My computer started shutting down whenever it tried to enter sleep mode after someone blew canned electronic duster into it while it was powered on. Instead of sleeping, it would turn off completely, then start back up when I pressed a key and show the Windows sign-in screen. A CMOS battery reset seemed to fix it temporarily, but later the computer began repeatedly idling, attempting to sleep, shutting down, rebooting, and repeating the cycle about every 10 minutes. Windows Reliability Monitor only reports that the system was not properly shut down. After a full power cycle, normal sleep seems to work, but the issue still appears to happen when the computer is left idle. I checked the cables, RAM, and graphics card, and nothing seemed loose. What could be causing this behavior, and how can I diagnose it?
2 Answers
Canned air by itself usually shouldn’t cause this, but it’s worth checking whether anything was accidentally loosened or disturbed. Reseat the RAM, graphics card, and power connectors, and inspect the fans and motherboard for anything unusual. Spinning a fan briefly with air generally isn’t enough to cause permanent damage, though a loose connection or existing hardware problem could show up when the system changes power states.
The Reliability Monitor entry is probably only reporting the symptom: Windows sees the machine lose power or restart unexpectedly, so it records an improper shutdown. Check the detailed event logs around the same timestamps, especially for power-management, kernel, driver, or hardware errors. Since the issue is tied to idling and sleep transitions, updating or reinstalling chipset, graphics, and motherboard power-management drivers is also worth trying.
The only clear message I found was “Windows was not properly shut down,” appearing roughly every 10 minutes while I was away. After power cycling the computer, regular sleep seems to work, but leaving it idle can still trigger the same behavior.
I checked the cables, RAM, and graphics card while troubleshooting and couldn’t find anything loose. I did notice the problem began right after the canned air was used, so I’m still wondering if something was disturbed or if it was just a coincidence.