Possible Causes of PC shutdowns and BSOD's

Hey everyone, Today I am going to be looking at a few of the reasons that you can get BSOD's or random shutdowns on your computer. There are lot of things that can cause BSOD's and shutdowns but I am going to mention some of the more common reasons.

Memory or RAM

I am going to start with the RAM or Memory as it is sometimes known. The RAM in your computer acts as a buffer between the CPU and the Hard drive. It is used to store in use programs to help them perform better than if they were loading from the hard drive. Anyway, sometimes the RAM will become unstable and loose little bits of it's memory. If this happens when a program goes to the RAM to look for part of the program that is needed it isn't there. This isn't always too bad as sometimes it will just cause a program you are using to crash, If however the part of the RAM that fails is storing part of the Windows program it can cause BSOD's. You can test your RAM by downloading a program called Memtest86 from here This program can be burned to a disk or put on a pen drive so you can boot from it at start up. It then scans the RAM and tests it for damaged sectors.

RAM Can sometimes cause BSOD's due to damaged sectors

Hard Drive

The next piece of hardware that can cause a BSOD is the hard drive. The hard drive is the part of the computer that stores all of you programs and data. If a hard drive is damaged or starts to wear out it can sometimes damage the programs that are on the drive it self. Just like with the RAM this means that when the hard drive comes to load a piece of data that is needed by windows it can cause it to BSOD due to that part of the program not being there to be loaded. It can also be caused by a head crash which is where the hard drive head hits the disk platter and scratches away the data which renders that whole section unreadable and unusable. Finding out if you hard drive is on the way out is very much like finding out if the RAM is broken. All you need to do is download this program. HD Tune runs on the computer and checks the S.M.A.R.T of the hard drive and also scans the platter for errors.

Hard Drive Errors can cause BSOD's as well

Overheating

The next possible cause of a BSOD is if the hardware of the computer is overheating. There are many reasons that a piece of hard ware can overheat. The following list is some of the causes;

• Damaged Fans
• Blocked fans (Usually due to dust build up)
• Blocked vents (Mostly on laptops caused buy covering the vents with fabric such as trousers)
• Dried out thermal paste (often on older computers)
• A heatsink that is not securely attached (damaged in transit or from being knocked or not correctly installed)

When a PC or Laptop starts to overheat it will often shut it self down which can sometimes cause a BSOD. You can check the temperature of the CPU by using a program called CPUID Hardware Monitor downloadable from here once this program is running it will scan all the sensors on the computer and report back the temperatures and voltages. If you can't even boot into windows without the computer BSODing then you will most likely have to go into the BIOS and go into the hardware or PC health section of it to see what temperatures that it is reporting. In the BIOS anything over 45c could be causing an issue, In windows anything over 55c will most likely be a problem once you stress the PC.

Overheating can often cause BSOD problems

Voltages and Power Supply

This one is a less likely cause of a BSOD but it is still a problem. Sometimes the power supply of a PC can go dodgy. This can be caused from stressing it too much (not having a powerful enough one for your hardware) or due to just the age of the power supply (The capacitors often age over time and don't hold charge properly) Also bad quality PSU's (generally less than $10 per 100w) can also cause problems. It is easy to check the voltages by using the same program as the temperature one above. CPUID Hardware Monitor reports back the voltages as well as the temperatures so you can kill two birds with one stone using this program. If the voltages seem a long way off their targets (Shown at the side of CPUID hardware monitor) then this could quite possibly be the cause of the BSOD's.

A bad PSU can cause BSOD's due to bad voltage supply

Now that you have read through this simple list of possible BSOD causes you can have a go at diagnosing the problem for your self. This will save you a lot of money if you find the problem and don't have to use a very expensive PC repair company.

How to keep your laptop running cool

Hey everyone, In this post I am going to be looking at ways to help keep your laptop cool and stop overheating. When a computer or laptop is running it produces heat. If this heat is not taken away the laptop will just get hotter and hotter until something either burns out or the laptop shuts down to protect it self. Running a computer/laptop that keeps shutting down doesn't mean that it isn't damaging it.
Overheating a laptop often will shorten the lifespan and damaged components costing you in the long run. Follow these simple steps to keep your laptop cooler and running for longer. There are many products out there to help keep your laptop cool as well so there is no reason to have one that is overheating.

1) Check if the fans are working
The first thing to check when trying to keep your laptop cool is to see if the fans are working correctly. You can do this by running the laptop. It you hear the fans starting to spin up then they are working.


2) Check to see that there is sufficient air flow from the heatsink
If you can hear the fans spinning up loads and sounding very loud this should be accompanied with a warm air flow from the exhaust vent on the laptop. If there doesn't feel to be much air flow from the vent this means that the laptop is most likely clogged with dust. You can fix this by turning the laptop off and then blowing into the exhaust vent in short sharp bursts which will dislodge any excess dust or dirt on the coolers.


3) Make sure that their is a good air gap all round the laptop
Believe it or not laptops down work very well on your lap. They have air vents on the bottom that are covered when you are working with them on your legs which increases the chance of the laptop overheating. You can solve this problem by simply sitting with the laptop on a table or if you need it on your lap but a decent sized hardback book between you and the laptop. This will give the laptop room to breath and air airflow which will help to cool it.

4) If you are running demanding programs get a laptop cooling pad
You can get laptop cooling pads from almost any online computer shops or shops. These cooling pads generally have extra fans on them which will then blow onto the bottom of the laptop cooling it from below. These usually connect to the USB sockets on your laptop which will then power the extra cooling fans. There are many types that are all different sizes you will need to look for one that is a bit wider and longer than your laptop so it doesn't hang over the edge.

Here is an example of a laptop cooler

Thanks for reading. I hope that after following these simple tips you will have a cool and long lasting laptop.

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