My computer is a Pentium IV 3.4 GHz with 1 GB RAM and Windows XP. When using Adobe Premiere 6.0 for video editing I attempt to export a movie timeline. After about 15 minutes of processing the computer shuts down randomly. After this, the computer will not even boot-up again. However, if I leave the computer for 15 minutes I can successfully reboot. Is this a hardware problem with the computer? I am keen to get this solved, as I can’t use the computer in this current state.

This is certainly an interesting problem which you are experiencing as the random shutdown certainly indicates that there is some kind of hardware fault on the computer. Originally I thought that this may be a memory problem, as you only have 1 GB RAM and generally computers which are performing memory intensive operations such as video processing require more RAM. However, when you mentioned that the computer shuts down and does not power back up for 15 minutes this strongly indicates that you may have a power supply problem. It is possible that too much power is being drawn from your power supply during the processor and memory intensive movie exporting process and is causing the computer to shut down. It may not restart for a delayed period due to a safety mechanism in the power supply to prevent it from immediately becoming overloaded again.

Unfortunately there is no easy way to test whether too much power is being drawn from the power supply, apart from observing the symptoms. However, in this case it is a fair bet that either too much power is being drawn, the power supply is overheating (most likely due to excessive power demand), or the power supply itself is faulty. As such, I would recommend that you take the computer into a repairer to have the power supply replaced. If you explain the symptoms then the repairer should be able to determine the correct power supply wattage that your machine demands, given the components in the machine (as there are many components in computers which have high power consumption, including the CPU, graphics card, and other expansion cards in the machine).

There are no user serviceable parts within power supplies, and opening the supplies is extremely dangerous as even when powered-off they still retain voltage in components, such as capacitors, for a period of time and touching these could give you a nasty shock or even be fatal. As such, it is unlikely that a computer repairer would even attempt to open the power supply. The best solution is to install a higher wattage power supply and see what happens. The advantage of asking a repairer to do this operation, rather than purchasing and installing a new power supply yourself, is that if that does not solve the problem it is likely the repairer can take their supply out and put your original back into the machine, and then swap out some other components instead.