ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 We have an elderly Dell Optiplex GX270 with Windows XP, that worked well until very recently. Then suddenly it began powering off in the middle of work. We opened it up, cleaned out (lots) of dust, and for a while it appeared to work normally. But yesterday it started again, more severe this time. The computer would start up, and stay powered on until someone touches the mouse or keyboard: immediate power off! Now it lost the time and other settings after each power off, so we replaced the battery. But the power-offing continues. What could it be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Pat How old is the PSU ? Have you removed and reseated the RAM ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 As soon as I finished posting, it also occurred to me that it might be the PSU. It's as old as the computer; 10+ years. Will try to reseat RAM later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Reseating the RAM did not help; we'll contact Dell tomorrow if they can still provide a PSU for the GX270. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted April 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Unfortunately Dell is not selling PSUs for such old machines. And I don't think any other PSU will fit into there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bludgard Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 I found a monitor power-adaptor that roughly fits the specs of my machine (Gateway laptop) and spliced the connector to the power-adaptor. Been running without any issues for about a year now.Maybe this might be an option for you, pat.... It may be worth the trouble to test the hard drive as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted April 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 I found a shop in Akihabara that sells the PSU for the GX270. I have ordered it from their website; let's see if that fixes the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted April 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 Ah, Good News: the new PSU fixed the problem! Thank you all for your help and advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted April 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 Well, let's say the new PSU made the problem a bit better... After using the PC for some 30 minutes (Windows Updates, etc.), the power went off again! When I restarted, the following message appeared:Alert! previous shutdown due to thermal event Looks like something is overheating, but what? I had SpeedFan installed previously, but it doesn't show any temperatures... Now I tried to let the computer cool down for an hour, then restarted it. Now the same thing happens as before: when I touch the mouse - power off! I cannot even go and check the event logs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 Is the thermal event occurring in the PSU itself? I don't think Speedfan (and its clones) monitor for PSU temperatures do they? There may be something in the machine drawing excess power (semi-short circuit/failed component) which results in the PSU overheat. I don't know this for certain, just thinking on paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 After using the PC for some 30 minutes (Windows Updates, etc.), the power went off again! When I restarted, the following message appeared:Alert! previous shutdown due to thermal event Looks like something is overheating, but what? I had SpeedFan installed previously, but it doesn't show any temperatures... If you can get it stable enough - install Piriform's Speccy - that should hopefully show somw temps ? How is the thermal paste on the CPU ? - if it is original it is now 10+ years old - so it might have dried out and need replacing ? Those Socket 478 CPUs did run a trifle on the warm side ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted April 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2012 Took off the heat sink, and the thermal paste was indeed completely dry and crumbled. Replaced it, and it restored life to the computer for another 5 minutes before it powered off again. Took the heat sink off again and saw that the new thermal paste had spread very neatly over the CPU. Replaced it again, without any improvement. Now it's really time for a new computer.... Thanks again for all the good advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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