Can someone help me figure out what is going on?

[Paper Roses]

I have an old HP computer, HP Pavilion 763n running XP SP3.
Most things seem to work fine but a problem of 6 months ago has resurfaced. Before it gets any worse:

When I boot up in the AM, my computer shuts down after a few seconds. This happened once before and the computer guru I took it to said he cleaned it out. ( of what, I don't know). It is an old machine and he did not want to see it again. He added memory. I have plenty of memory available.
I don't use the machine for much of anything but Internet and an occasionally Microsoft Word.

I try and keep the system clean of old junk, clean out Temp files and the like.

The computer guy told me the machine is too old and he no longer wants to work on it.

I am in no position to buy a new machine. I was given a Laptop w/IE7 and do not like it. I like this old timer.
I am afraid this current machine will keep getting more quirky.

What could cause it to shut down after 3 to 9 seconds. Nothing else seems to be wrong at the moment.
Any ideas?

I have a feeling that the computer repair guy just wants to sell me a new machine. I know lots of folks who have machines older than this one. I just want to find out what would cause this shutdown and hot to correct it.

Nothing else seems to be wrong at the moment.
What do you think?

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

1. My first suspicion...

...is power supply. Are you comfortable working on the PC yourself?

[lastlib]

2. Does it show anything on the screen before it goes down?

Does the hard drive activate? Is this a problem every time, or is it intermittent? If it's intermittent, I would also think power supply first. If it's every time you boot, I would look at the BIOS to see if it is recognizing the boot device (the hard drive). If it is recognizing it, and the boot still fails, possibly the boot sector of the hard drive is corrupted. The only fix in that case would be a new drive/re-install.

[Paper Roses]

3. The computer stops within seconds of my pushing the 'on' button.

The screen shows nothing---the machine goes on and quickly off.
I am an old timer with no experience on these infernal machines. I am going to run ccleaner now, maybe that will help.
I cannot go into the innards of the machine to check things out, don't know what I am doing.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

4. Without opening the case...

...to troubleshoot, there's little to be learned. If your current technician is unwilling to service your PC, it's either time to find a new tech or new PC. If you're trying to save money, this HP at Staples.com is refurbished and has Win XP Pro ~ $160.

http://www.staples.com/HP-DC5100-Refurbished-Desktop-PC/product_557044

[lastlib]

6. OK, this sounds more like a power supply problem...

It isn't hard to fix; only about four screws holding the power unit in, and a bundle of cables to connect to the devices needing power (motherboard, hard drive, CD drive etc.) and a connection back to the AC power-in plug. I'm hard-pressed to give you a cost estimate, especially if you're not comfortable doing it youself; a tech will charge you a good chunk of change for it (but I guess techs gotta eat & pay bills too!) Power suppply units aren't too terribly expensive.

Has the machine ever died suddenly after boot-up? That would be more confirmation of a power-supply problem.

[HopeHoops]

9. Agreed, but you have to make sure the wattage is the same (or better).

I have a shitload of computer chassis with power supplies that I've picked up off the side of the road on trash day. Mainly I'm after the power supply, floppy drives, and CD drives to keep older machines alive (back at least to Win 98SE, but I think I've still got a working 95 box). That's a pretty cheap way to get parts!

The fact that his first solution was adding memory tells me the tech doesn't know his shit.

[lastlib]

11. You are correct--for some reason that didn't really cross my mind....

Of course another head-thumper idea is to check to make sure the power cord isn't loose. It is so easy to overlook simple things.....

again!

[HopeHoops]

14. I've had things start working merely by screwing with them - no substantial changes.

Reseating chips or memory, just giving it a good "thwap", unpugging and re-attaching cables, etc. In a related episode, my daughter's car had a front blinker out. After fucking around with it for a while, I finally got the plastic cover off and pulled out the bulb assembly. She tried it again and the damn thing worked. The bulb wasn't loose or anything, but hey, it saved a trip to the parts store. After we got it back together it worked just fine. Sometimes the best thing to do is just accept that magic happens and be cool with it.

[drm604]

5. Mine had similar symptoms.

I replaced the power supply and it's good as new.

[CK_John]

7. This sounds like a problem unique to HP machines when first updated to SP3.

Did you recently update to SP3 an is your machine non itel processor (AMD). If so this is an easy fix.

First, right click MyComputer and regular click properties at the bottom of list.

Now you should see a panel, regular click advance tab, now go down to the startup and recovery and click on setting.
You should see a check box for automatic restart, make sure this is unchecked.
Click OK and Ok. your done for this step. (this keeps your PC from shutting down when it gets an error.

If your answer to the 1st question is yes, this is the fix.

Download:
http://msinfluentials.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.PostAttachments/00.00.00.76.47/removeIntelPPMonAMD.vbs

Save and double click to run.

[Paper Roses]

8. Since I posted for help about this computer problem, It has not happened again.

I'm sure this is a temporary lull in the problem and that it will start shutting down again.
When it gets cranky again, I'll post about what I did to correct it.

In the meantime, thanks for all your help, hope I don't have to try and fiddle with this thing. Bookmarked just in case........

[HopeHoops]

10. Perhaps "percussive maintenance" from the travel reseated something that was loose.

[lastlib]

12. Don't hesitate to holler if you need any additional help!

And let us know how you resolve it!

[CK_John]

13. Glad you can still connect to the net. Some good sources of (free) computer aid

requires some community outreach to senior center, community college, library, high school computer club, reference from friends, etc.

Give us a shout if the problem comes back.