Automatic/Unexpected Restart

[Guest]

This may not turn out to be anything big, but it seems strange enough. Our
computer is currently running Windows XP Pro. We left the computer running
while we were at work, from about 5 pm. I got home at about 2 am, and the
computer was in the screensaver mode. I did not touch it, and went to do
other things. At about 3 am, I heard the familiar sound of the computer
shutting down. Low and behold it was; and it restarted on its own. I've
done a little researching, but not much, and the few situations with random
restarts did not seem to fit our situation very closely. We did just install
two new sticks of RAM (2GB total), and added another HDD. I've never heard
of windows doings like this though.

I have yet to do a virus scan, though I'm hoping that it is not, and doubt
that it is a virus. Beyond viruses (blech), any ideas out there on what
might have caused the computer to randomly restart? This really has me
baffled.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

First thing is: Is the system Power Management set to shut down after a
specific time frame? Check both the BIOS PM settings and the Windows PM
settings. What are they?

What you describe is not a typical random restart due to overheating
(usually that does not step through the shutdown sequence, but rather
suddenly goes to the POST screen from a normal running state). I suspect you
may have PM settings set to shut the system down, but it is not completing
properly and is restarting instead. A phenomena I've seen a few times, but
haven't really been able to pinpoint the cause.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[CLW]

It was probably the Windows updates in the last few days. Your computer is
probably set to receive them automatically and to install them.

 

[Simon]

This may not turn out to be anything big, but it seems strange enough.

Our
computer is currently running Windows XP Pro. We left the computer
running
while we were at work, from about 5 pm. I got home at about 2 am, and the
computer was in the screensaver mode. I did not touch it, and went to do
other things. At about 3 am, I heard the familiar sound of the computer
shutting down. Low and behold it was; and it restarted on its own. I've
done a little researching, but not much, and the few situations with
random
restarts did not seem to fit our situation very closely. We did just
install
two new sticks of RAM (2GB total), and added another HDD. I've never
heard
of windows doings like this though.

I have yet to do a virus scan, though I'm hoping that it is not, and doubt
that it is a virus. Beyond viruses (blech), any ideas out there on what
might have caused the computer to randomly restart? This really has me
baffled.

Your automatic update is set for 3am, (the default I think).
MS released an update two or three days ago, and part of the update was to
restart.

Your computer did exactly what was expected, downloaded the update,
installed the updated and restarted the system, tada.

Simon