PC TURNS ON & OFF BY ITSELF

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When I switched my PC on today it turned itself off within seconds and continued to turn itself on and off until I switched off at the socket.
It has recently been crashing but always restarts, last night I got a blue screen with jumble on it, I didn't have time to get a code, but I switched it back on and it worked perfect.
can anyone please help.
Before I posted on here I have read a lot on the Internet, before I resort to spending money on something I am not 100% will fix the problem, I wondered if anyone had any solutions or something I could try.
Your help would be very much appreciated.
The computer is an Acer Aspire and we have had it for about 4 years.
 
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the heat sink on the processor might indeed by clogged with dust. Although you can take them off and wash them, another method is to hold a hoover nozzle close, and brush the dirt out of the fins with a small soft paintbrush.

the fan may also be clogged.

If you look at BIOS you can probably see the system and processor temperatures.

p.s.
start backing up all your data onto DVDs.
 
the heat sink on the processor might indeed by clogged with dust. Although you can take them off and wash them, another method is to hold a hoover nozzle close, and brush the dirt out of the fins with a small soft paintbrush.

the fan may also be clogged.

If you look at BIOS you can probably see the system and processor temperatures.

p.s.
start backing up all your data onto DVDs.
Do people still use dvd's?:eek:
 
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hard discs fail

computers go wrong

the cloud is not secure

You can put your archived discs in the shed, and they will still be there even if your house burns down.
 
When I switched my PC on today it turned itself off within seconds and continued to turn itself on and off until I switched off at the socket. / It has recently been crashing but always restarts

In order of likely-hood.

90% Duff power supply, as they go bad they tend to behave exactly like this.

8% likely-hood of duff motherboard (also bear in mind cheap power supplies can **** the motherboard up when they break).

1.9% GPU

0.1% CPU (when they overheat, they just throttle back, even without a heat-sink a modern processor is designed not to crash the system)

The computer is an Acer Aspire

Err, that's like saying your car model is one of the ones that has 4 wheels and a steering wheel.

PC or laptop, does it have a model number?

If it is a PC it's stupidly easy to replace parts, if it is a laptop ****ing a rusty pole will be more fun.
 
hard discs fail

computers go wrong

the cloud is not secure

You can put your archived discs in the shed, and they will still be there even if your house burns down.
I'm sure I read somewhere that DVDs (and other optical discs) can become impossible to read after a few years. I admit that all the DVDs I have bought, and recordings I have made myself, all seem to be OK, though.
 
Also check the power lead - ensure the mains lead itself it plugged firmly in at both ends - ditto for the lower voltage power plug that fits into the laptop.

Re the dvd's sometimes you can write them and yes they will last for years - but sometimes you actually need to put them in the dvd that the were originally written with.
So if your backing up for long time storage - save the dvd recorder with them, in several years time you may well not have a dvd drive to read them on.
 
Call me paranoid, but on the grounds that nothing can be relied upon to last indefinitely I back up my data to:
- an external hard drive;
- Dropbox;
- One Drive; and
- an old reserve computer!

Should I find that one or more has failed, hopefully I still have time to back up again to another location.
 
Thank you for all your replies regarding my computer.
I thought I best wait until you finish discussing DVD's before I proceed.
I opened up the PC, it was dusty but honestly nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. I cleaned off any obvious dust, switched on with lid off and the same thing was happening, switched off at socket, closed the lid and switched on, the same happened.
Totally puzzled.
It now sits in my local PC shop awaiting their diagnosis.
It was checked by them yesterday and by another member of staff today, but they are totally baffled by it. They have attached a different, but not new, power supply, checked there are no leaks, swelling, anything not firmly in place, the actual switch.....but nothing. It is now in their hands till Monday but I am now not holding out much hope.
As rule, if this thing cannot be started will all files, photos etc be able to be saved, don't shout, these were NOT all backed up.
They seem to doubt it's the board, I don't know why.
Please keep your suggestions coming. Is this a first?
 
They seem to doubt it's the board, I don't know why.

I don't know why either, it is an easy enough problem to solve if you have spare bits to try (all you do in these situations is try swapping out the bits until you find the culprit).

Could be memory, no harm in trying a different stick, or if it has two alternating between them, but it is not a typical memory failure mode, same as cpu, possible but not typical symptoms.

PSU
Memory
GPU (if stand alone)
Motherboard

The point of repair shops is they will have these parts spare, rather than you having to buy them and finding out the expensive way.

As rule, if this thing cannot be started will all files

Sounds like the hard-drive is fine, just plug it into another computer and the copy files
 
Thank you for your suggestions.
Just wondering, now that you have kindly suggested some things, if anyone else can think of anything that I may be able to put to them in the shop when I call them on Monday.
I'm not computer savvy so I don't really know what you mean about plugging the hard drive into another computer and copying the files, that all sounds very technical.
 
if you have taken it to a computer mender, you could ask them to copy the files for you, especially your photos.

they could do it to DVDs or to an extra hard-drive which you could move to a new (desktop) PC when you buy a new one, or to an external drive that connects to a USB port, which might suit you better. They will charge you a retail price for whatever disk you want, plus a fee for copying, which I would hope will be low.

If you know how to do it yourself, that would be cheaper and preferable.

It is best to keep copies of your valued files and photos somewhere separate from your PC, so they are unlikely both to be damaged, lost or stolen at the same time. Copying to your own DVDs is cheap and easy.
 
I have a fair amount on memory sticks, but these are not up to date.
I have just been reading about 'hard drive enclosures' and had a look on YouTube at quite a good example. Whilst I wouldn't have a clue where to find the hard drive and wouldnt have the courage to try, I will ask at the shop for them to do it, but, there are also 'external hard drives' which are more expensive than the 'enclosures'. Would it be best for them to copy the files to an 'external hard drive' or for them to just to put my old hard drive into one of these enclosures, obviously purchasing one of these from the shop.
 
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