PC seems to shutdown unexpectedly but looks on, i.e still has powe

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Hi,
I have a desktop pc approx 5 years old. It has Windows XP Home edition with
service pack 2. It has a Intel (R) Celeron (R) CPU 3.06GHz and 992mb RAM. It
also has a Foxconn 661 7MI motherboard.

It has been working fine and yet the other day it suddenly seemed to go off.
This had happened before when it had overheated and after I hoovered/cleaned
it all out inside the tower it then contuinued to work fine once again.

This time however when I looked down at the power button it was still lit
and I could still hear it running. The monitor screen went black and said 'no
imput'. I tried to reboot it but I couldn't turn it off from the power button
as this didn't work. I had to turn it off from the switch at the back of the
pc.

After turning it back on again behind the pc and rebooting the computer it
worked fine again. The second time it did it later that day it would not
reboot. The power was on but you couldn't hear the beep as it booted. The
monitor echoed this fact as it was not picking up a signal.

After a third attempt after the cycle of power switches it booted normally
and did not do it again for 24 hours approx.

I cleaned the inside of the pc and removed the fan to ensure it was dust
free. It does not seem to do it at any set times and can go for a day or so
before the next episode.

I am at a loss as to what it could be. I have updated and ran all of my
virus/adaware/malware scans and all is well on that point.

Could it be my motherboard on the way out or could it be my hard drive?

Any help would be grately appreciated. I hope I have given enough details.

Regards,
Maria
.

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