New here and need help

[rufasim]

Hi all. I am new here and just found this place. Unfortunatly, I probably won't be of much help in giving advise, but will come looking for some. Just not com puter inclined all that much. Any way, I have a Gateway tower that I purchased about a year and a half ago and am currently haveing trouble with. It will start and boot just fine but the problem is it will shut down about 10 minutes into using it. Afriend of mine thought it might be the power supply and had a spare lying around so we put it in but that didn't work. I had to run out and buy the wife a new machine real quick so she could finish a school project but I want this machine back to work. I just remembered, the problem may have started a bit back. If I left the machine running for the day and came back later, it would freeze. I would have to unplg it for about 30 seconds, plug it back in, and it would boot just fine. Any ideas guys.

Thanks in advance for any help that you may have.

Jim

[Maximiliam]

Sounds like an overheating problem. Turn off your computer and open up your computer case. Clean all dust from the fans. It is safe to use a vacuum cleaner as long as you are gentle.

You also might want to install a few extra fans to ensure proper airflow.

I would also suggest that you pay extra attention to your cpu fan. Make sure it works. If you want to replace it, or put a better fan in its place. Make sure you wipe off all old and dry thermal paste. Clean it off completely and sure you coat it with a new healthy layer of thermal paste.