That machine has so many possibilities. Here is a list of what is on Dell's
support page.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8400/SM/adtshoot.htm#wp1052
933
They refer to some diagnostic lights that are on the back panel of the
machine, this may shed some light on the problem, but much of what their
advice seems to direct you to re-seat things attached to the motherboard.
Having said that... try it. Just go in there and jockey all of the
connections you can find including any add on cards in the PCI slots,
memory, everything and see if that changes anything.
HTH
Dean Kiley



-----Original Message-----
From: Personal Computer Hardware discussion List 
In my experience random shutdowns like that are never a good sign. 
The computer is 5 years old, I would look into getting a new one, now a days
many manufacturers make PCs that will meet every single need for a non gamer
and can be had for under $500.

________________________________
From: Donald DeWitt <[log in to unmask]>


Subject: [PCBUILD] Computer Problem

Booted up computer today and it ran normal for about ½ hr. and then suddenly
shut down. First the screen went black, then there were 4 or 5 beeps coming
from the tower, and finally a sound like the hard drive was spinning out
control that lasted only a short time. Rebooting resulted in a blue screen
stating Windows was shutting the system down. Using the F12 key I entered
into a page that let me do a Hard Drive Diagnostic test. The results
revealed – “Pass”



This computer is a 5 year old Dell 8400 running XP. I have not added any new
software or hardware recently and I do a daily run with AVG and Super anti
spyware.



Do you have any suggestions what the problem might be?



Thank You,



Don Dewitt

              

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