Help! My Windows PC keeps shutting down!

There are a few things you should rule out:

1) Overheating.

Install the open hardware monitor from http://openhardwaremonitor.org/downloads/ and run the .exe file. It will monitor the CPU temperature – check that it’s not high (less than 70C  is OK).

Open the computer case and physically clean out all dust, concentrating on fans, grills and heatsink. Replace and re-check temperatures. It’s surprising how often this can make a difference.

Stress test the PC whilst monitoring CPU temperatures. Play a demanding game – or run the Prime95 torture test from http://www.mersenne.org/download/ - see if that causes any overheating problems.

2) Memory fault

Check the memory (run msched.exe).

3) Driver problems

Look at the the crash dump record (it’s easiest to use a Blue Screen Viewer eg http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html)

This will give a clue as to the cause of the crashes – it might be a driver problem, which may be resolvable be reloading a device driver.