BleepingComputer.com: Computer Shuts itself off

I couldn't find out how to access the temperature in the BIOS (run restart push F1 key) but while trying to figure out what to do next I remembered I have a multimeter and it has temperature testing ability on it.. So I stuck the probe into one of the holes in the back of the tower to see what the temperature would read.. it maxed out at 168 degrees F and then I switched to C and it read out at 74 degrees c.. That comes out to 15 degrees over the 59 that I was told it should max out at.. But then before I went off my nut about it I downloaded a program called Core Temp32 and ran that program.. That is showing "core 0 is at 51 C and core 1 is 46 C" So I will pop the computer open and blow it out per the fact that it is due to be cleaned and I will try to see the heat sincs and see if they look fine or FINE.. See what need to be done..

After blowing out the computer earlier the "core" temp is 45 and 38 degrees C so maybe some dust made it's way into the computer since last October.. I do try to blow it out twice a year and about now is when I do one of the cleanings and October is always the second.. I tried to check the heat sincs but they are a "tough sell" as far as doing any kind of true check.. To check them completely I would more than likely have to remove them and reset them.. and I ran the temp check yesterday and felt like that wasn't needed unless I'm told otherwise.. Yesterdays temp readings could also have been tainted slightly by the fact that our house doesn't have AC and it was warm in here, the time I took the readings the computer had been on all day and the outside temperature was in the low nineties with today being hotter and it looks like it will continue to get hotter.. I say this because regardless of temp in here this computer shuts itself off.. And that includes the winter when room temp is in the low 70's or upper 60's degree reading.. but I will do the heat sinc thing next when the computer shuts itself off.. I just know it will.. I have all the confidence in the world that it will...

Thanks for keeping us updated on your progress.

I will keep watching this thread and will offer advice as I feel it is needed.

Bruce.

try read this article...
http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-check-CPU-t...perating-system

it's quite nice guide...

Just to be more thorough with things I did download and run the "speedfan" program talked about in the previous entry from abauw and ran it.. The core temp started at about 48 and drops to 40 and hangs around the forties most of the time.. I will try to clean the heat sinks and try to reset them as per the instructions given earlier and see if that helps but since the computer shut itself off earlier today I doubt that heat is the problem and never have thought it was.. But I will do that first and see if it works.. Take this step by step..

try everest....just to double check and make sure not reading error in speedfan...

if temperature goes over 68 degree celcius or higher and your computer shutdown...maybe its autoshutdown features in your mainboard to protect overheat that can burn you computer component...

if not...maybe its your problem is not overheat problem...

while you cleaning the dust....please take a look you mainboard....does any component that burn or looked bad...

"All in all it's just another brick in the wall"... I tried to reset the heat sinks on the 28th of July and am not sure what went wrong, but the next day I was on the phone to hp to find out what might be the problem and found out the mother board was cooked.. What happened?? I'm not sure but I didn't ground the chasis when I worked on the heat sink and that might have been the problem.. I watched videos on youtube on resetting the heat sink and they make it look so easy.. And shortly after I took the screws out of the frame holding the heat sink in I thought "do I really want to chance screwing this up?" and the answer was no as I started to put the frame back on but then it hit me, what if I can just reset the heat sink and that fixes it?? Long story short whatever happened it set me back in my overall thinking that I can fix that.. I can fix it alright.. A new computer later and all is alright.. The old hp was sent to a shop for diagnosis and we haven't heard from him still yet a month later.. I figure the diagnosis is right as I did everything the hp techie told me to do.. Rather than spend in excess of $300 for a new mother board we went the new computer route for a little over a hundred dollars more.. What caused the computer to shut itself off?? Who knows, but I will say that I ran the core temp program on my brothers hp computer and it was running in the low fifties so that might have been my problem.. The old hp was running in the upper fifties and into the low sixties regularly... The fan on that computer was a general fan that blew on the heat sinks and the mother board equally and I thought after I try to reset the heat sinks I'd try to get a separate fan for the heat sinks exclusive.. Anyway thank you to all that gave answers here.. I don't blame anyone for my mistake because no one held a gun to my head and said "do this!!" I will do the usual fix it (I.E. blowing the dust bunnies out) every spring and fall, but won't attempt a true fix like this again..