• We hope you have a fantastic holiday season to close out 2025! Thank you all so much for being part of the Tom's Guide community!

Question why does my computer hardware crash?

paulmars

Distinguished
Apr 16, 2013
5
1
18,510
Im not sure crash is the proper term.

while using computer screen goes dark. Power light says lit. After several minutes I press-hold power button and after 5 seconds it powers down. I restart. It takes a very long time to boot up, then all is ok for months.

This has occurred a total of 3 times in the past 6 months.

I dont have any new apps or drivers installed that i know of.

I dont remember exactly what I was doing. It was either in my email app or reading something on the net or watching a video. I dont remember if it was triggered by an action on my part like a click or keystroke.

I didnt know if this is just an issue with monitor or with the actual computer.

So then I memorized keystrokes to power down the computer. I've been using those every time i turn off my computer since that 2nd occurrence above.

Months later while watching a video, it happened a 3rd time. I was 10 feet away and this long video is almost complete. The screen goes blank and this time the audio changes to a buzz-hum and does not stop. After a minute of no video and that constant buzz-hum I tried my shutdown keystrokes and that didnt work. After another minute i tried again. Nope, i cant shut down the computer. So, it's not just a monitor issue.

The next boot up took a long time. (maybe because of improper shutdown?)

That was several weeks ago and I'm still using the keystrokes to shut down my computer.

Ideas?

HP 24-e025t all in one.
Win 10

Thanks, paul
 
HP quick test passed
ran speccy
I cant tell if the cpu fan is running. Looking inside the case, it looks like it mostly recirculates the same inside case air. 3 sites say that speedfan lets me know if the fan is spinning, but it dont.
Open hardware monitor also says it shows fan speed, but not for me.
5x°C
 
Windows Memory Diagnostic set to run next boot.

My hdd was running hot & it's been 2 years since i last reinstalled win10.

Attachment shows my new hdd mount. Then I reinstalled win10.

I started a new thread titled "win10 installation issues.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scarlettm59
Is this the same system in question?

 
Windows Memory Diagnostic set to run next boot.

My hdd was running hot & it's been 2 years since i last reinstalled win10.

Attachment shows my new hdd mount. Then I reinstalled win10.

I started a new thread titled "win10 installation issues.

Then I believe it is you HDD, that is slowing down you system, Get a new one or if you have budget go with SSD.