PC constantly shuts off and attempts reboot

[KingKarrit]

I left my PC on overnight at the Desktop with no programs running. When I went to use my computer the next morning, the case and CPU fans were all running at max speed, and the monitor wouldn't display anything when turned on. Also, the LEDs for the CPU and RAM were flashing. The front power button on the case was not turning the PC off either, so I manually switched off the PSU. Upon trying to boot up the computer, the computer would sometimes get past the BIOS screen to the "Windows failed to start" menu and then shut off completely, rapidly repeating this cycle.

I left the computer off for about 10 minutes while I found my Windows 7 install disc, and upon returning I loaded the BIOS defaults, disabling all of my RAM and CPU over locking settings. Once reset, I proceeded to insert the disc and load up the Startup Repair tool after windows failed to start again.

Startup repair apparently recovered my windows 7 Home Premium OS, so I ran a Check Disc on my system drive. The check disc found no corrupted files. At this point, every time I try to start the computer, I get 2 OS options:

Windows 7
Windows 7 Home Premium (recovered)

As well as a "Memory Diagnostic Tool" option selectable by pressing "Tab"

Selecting the recovered OS loaded windows how it always has, and I could log in and use the computer as normal. I ran a malware and Virus scan with no problems found. A pop up window on the taskbar reminded me that there were windows updates that needed to be installed. So I clicked the window and began downloading the updates. At about 5/11 of the updates being installed, the computer shut off suddenly. I wasn't using the computer for anything other than the updates. Then, the cycle began again, about 5 seconds to a minute of Windows failing to start, and then completely shutting off and trying to start again. The CPU and RAM LEDs weren't blinking. I switched off the PSU again for about 5 minutes, and loaded up system restore off the disc again. The option to load from the "Windows 7 Home Premium (recovered)" option was there again, (which loads fine btw) and selecting simply the "Windows 7" option loads up startup repair.

When startup repair checks for problems, this time it can't fix them automatically. The problem details:

Problem Signature:
Problem Event Name: StartupRepairOffline
Problem Signature 01: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 02: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 03: unknown
Problem Signature 04: -1
Problem Signature 05: AutoFailover
Problem Signature 06: 1
Problem Signature 07: NoOsInstalled
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

After seeing this and some Google searching I found that someone else who had these exact problem details was referred to a solution for an "Infinite Loop" problem. (Startup Repair Infinite Loop Recovery - Windows 7 Help Forums) That sounded like what was happening to me. I followed the steps in the tutorial and everything went without a hitch. After that, I rebooted to the familiar black menu screen with the options for either my recovered OS, the regular "Windows 7" OS that takes me to the startup repair, and a Memory Diagnostic Tool option. Upon running the memory diagnostic tool, the computer unfortunately shut off unexpectedly in the middle of the test, and then another automatically repeating loop of attempting to boot and shutting off.

I decided to leave the computer off for a while and come back to try the memory diagnostic tool again, as I feel that the RAM is the root cause of these problems. This time, the test ran fine, with no problems detected. Once the test was finished I was given the familiar OS selection screen, where I selected "Windows 7 Home Premium (recovered)" and windows loaded like normal. I logged in (which took WAY longer than usual to get past the "Welcome" screen) and after a very slow load of all my desktop Icons, I decided to check my temps after a benchmark. I noticed that everything was running very sluggishly, and even trying to load the network settings took about 2 minutes, although task manager said only 6% of my CPU and 3GB of memory was being used. I opened up Piriform Speccy to see that all of my hardware temps were fine, right around 30 degrees Celsius.

At this point I got another pop up from the task bar telling me to update windows, so I clicked it and began installing 15 important updates after creating a restore point. This time, the updates were successfully installed so I clicked "restart now" to finish installing the updates. The system logged off and got to 30% of configuring updates before shutting off. It restarted so I selected "Windows 7 Home Premium (recovered)" again and it began configuring updates to 81% before saying "Shutting Down". It restarted again and I selected the recovered OS. Again the Windows Update Configuration Screen showed up, this time with no percentage. After about 5 minutes the user select screen loaded and I logged in.

I figured the issue was resolved at this point, as I left it at the desktop for an hour without the computer crashing, but while I was browsing the Internet, the computer suddenly shut off again. This happens randomly now and I don't know the cause.

Does anybody have any ideas on how I can fix this?

 

[Ranger4]

Hi KingKarrit, welcome to the Forum.

Your problem could be a failing PSU. Diagnosing problems in a PSU can be very difficult & the best procedure is to change it & see if the problem persists of disappears.

 

[KingKarrit]

Hi KingKarrit, welcome to the Forum.

Your problem could be a failing PSU. Diagnosing problems in a PSU can be very difficult & the best procedure is to change it & see if the problem persists of disappears.

Alright, so I swapped my 1000 watt PSU for another 750 watt PSU and the proplem persists. When the computer does these crashes there is no crash dump file.

 

[Snick]

Hi KingKarrit,
What kind of temps are you getting on your CPU, etc. Have you noticed any excessive fan noise or speed after your machine is on for a period of time? If you have an overheating issue, your machine will most likely shut down to save itself.
Since you machine is not logging crash dumps, and I assume it is set to do so, just a suggestion, have a look see:
How to resolve automatic restarts problem when Windows 7 experiences an error (Easy Fix Article - Written by MVP)
When you have auto restart disabled and you manually restart your machine, you should be presented an error message at startup

 

[KingKarrit]

Hi KingKarrit,
What kind of temps are you getting on your CPU, etc. Have you noticed any excessive fan noise or speed after your machine is on for a period of time? If you have an overheating issue, your machine will most likely shut down to save itself.
Since you machine is not logging crash dumps, and I assume it is set to do so, just a suggestion, have a look see:
How to resolve automatic restarts problem when Windows 7 experiences an error (Easy Fix Article - Written by MVP)
When you have auto restart disabled and you manually restart your machine, you should be presented an error message at startup

My temperatures are between 25-35 celcius. My fans don't ramp up after a while, my computer rarely stays on for 10 minutes before clicking off and starting up again. I already have my system set no not have auto restart enabled, and no error message has ever shown up. I've already tried a clean install of windows as well.

 

[KingKarrit]

I figured I will post a list of things I have already tried. (none of them solved my problem)

Chkdsk
Memory diagnostic tools
Malware/virus scans
Re-installing display drivers
Re-installing windows
disabling "automatic restart on system failure"
Swapping PSU for another working PSU from another PC
Swapping RAM into other slots as well as swapping RAM altogether from another PC
Swapping hard drives from another PC
Removing unnecessary hardware (GPU, sound card, flash drives etc)

I want to mention again that this all started to happen while installing Windows updates overnight, I hadn't installed any new hardware, cleaned it, moved it or anything else. I've had no problems with the computer since I built it in 2013. Sometimes the computer will run for a couple hours or a couple minutes before it *click* shuts off without reason. Sometimes I will be rendering in Maya and sometimes I will be watching youtube videos, it just happens.

 

[Snick]

Humm...
Have you tested you RAM and run SMART and Short Test on HDD/SSD?
You appear to have tried most easily accomplished troubleshooting solutions so-far!
Another thought:
Have you tried stress testing your GPU/CPU
Prime95: The most popular free software for testing CPUs/GPUs. It will run indefinitely, and shut off if it finds a problem. It’s recommended to run Prime95 for at least 3 hours, and to make sure temperatures don’t get too dangerous while you’re testing. [Instructions for using Prime95]
Beyond above and what you've already tried, I'm out of ideas at present!

 

[poorguy]

I'd start looking for bulging / bloated / swollen capacitors on the motherboard and graphics card since you have eliminated the power supply by replacing it.

 

[Megahertz07]

On your hardware specs I see a i7-4770k. Did you overclock?

 

[abbeyon]

Its hard to tell what actually happened but it might be the motherboard that causing all this since, you already tested RAM and Hard Drive.

 

[Snick]

At this point in your troubleshooting, I have to agree with poorguy. Don't know if you're savvy on schematics and test-meters.

A common cause of motherboard issues or failure is bulged or blown capacitors. Check the top of each capacitor to see if it is bulging, even slightly, or if the capacitor is leaking, which is an indication the capacitor is blown. If you find any bulging or blown capacitors, that is very likely the cause of any motherboard issues in your computer. A decent large magnifying glass works wonders here! I have a stand version with illumination I use for inspection, removal & replacing components.

 

[KingKarrit]

Alright thanks, I'll inspect the capacitors but it's going to take some time as my CPU cooler has to be removed in order to take the plastic shield that covers most of the motherboard.

 

[Megahertz07]

Alright thanks, I'll inspect the capacitors but it's going to take some time as my CPU cooler has to be removed in order to take the plastic shield that covers most of the motherboard.

Can you explain what plastic shield you're referring?

 

[KingKarrit]

Can you explain what plastic shield you're referring?

On ASUS's TUF brand of motherboards there is a plastic shield covering most of the surface of the board. I can't see all of the capacitors unless I remove the plastic shield.

 

[Megahertz07]

Thanks.
As it's a quite new MB, don't think you have a bad capacitor.

You didn't answer: I see a i7-4770k. Did you overclock?

 

[poorguy]

Thanks.
As it's a quite new MB, don't think you have a bad capacitor.

Being new or quite new doesn't mean it couldn't have a failed capacitor or any other component.

We have brand new motherboards that come with capacitor kits because the manufacturer used cheap crappy capacitors.

Theoretically one would think being new or quite new that it wouldn't have bad capacitors or any failing component.

I see brand new motherboards and brand new power supplies right out of the box that don't work.

 

[Megahertz07]

Being new or quite new doesn't mean it couldn't have a failed capacitor or any other component.

I see brand new motherboards and brand new power supplies right out of the box that don't work.

The MB is a fist line ASUS that has fist line components.
I have also seen brand new motherboards right out of the box that don't work. But as I wrote, don't think you have a bad capacitor, although it can (remotely) be possible.

 

[poorguy]

The MB is a fist line ASUS that has fist line components.
I have also seen brand new motherboards right out of the box that don't work. But as I wrote, don't think you have a bad capacitor, although it can (remotely) be possible.

Agreed.