UPS. In the past, when there have been power outages, the UPS keeps things running smoothly. This time, the computer dies, there's a beep from the UPS, I look down at the UPS, and it looks fine. Oh, and no power outage, either. I don't think so, anyway. The light in the room doesn't flicker (though it's an LED, and I'm not sure how they react to transient power interruptions). Turning the computer back on seems to go uneventfully (except that it can cause trouble with OpenOffice documents that I had open). My guess is that it's either the UPS or the computer's power supply that are bad. But what do I know?

Any thoughts? Any "usual suspect" for this kind of thing? Never experienced it before.

Currently running the computer off a power strip to see if it'll do it without the UPS in-line.

[mr_es335]

Dave,

Any changes to the box at all? Or is has been the same for a time?

How old is the system?

What OS?

Sometimes the motherboard will keep a log file of some sort - to determine if there are any thermal-type issues taking place.

[Butch Bos]

I have seen 2 UPS's that had relays that got dirty and would not make good contact

Butch

[Reujonik]

Did you check Macrium reflect default shutdown settings.

[Reujonik]

Silly me....of course it shuts down every night after an image backup, it,s when you,re working that it cuts out. In that case.....?????

[Richard Rupert]

You could check the UPS by plugging a CD player into it set to constantly replay (or any device that won't reset upon a power outage... like a digital bedside clock without battery backup. Also, plug the computer into the UPS while running this test). If the computer shuts down and your CD player or clock are unaffected, it's not the UPS.

Your test of running the computer with the UPS out of the circuit is good also.

I definitely would suspect the UPS; I recently had a somewhat similar situation. When my laser printer would start up, the UPS would beep once and the computer would shut down. The laser printer was seemingly unaffected. It turned out to be the UPS needed a new battery.

[CurtZHP]

How old are the batteries in the UPS? I imagine, though, that a battery failure would come with some sort of alarm from the UPS, but I've seen too many of them act stupid to trust that.


I'd also suspect the power supply in the PC, except for that beep you got from the UPS.

[Microstudio]

I would think it is the power supply that is either failing or it is so dirty it is over heating and turning off and the UPC having to take over. Take the battery out and clean it if that does not work get a new one. Also unplug the UPC and see if the PC turns off that will let you know it is the battery

[Dave Labrecque]

Dave,

Any changes to the box at all? Or is has been the same for a time?

How old is the system?

What OS?

Sometimes the motherboard will keep a log file of some sort - to determine if there are any thermal-type issues taking place.

No recent changes that come to mind. Of course, I'm always adding stuff. What would be a good way to check my "changes history"? System Restore? Does that show change history detail?

Built this system five years ago. Windows 10 x64, currently. Been working fine.

Any ideas where to start looking for any such a log file? It's an Intel board, but I don't see an Intel program group in my Start/Programs list.

Thanks, Dell.

[Dave Labrecque]

Did you check Macrium reflect default shutdown settings.

Reflecti

Reflect is set to shut off the system after each nightly backup (11 PM). It's been working fine. But this has happened in the middle of the day. And with no warning. Reflect throws up a ten-second warning when it's done each night.

This is a sudden "everything goes black" kind of shut-down. Like I yanked the plug out of the wall. No formal Windows shut-down sequence.