SONY VAIO PCV-W1 URGENT PROBLEM!

[husainz]

hi there,
i have the PCV-W1 Vaio desktop...unfortunately, it turns keeps turning itself off....At one point all the hardware on the computer got messed up and the pc was completely out of order. I gave it to a computer repair and they managed to get a system operating on it and it functioning but told me that it wasnt staying on for a long enough period.

On this forum it was suggested to me that it was a cooling issue so i opened the computer up and put a standard home fan there (im not to technical! hehe). Now it seems to be working for as long as you want! but of course this cant be a permanent resolution. Since we bought the desktop, it is making much more noise inside,..i was wondering if anyone thinks thats part of the problem. Also any suggestions on what i should do to stop it turning itself off??? and settings or software etc...i dont think the temperature it turns off is very high so maybe it is a settings problem??.... :S
Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

[rich912]

Hi husainz,

From your description it does sound as though you have an overheating problem. If you let us know the working CPU temperature (without the additional fan) we will have a better idea. MobileMeter should provide this information – it is intended for notebooks but I am reliably informed that it works on Desktops.

If overheating is the problem then cleaning the fans may solve the problem. This is an excellent guide to the procedure – Clean up your grungy PC .

[husainz]

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried the MobMeter thing. It showed that the computer wasnt significantly hot when it turns off...maybe about 43C. I guess thats below average right? The computer shouldnt turn off like this at these sort of temperatures. I gonna take it to be seen by a technician, I'll ask him to clean it out! (safer than me digging around there with a toothbrush! hehehe!)
Thanks for the suggestions Rich912!

[rich912]

computer wasnt significantly hot when it turns off...maybe about 43C

OK so that seems to eliminate an overheating issue as the cause of the shutdown as the critical temperature for the processor in your machine (Pentium 4 processor 2.80 Ghz) is 75°C. But why is the external fan preventing shutdown

Is there any information in Event Viewer?
Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > System - look for any yellow or red warnings.

[husainz]

Although it seems not to be an overheating issue, the fact that it never turns off with the external fan on suggests otherwise....its really odd. I looked in the event viewer and there were no significant errors apart from the fact that when it does turn itself off, when its turned back on it says "the system has recovered from a serious error" Also, when turning the computer on i get the option of pressing F1 (continue) or F2 (setup) because of some problem. next time i see it, i will definately write down the message that appears and post it here.

[rich912]

I strongly suspect that overheating may be an issue despite the reported temperature from MobileMeter – why otherwise would the PC run normally with additional cooling?

Let’s hope that your tech guy can give it a good clean and this will be the end of your problem.

[robje]

Hi guys,

i have the same problem with the same pc. I think the problem is in the power suply! If you check te hardware monitor in the bios (when starting the pc press f2) that the voltages are writen in red en are lower then tehy should be! One month a go let the power suply fix but now it's the same al over again! I think you have the same problem. You should check this and let me know. Maybe there are more people with this problem? Or people with solutions?

Rob

[robje]

P.S.

The software of mobilemeter does not work, check the hardware monitor and you will see the real temperature. When the mobimeter says 40c it's more like 55c!

Rob

[husainz]

you are absolutely right robje! i have the EXACT same problem as you...found any resolutions yet???

[s786999k]

has anyone found a solution for this? After 4 years my trusted PCV-W1 is also having this problem!