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rwalker1Flag for United States of America

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computer starts then shuts down after 10-12 sec

I have a 12 year old home built computer running winXP sp3 and a 1+0 Adaptec software RAID. Replaced Power supply with PC Cooling unit a couple of years ago. Have replaced several of the Seagate Cheetah drives as the machine runs 24x7. The other day the computer started up and shut down in 10-12 sec before I can enter the BIOS and without any beeps. I tok out and replaced the battery to reset the CMOS. I can't find any obvious shorts. I doubt the power supply has gone bad, but I do have a tester, just haven't done it yet. Other suggestions? Thanks.

Rick
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rwalker1
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Would a POST test card be helpful?
Any suggestions as to a specific card?
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dbrunton
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TCI

The RAM is bad.
what motherboard model is this?
a machine from that era may suffer from bad capacitors - so check  the mobo for bulging - leaking ones:   User generated image
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and of course - verify that all fans run fine, and clean the system from dust
Highly likely the video card is also going bad.
If the system starts and then suddenly dies like my spare system it was the video card.
I replaced the ram and cleaned everything for dust checked the mobo for swollen capacitors  in the end it was the video card.
Hello rwalker1,

Sorry for being late to the party.

All of the above suggestions are GREAT.  I will take a different position - I think.
With a 10-20 second window of operation, this is not enough for a heat related issue, so I am more inclined to suspect the integrity of the Power Supply and/or the Motherboard (Where the infamous 'PON' originates) - In a basic configuration, the PON should stay on, even with other internal errors.

Now, that being said, No-Bus's suggestion of the 'BAD CAPS' should not be ignored as this was a MAJOR problem across the industry about the time that you PC was made and well worth the check, both in PCs, Power Supplies and Monitors.

Rojos
OH, btw, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
I took the CPU off cleaned it and reapplied thermal paste which took care of the problem.