Computer shuts down after 3 minutes

Is the shutdown a controlled shutdown or an uncontrolled "BAM" its off type of shutdown?

Will the PC restart immediately after shutdown?

Without further information my first suspect would be a fan failure of some type which is preventing your PC from cooling properly. While checking the fans be sure to chase the dust bunnies out of the case.

the pc doesnt starts after shut down,,,,,,,,when i manually start again the pc shuts down automatically aftet 5 minutes without any warning....

Many things could be the trouble: virus, power supply crapping out, cpu overheating (too much dust), etc.

I got the same problem on my sisters computer... She has a emachine computer..

Check the capacitors on the motherboard and in the power supply. Also check all the fans and make sure the heatsinks aren't clogged with dust.

All very common points of failure and irrational operation in computers.

First, can you tell if the CPU fan still runs? If the fan is siezed/burned out the machine can go into heat based shutdown.

This is the most likely cause.

There are also a few viruses that do this. Use another machine and get a DOS mode virus scanner, copy the scanner onto C drive in it's own root directory and boot into safe mode and choose DOS prompt, change directory to that scanner directory and run the scanner.

Make sure you have chosen a scanner that will run this way. Some will run off a bootable CD and have a DR DOS boot track for this purpose.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=virus+%2Breboot&btnG=Google+Search

Aurizon (as usual) has hit all the good buttons......it could also be a defective power supply fan if what he mentions does not do the trick.

I would plump for a virus if the hardware is OK....there was an SVC virus a few years ago that did this....

Do you have full anti virus protection and a firewall?

You don't say if this is a desk top or lap top, if it is a lap top it could well be the battery is not holding charge.

I have also seen this when a power supply overheats due to a bad power supply fan or as has been said before, a bad power supply.

My inclination is always to look at hardware in a case like this. If you can do something simple such as boot the machine from a floppy or other bootable disk (other than your hard drive) and see what happens. This will eliminate the operating system all together and isolate the hardware from the software.

You should get a better idea of where to go from there. I would also make sure that your computer is not connected to a network if there is a virus on it.

If it does shut down after being booted from a floppy or CD, and all your fans are running, try removing all non essential cards one by one and see if one has failed. You will need the video card if it's not integrated into the motherboard.

I would also carefully check all the capacitors on the motherboard to see if any of them are swollen on the top or have leaked. If this is the case, you will need to replace the motherboard.

if computer is untended, could be you power setting in control panel.

If not, could be computer overheat self protection. Are air intakes, out puts blocked or impeded?

If connected to CPU, with software driven Comm interface, could be incorrect settings of CPU control software.

If exactly 5 minutes...suggest not hardware problem but settings problem.

oops, let me try that again.

if computer is untended, could be you power setting in control panel.

If not, could be computer overheat self protection. Are air intakes, out puts blocked or impeded?

If connected to UPS, with software driven Comm interface, could be incorrect settings of UPS control software.

If exactly 5 minutes...suggest not hardware problem but settings problem.

Guess that UPS thing got lodged while talking about old mainframes on other forum just before coming here. Sorry bout dat.

My computer turns on an dworks fine for about 5 minutes. Then it randomly switches itself off. The fan is working and it isn't a lap top. I've checked the plugs and power supply. 5 minute sisn't enough to run a virus scan or delete any programs please help asap!

P.S-ive tried to get rid of dust-still doesn't work

Open up the power supply and look for blown caps. Do the same on the motherboard. Make sure the heat sink compound is still good. Of course, once you remove the heat sink, you will have to clean it and regrease... Make sure the fan in the power supply is running as well as the one on the CPU.

No luck with the original equipment supplier over the telephone, then?

Maybe your battery is not working properly or charging issue. Contact service provider.