Why does my computer keep switching itself off?

Question

It is plugged in all the time but every now and again it switches itself off and I have to sign in again!!

Answer 1

It could be overheating.  If its a laptop make sure the vent underneath is uncovered.  Large numbers of people kill there laptops like this.  If its a desktop make sure all vents are uncovered.  Or it could be a virus.

Answer 2

Does it just go off and lose power all it once or does it go through the entire shut down sequence?

If it goes through the shut down then it is trying to avoid damage from something, (possibly a virus or corrupted OS). My suggestion would be to reformat your harddrive and reinstall everything.

If it just goes off as if the plug were to be pulled then maybe you have a faulty power supply, wire, or outlet that you plugged it into.

Answer 3

Use this to scan for viruses, it always finds the virus if you have one.

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-De...

Answer 4

It's a very small problem. There is an IC on your computer's motherboard which is heating up quickly. It happens to lot of people. Just find a hardware shop and tell him the problem. He/She can change it and it is very cheap.

Answer 5

Virus - Do a virus scan, or a roll back

Overheating - Make sure all the vents are uncovered (In the case of both a laptop and a computer) and the fans are all working, you could install new fans in the case or upgrade your CPU fan (if a CPU get too hot it'll shut down to protect itself) - If you overclock (Which, if you don't know how to fix this - you probably don't) then its possible you've done too much overclocking and the computers either A) struggling to keep up with power or B) damaged

Hardware - Some of your hardware or firmware could be faulty. Is there any strange sounds? Maybe you should invest in a more powerful PSU if you're isn't keeping up (I had a 320~Watt in my old computer, and it couldn't keep up with the new video card and RAID controller)

By "Sign in again" do you mean turn the computer back on? Or just sign back into your computer account? if the latter - then its more than likely a virus

Answer 6

Virus