touchsmart 300 randomly shuts down by itself!

[shatdawn]

while using the desktop, it just sshuts down by itself.. but i see the light on the power button.. now what? d screen blacks out.. and in order to use it i would have to UNPLUG the monitor then plug it.. like what the hell.. i paid a lot for this thing..its not like a dell thats half a price of this.. and the warranty just expired last december..

i have checked for Virses and, Anti-Malware has neither of these problems.  googled problem and found others have had the same problem..

this thing is whack.. i have a compaq laptop and its been with me for almost 5 years.. i bought this touchsmart 300 because i thought it would last as long as the laptop!

i did what this link says but it does not work.... and also because the title says "computer does not shut down" 

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01891350

did this too:

1. We'll hit the virus thing first - run a scan if you can stay booted long enough, and check CPU utilization while the system isn't doing anything (use Performance Monitor). While idle it should be close to zero.

2. Next easiest thing - power cable. On the 300 you just need to unplug it from the wall and the back of the PC and plug them back in. On the 600 unplug the brick from the wall and the brick, and the PC from the brick and plug it back in. Basically unplug ever cable on the power supply and plug it back in to make sure the connection is solid.

3. run F9 diag - I know you mentioned that you ran HW Diags, but running the F9 checks the critical boot devices RAM/MB/HDD and includes a check on the Boot sector.

4. check for BIOS updates and other hardware and software updates. But specifically BIOS updates.

5. There are some great troubleshooting documents on HP.COM here are a couple links to a Boot troubleshooing document, and how to open the 600 and one for the 300 to make sure your RAM is seated correctly.

i really dont care if its out of warranty.. i just want to know what the hell is wrong with it that a lot of people who has touchsmart shuts down randomly.. so then..il just replace the parts..

can someone help me...........

[debcharl]

Hate to tell you this, but I purchased my HP 300 in late August and have sent it back twice for the same problems you are having. The hard drive was replaced the first time, motherboard the second time. I've explained that if the probelm happens again, our state's AG will be contacted to take further action. In short....I wish I had stuck with Dell. Good luck and if you'd like the number of a case manager, let me know and I will do what I can to help!

[bmbrenneman]

I recently had the same problem with my Touchsmart 600 due to overheating. HP replaced the video card and it now seems to be working fine except when it goes into "standby" mode it will not recover. I have to unplug the computer and then turn it back on. Wierd! Now I have to use hibernation instead of standby. HP's only answer is to Restore to the original configuration. Lame!

[Framinator]

It sounds like mine has the same problem as yours.  I believe that the power supply is overheating due to lack of airflow (poor engineering).  For a temporary fix remove the left side back cover (only 1 screw), the side with the hard drive, and see if the problem goes away.

[slimtae]

I had same problem as many people apparently do with this model.  It would shut off after about 2 or 3 hours.  For me it wasn't a virus or any other kind of malware.  For me, it was apparently an overheating problem.  Although the unit never got very hot while running, it must be causing some component inside to shut itself off.  I fixed the problem by purchasing a cheap USB powered fane ($14 from Amazon) and aiming it at the ventilation slits in the back of the unit.  Since then, it has never happened again.

Hope this helps.

[Dover2020]

Just wanted to add my frustration and let others know they are not alone..I was told to preform a system recovery which I did and to reseat the memory which I did and the computer still shuts down. All hardware tests are normal.  HP needs to come up with a solution or stop selling these systems and replace them ASAP.

[Ben95111]

---

@shatdawn wrote:

while using the desktop, it just sshuts down by itself.. but i see the light on the power button.. now what? d screen blacks out.. and in order to use it i would have to UNPLUG the monitor then plug it.. like what the hell.. i paid a lot for this thing..its not like a dell thats half a price of this.. and the warranty just expired last december..

i have checked for Virses and, Anti-Malware has neither of these problems.  googled problem and found others have had the same problem..

this thing is whack.. i have a compaq laptop and its been with me for almost 5 years.. i bought this touchsmart 300 because i thought it would last as long as the laptop!

i did what this link says but it does not work.... and also because the title says "computer does not shut down" 

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01891350

did this too:

1. We'll hit the virus thing first - run a scan if you can stay booted long enough, and check CPU utilization while the system isn't doing anything (use Performance Monitor). While idle it should be close to zero.

2. Next easiest thing - power cable. On the 300 you just need to unplug it from the wall and the back of the PC and plug them back in. On the 600 unplug the brick from the wall and the brick, and the PC from the brick and plug it back in. Basically unplug ever cable on the power supply and plug it back in to make sure the connection is solid.

3. run F9 diag - I know you mentioned that you ran HW Diags, but running the F9 checks the critical boot devices RAM/MB/HDD and includes a check on the Boot sector.

4. check for BIOS updates and other hardware and software updates. But specifically BIOS updates.

5. There are some great troubleshooting documents on HP.COM here are a couple links to a Boot troubleshooing document, and how to open the 600 and one for the 300 to make sure your RAM is seated correctly.

i really dont care if its out of warranty.. i just want to know what the hell is wrong with it that a lot of people who has touchsmart shuts down randomly.. so then..il just replace the parts..

can someone help me...........

---

Check if the unit is overheating, place your hand over the fan area and see if it's blowing hotter than normal air.

If it's not overheating, backup your data and perform a System Recovery to rule out software problems.

Still does it, it's a hardware issue and I don't really know what could be wrong, so once we rule out overheating and software there's just hardware left, and someone else can diagnose this further.

Note: The info above is pretty much what  HP will tell you if you contact them, just paraphrased.

[scotchdude7211]

I also have been having the same issue with my touchsmart and all hp keep doing is giving me the runaround telling me it's a software issue I have restored the machine to factory settings 4 times and they try to tell to do the same again, even though back in May 15 2011 I came across an article claming certain touchsmart 300s with certain serial code and compatible id numbers where installed with a faulty chipset known as Intel 6 cougarpoint well I have one of these machines and they are trying to refuse me sending it back for repair stating that my machine is not one of these faulty products and I also know that there are other unsatisfied customers out there with the same issue, My machine ran well for the first couple of months then it just started blacking out but the power was still running and no response.

And even though the article said that if I return the machine back it would be repaired well this is now the month of June my problems have been ongoing now for three or four month's and yet they are still refusing to take it back and repair it.

How many other people have this same problem as me????

I would like to know, I'm sure there are alot of you out there!!

[karen090995]

I purchased the touchsmart5 600 and it is doing the same thing.  Of course it is out of warranty.  I had my son-in-law replace the hard drive (as someone suggested) and it did it again - worked for 2 days and 2 hours then it shut itself down again.  Spoke to HP today who wished me well with the new computer I ordered from another company.  I personally will NEVER purchase anything from HP again.  BTW - I just purchased this Nov. 2010 - refurbished - which is my error.  Still, you should get what you pay for (in this case almost $900 - expensive lesson but one well learned!).

[AggielandPc]

I nromally wouldn't post on a place like this but after dealing for the past 5 years with the nvidia problems and gpu chip issue's and came across one of the touchsmart 300's with the shut down issue I felt obligated to add my 2 cent's here. I should note I am a microsoft and comptia certified technician with 12 years in the field.   I actually solved this issue on my own personal computer that I use at my shop after much trial and error. I originally thought it had to be a power supply given the sudden complete power failure that happens and when checking the event log you will notice that you have numerous krnl shutdown errors which of course are general errors to simply let you know that your computer has suddenly lost power.   I bit the bullet and purchased a new power supply and installed it (not a hard task most people could do this fairly easy in about 45 minutes)  The power supply of course was not the problem since it shut down about 10 minutes after testing.  I then chose to try a extra set of 8gb 2x4 ddr3 that I had in another computer at my shop and still had the same issue. A few times in my shut downs the computer would actually freeze even in the boot menue prior to the load of Windows 7 with lines going from side to side as well as some interesting colors. This is what led me to think it might be a cpu issue either heat related for the cpu itself. I decided to take off the  heatsink and replace the thermal compound and still had the same issue again. I then decided to take the cpu out and replace it with a x4 cpu I had at the shop and still had the same issue. At this point I was ready to part this machine out given the high price of harddrives these days but I had one more idea. I decided to reformat the drive and remove the recovery partition and install fresh x64 windows 7 home prem.   I still had the shut down after about 20 minutes this time of running the machine.    I was using a generic driver form Microsoft for the display and touchscreen so I checked the event log and found some ati errors saying hte the display could not respond. I then removed the Microsoft installed drivers and went to ati where I downloaded the latest AMD Control center software.   I also downloaded Furmark gpu benchtest software to stress test my gpu. I like many of you was able to pass all the hardware test from hp and pc-doctor prior to all of this being done.  I had hoped in the AMD Control center I would find a place to control the fanspeed incase I had a overheating issue.  I was unable to find this option in the software so I decided to get innovative and pull off all the back covers and place a large Holmes house fan on a stand behind the machine and run the stress test from Furmark.  I was able to pass this test with my fancy housefan funning on the cpu.   I then turned the fan off and reran the test and had a shutdown.    This lead me to believe I was for sure having a heating issue of maybe a fan issue. I checked all fans on the board and they were working.   I thought I would have no choice but to replace the fans with better ones but then I decided to take another closer look at the AMD control center software.   I found a feature under CPU power that would allow me to adjust the power of the CPU in MHZ.   I took the cpu down to 75% which dropped the max clock speed down to 2.1ghz from the orginal stated 2.8 which is not a huge downgrade considering I was not stable at 2.8.   I was unable to see a change in the benchmark test nor in general use of the machine.   When I reduced the load on the cpu It seems it also reduced the heat generated on the CPU as well when I tested with a digital temp meter.   I am now typing this message on the same machine that has been running for over 6 hours straight which has also passed 7 extreme burnin test under max load of the gpu without even one hickup.   I do not work for hp I as you can tell by my spelling im just a simple repair technician with access to parts and solutions.  This worked for me and is still working.   I hope this can be helpfull for other people going through the same frustration I had to.  I feel that it would be much better for Hp to release a stable machine than leave people to have to find there own solutions after spending this much on a computer.   Good luck people

Regards,

AggielandPcrepair