m9517c becomes unstable and powers down

[MarkWGPSU]

I have had an m9517c for 7 months. About 4 weeks ago, the system began crashing unexpectantly. HP in-home extended warranty service has replaced the hard disk twice in the past week. Here is a description of the problem I am experiencing now. I have reloaded system recovery disks and updated the Windows Vista software and HP updates for this system.

After using the system from 20 minutes to several hours, the computer becomes unstable. The mouse cursor will lock up and the computer will power-down. The blue light on the power switch remains lit but the system is down. with a black screen. I hold the power switch down for 20 seconds until the blue light on power switch goes out.  At this point, the system will not power-up by pushing the power switch. The system seems dead.  Then I remove all the cabling from the computer. When the cables and devives are removed, I press and hold the power switch for one minute. When I first press the power switch, the blue power switch ligh flashes on for about one-half second. I release the poewer switch after about one minute then reconnect the cabling. I restart the computer and it boots up and loads Vista without any problems. The system will then run from 20 minutes to several hours until it again becomes unstable and powers down as described above. I've been through this cycle ten or more times in the past 48 hours.

I've been told that the "cable-disconnect power-switch-hold" trick bleeds static electricity from the system.

Can anyone suggest what the problem is with my system? Thanks.

MarkWG

[Dartan]

I would try doing Windows Update and HP Update to make sure you have the latest drivers.  Also, double check your fans are running on your gfx card and your system fan is running.

[PC_Tester]

Install this update

 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976972

[MarkWGPSU]

PC_Tester - Are you sure this is the update you suggest for me to install? It is for a different version of Windows than I hav installed. The description of the scenario it is supposed to resolve is copied below.

 Consider the following scenario:

• You have a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
• The computer has an NVIDIA USB Enhanced Host Controller Interface (EHCI) chipset.
• The computer has at least 4GB of RAM.
• You try to copy data from the computer to an external USB storage device.

In this scenario, either of the following issues occurs:

• The computer stops responding.
• The copy operation stops.

Notes

• This issue may also occur when you are using USB devices other than storage devices.
• This issue may also occur if you perform other input/output (I/O) operations on the USB storage device. In this situation, the I/O operations fail.

 I am running Windows Vista SP2.

[MarkWGPSU]

Dartan,  I have successfully downloaded and installed all of the updates from for Windows Vista and HP that are available with no problem.

After work today, I will remove the covers, clean inside the tower and check the operation of all the fans. MarkWG

[MarkWGPSU · Accepted solution]

After following "HP "Reducing Heat Inside the Computer" document the problem is resolved. Appearently, after six months of rock-solid performance the system began to over heat. I removed the side panel and blew out the dust with canned air. The sytem has been runnng for a solid 4 hours now. TThis is longer than it has run in for the past three weeks.  I can operate the compter with the side panel of and it is not an eyesore because the ope side faces a wall. I continue to provide at least 10 inches of air space all the way around the computer tower. Surprisongly, there did not seem to be much dust inside the tower when I blew it out.

One gripe: the technician that HP sent out to replce the hard disk (twice) was always in a big hurry to yank the old drive out and slap the new driveein and runut the door. That guy should have spent five minutes blowing out the dust.

Thank for the replies.

MarkWGPSU