220-802 · Question #987
A computer regularly shuts down and often will not turn on again for an hour or so. Which of the following tools should a technician use FIRST to troubleshoot this?
The correct answer is A. Power supply tester. A computer that shuts down and requires time to restart suggests a thermal protection shutdown or power delivery failure; a power supply tester is the first appropriate tool to assess PSU output under load.
Question
A computer regularly shuts down and often will not turn on again for an hour or so. Which of the following tools should a technician use FIRST to troubleshoot this?
Options
- APower supply tester
- BLoopback plug
- CPOST card
- DOhm meter
How the community answered
(39 responses)- A87% (34)
- B5% (2)
- C3% (1)
- D5% (2)
Why each option
A computer that shuts down and requires time to restart suggests a thermal protection shutdown or power delivery failure; a power supply tester is the first appropriate tool to assess PSU output under load.
Intermittent shutdowns followed by a period where the system will not restart closely match the symptom profile of either a failing power supply that cannot sustain load or a thermal cutoff triggered by excessive heat. A power supply tester directly measures the voltage rails (+3.3V, +5V, +12V) and can quickly confirm or rule out PSU failure as the root cause before investigating other components.
A loopback plug tests the functionality of serial, parallel, or network ports and has no relevance to a system shutdown issue.
A POST card reports BIOS error codes during the Power-On Self-Test and is useful for diagnosing non-booting systems, not intermittent thermal or power shutdowns.
An ohmmeter measures electrical resistance in circuits and is not a standard first-step tool for diagnosing intermittent PC shutdowns.
Concept tested: Using a PSU tester to diagnose intermittent power failure
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