System shuts down!

wrote in message
...
I can be using my ATX system (W98SE) and it suddenly will power down.
Powering back up sometimes takes several tries.

This doesn't seem to happen when my system is just 'on', sitting idle
(unused).

Any opinions?

Thanks

sounds like a sag in electric power - do you have many new hardware devices
such as new usb items? could be your power supply unit playing up or not
powerful enough (get a newer 350w). when it is idle it is using less
hardware resources therefore can run on less power. Try removing any
hardware you can and see if it still happens