Computer keeps shutting of randomly

[Guest]

I can be working on something ( Ihave XP professional) and I will close a
window, and my puter will reboot itself. I know I haven't any viruses or
worms as I am steadily keeping my antivirus, etc up to date. Can anyone etell
me if there is a setting that I caan use to stop this from happening? I have
lost some material; downloads over this pain in the butt. Thanks anyone.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

You may well have a virus or some other type of malware. Other possibilities
include overheating and bad RAM.

To prevent overheating, open the computer case and carefully blow out all
the dust and debris. You'll be surprised at how much piles up! In
particular, make sure all air vents are clear. Also, make sure all the fans
are running.

If you have recently added RAM, remove the additional RAM to see if that
solves the problem. Otherwise, use a memory tester such as MemTest86:
http://www.memtest86.com/

 

[mustava]

Simple,
Right click "my computer" and select properties.
Select the "advanced" tab and click "settings" under "startup &
recovery"
De-tick "automatically restart"

Thats it..


Oops! Mustava....

 

[Guest]

Interesting that this subject is here, I'm having the same issue with xp
home. For no apparent reason, it just shuts down. I tried running virus
scan, and when I got to the file C:\windows\i386\driver.cab, it shut down
again. I'll take any advise anyone might have. Thanks.

 

[Nepatsfan]

I can be working on something ( Ihave XP professional) and
I will close a window, and my puter will reboot itself. I
know I haven't any viruses or worms as I am steadily keeping
my antivirus, etc up to date. Can anyone etell me if there
is a setting that I caan use to stop this from happening? I
have lost some material; downloads over this pain in the
butt. Thanks anyone.

You might want to try the following:
Go to Start -> Control Panel -> System.
In System Properties, click on the Advanced tab.
In the Startup and Recovery section, click on the Settings
button.
In the page that pops up, remove the check mark next to
"Automatically restart".
Now, when the problems occurs again you should see a blue
screen with information that may help you troubleshoot the
problem on this web site:

http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm

You can also look in Event Viewer to see if there are any
entries that apply to this problem. Go to Start -> Control
Panel -> Administrative Tools-> Event Viewer. Look for entries
in the System and Application sections that occur the same time
your computer reboots.

Good luck

Neptsfan

 

[Guest]

I wish it was that easy. that tab has been "unclicked" for a while now; the
problem remains. But thanks

 

[Michael W. Ryder]

Interesting that this subject is here, I'm having the same issue with xp
home. For no apparent reason, it just shuts down. I tried running virus
scan, and when I got to the file C:\windows\i386\driver.cab, it shut down
again. I'll take any advise anyone might have. Thanks.

Have you tried using a motherboard monitor program, such as Speedfan, to
monitor the temperatures and voltages while running a virus scan? This
might point to a problem area.

 

[Segovia]

I can be working on something ( Ihave XP professional) and I will close a
window, and my puter will reboot itself. I know I haven't any viruses or
worms as I am steadily keeping my antivirus, etc up to date. Can anyone etell
me if there is a setting that I caan use to stop this from happening? I have
lost some material; downloads over this pain in the butt. Thanks anyone.

These type of things can be very hard to figure out. Can be software
related, but also very often hardware. Overheating, crappy power supply
delivering wrong or unsteady voltage, bios problems, bad RAM, memory
timings too aggressive, video card drivers, etc etc.

I know that doesn't help much, but it's not easy to know what could be
wrong from the info you provided. Have you tried reinstalling windows and
see if the problem persists? That could provide a clue that the problem
doesn't lie with windows/software.

 

[78 and counting]

These type of things can be very hard to figure out. Can be software
related, but also very often hardware. Overheating, crappy power supply
delivering wrong or unsteady voltage, bios problems, bad RAM, memory
timings too aggressive, video card drivers, etc etc.

I know that doesn't help much, but it's not easy to know what could be
wrong from the info you provided. Have you tried reinstalling windows and
see if the problem persists? That could provide a clue that the problem
doesn't lie with windows/software.

I suffered the same problem and finally corrected the problem by unplugging
the hard drive ribbon cables and the power cables then reconnecting same.
All were done at same time so cause undetected but suggest you try doing
both.

I had previously eliminated RAM as cause and had also reseated all cards.