Jasper
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 02:40 PM |
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Windows Shutting down on it's own
At least a couple of times a day Windows is shutting down on it's own - been doing it for a few days now. I've spoken to at least 2 other
people who's PC's are also doing this, and it's a new thing.
Any thoughts? Virus or Windows update?
I have AVG free and Adaware Pro installed and sit behind a firewalled router.
Otherwise everything is running fine.
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martyn_16v
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 02:45 PM |
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Is it giving you any kind of warning, or a blue screen of death? Try looking at the event logs (right click on my computer, click manage, and then
look in the application and system logs under system tools->event viewer) for any warnings or errors at the time the pc has reset itself. You can
usually google the event/error codes to get an idea what is going on.
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Jasper
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 03:00 PM |
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No warning - no error, it's like I hit the reset button, programmes close and you get a proper Windows Shutdown screen. I don't think
Outlook closes properly though, as on re-boot it does a data check.
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oily85
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 03:09 PM |
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Have you got a keyboard with a shutdown/sleep key on it?
My Aunt's computer did this, got sent back 3 or 4 times, and they couldn't find the fault, turned out to be a fault with the keyboard
shutdown button, swapped the keyboard and it was fine.
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flak monkey
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 03:12 PM |
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Win XP has an option to auto reboot on a 'fatal' error. You can turn it off though and I cant remember where the option is at the moment.
Google will probably yeild the answer tho.
David
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
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Jasper
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 03:28 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by oily85
Have you got a keyboard with a shutdown/sleep key on it?
My Aunt's computer did this, got sent back 3 or 4 times, and they couldn't find the fault, turned out to be a fault with the keyboard
shutdown button, swapped the keyboard and it was fine.
It's does have a sleep key, but I've tried it and it just hibernates, and comes back to where you were straight away, which is not what
it's doing.... worth a try though, thanks.
And I'll have a look on Google for the fatal error shutdown...
OK - just checked, I don't have Automatic Shutdown set anyway, so it shouldn't be a fatal error doing this, I would get a warning....
Any other thoughts?
[Edited on 2/12/06 by Jasper]
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martyn_16v
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 04:06 PM |
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some services can reboot if they encounter an error, but you should see if this is happening in the event logs
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Jasper
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 04:06 PM |
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Where's the events log?
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RazMan
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 04:14 PM |
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I had a system doing similat things recently - it turned out to be the heatsink needing some heat transfer compound reapplied. The processor was
getting a bit hot and having a hissing fit.
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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ecosse
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 05:37 PM |
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If you are sure you are virus free (there are quite a few that can cause a shutdown) then the best bet (as razman says) might be an overheat
condition.
Oulook will complain in this instance as it has been a forced shutdown and has not exited gracefully.
You could try running a monitor program to keep an eye on temps as a starting point.
Cheers
Alex
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mackei23b
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 05:51 PM |
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Blaster worm does this with XP!
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Hellfire
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 08:45 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mackei23b
Blaster worm does this with XP!
Also difficult (was impossible at one time) to get rid of....
Steve
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Catpuss
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 09:46 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Jasper
At least a couple of times a day Windows is shutting down on it's own - been doing it for a few days now. I've spoken to at least 2 other
people who's PC's are also doing this, and it's a new thing.
Any thoughts? Virus or Windows update?
I have AVG free and Adaware Pro installed and sit behind a firewalled router.
Otherwise everything is running fine.
Doesn't happen to be a Dell at all?
GX270s amongst a few others are a sod for the capacitors around the CPU swelling up (or apparently bursting in some cases). Usually the PC shuts down
with the green power light still on.
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iank
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| posted on 2/12/06 at 10:49 PM |
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Wasn't just dell. There were a large number (many millions) of faulty electrolytic caps around a while back. Turns out someone nicked a secret
formula for the electrolyte from another manufacturer but got it wrong and the caps swell up and explode after a while, it would be funny except for
all the motherboards and graphics cards that have failed.
See http://www.badcaps.net/ for the whole sordid story.
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Jasper
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| posted on 3/12/06 at 04:22 PM |
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It's under warranty - I'll give Dell a call - thanks chaps
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Catpuss
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| posted on 4/12/06 at 08:15 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Jasper
It's under warranty - I'll give Dell a call - thanks chaps
Ah bingo. Last time I phoned them up for PCs the tech guy said : "PC shutting down", I said "yep", he then said
"Capacitors burst yet" and I replied "Not yet". And that was it for diagnosis. New board the following day.
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Jasper
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| posted on 5/12/06 at 03:15 PM |
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Seems to have stopped doing it for now...... I'll call Dell when I have an hour spare 
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