HP Pavilion A720N PC Desktop Logo
Posted on Nov 10, 2010
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Our HP Pavilion a720n shuts down randomly. I have defragged and run disk cleanup to see if this would help, but to no avail. It is was purchased on 10/22/2004. Would a new motherboard help? or is a replacement in order because of its age? Thank you, jab

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Steve

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  • HP Master 3,290 Answers
  • Posted on Nov 10, 2010
Steve
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Problems like these - intermittents - can be difficult to track down. I have found that many times, it is a heat related issue. You can check this fairly easily.

Disconnect all the cables from the PC. Label any that you may have trouble figuring out where to reconnect again later, when we're done. Remove the PC to a table and lay on its side, so that the left side faces up. Remove left side panel (its now facing up). Using the crevice tool attachment, carefully vacuum the inside on the case. Pay particular attention to the CPU and immediate area around it. Try to remove as much dust and dirt as possible. Try not to disturb the cabling inside the case very much while vacuuming all around the insides.

Look for the power supply unit. It has a large group of wires coming out going to different parts of the PC. This is a box in the rear corner of the PC. Vacuum the slots from inside the case and then from the outside of the case near the built in fan, too.

Next, inspect the CPU fan. Look for dust build up behind the fan on the cooling fins. If you wish, you can unscrew the fan from the cooling fins with a small phillips screw driver. and gently lift it away - don't drop the screws into the case! You should be able to vacuum the dust off the cooling fins easily now. When clean, reinstall the CPU fan. When satisfied with the cleaning job, reassemble and reconnect the computer to the cables and try it out.

Hopefully, your phantom shut downs will cease and it will run reliably. A couple last thoughts.. try to keep the PC on top of your desk, instead of on the floor where there is significantly more dirt and dust to get sucked into the computer and never blow dust out with compressed air inside the computer as this only forces the dirt and dust deeper into the components.

I hope this was very helpful - good luck!

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