Computer shutting down automatically

[Jason]

My computer shuts down automatically. I think the problem is due to low disk
space. My disk space is in the range of 0-4 GB. If I free disk space by
either removing or backing up files will this resolve my issue? At this
point I've had my computer for about five years. I realize that most
computers have a limited life. I would hope if I freed up the disk space the
computer would go back to working properly.

I appreciate any advice.

 

[Lisa]

If low disk space is the problem then yes, that should fix it. The biggest
offenders for disk space are unused programs, pictures, video, and music.

 

[PD43]

My computer shuts down automatically. I think the problem is due to low disk
space. My disk space is in the range of 0-4 GB. If I free disk space by
either removing or backing up files will this resolve my issue?

Only one way to find out!

At this
point I've had my computer for about five years. I realize that most
computers have a limited life. I would hope if I freed up the disk space the
computer would go back to working properly.

I appreciate any advice.

Hard drives are CHEAP these days and have tons of space compared to a
five-year-old drive. All you would have to do is clone your existing
drive to the new one.

You could even keep the old drive in the system and use it for storing
data or backups.

 

[Gerry]

Jason

If the system shuts down does it restart automatically?

Change this setting. Disable automatic restart on system failure. This
should help by allowing time to write down the STOP code properly. Right
click on the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties,
Advanced, Start-Up and Recovery, System Failure and uncheck box before
Automatically Restart.

Do not re-enable automatic restart on system failure even when you have
resolved the problem. Watch for variants of the Stop Error message.

I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report. Open Disk
Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
is more informative.

These questions are asked to get background information not because I
think you might need to run Disk Defragmenter!

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[PD43]

Jason

If the system shuts down does it restart automatically?

Change this setting. Disable automatic restart on system failure. This
should help by allowing time to write down the STOP code properly. Right
click on the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties,
Advanced, Start-Up and Recovery, System Failure and uncheck box before
Automatically Restart.

Do not re-enable automatic restart on system failure even when you have
resolved the problem. Watch for variants of the Stop Error message.

I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report. Open Disk
Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
is more informative.

These questions are asked to get background information not because I
think you might need to run Disk Defragmenter!

1) I've never seen a fragmented disk cause unexpected shutdowns.
Never.

2) The OP clearly indicated that there was only 0-4GB of disk space
left. Not much room for running a defragger.

 

[Gerry]

PD43

Without further information from Jason I cannot see what throw away
comments contribute towards resolving his problem or problems. In this
kind of situation he could have any number of problems.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[PD43]

PD43

Without further information from Jason I cannot see what throw away
comments contribute towards resolving his problem or problems. In this
kind of situation he could have any number of problems.

ONE of them won't be disk fragmentation. You copied and pasted the
wrong paragraphs into that reply.

 

[Gerry]

No PD43!

We have been through that one previously. The request for a Disk
Defragmenter Report is an information gathering exercise.

After we had our last exchange I added a small paragraph to make this
point clear to all. "These questions are asked to get background
information not because I think you might need to run Disk
Defragmenter!"

Do I need a sledge hammer to drive the point home so that it fixes into
your memory and comprehension?

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[PD43]

No PD43!

We have been through that one previously. The request for a Disk
Defragmenter Report is an information gathering exercise.

If it's an exercise that has the OP doing things he/she does NOT need
to do to fix the problem - as this case clearly demonstrates - then
it's not only a waste of the OP's time, it also serves to make it
appear as if such information is important to the fix.

After we had our last exchange I added a small paragraph to make this
point clear to all. "These questions are asked to get background
information not because I think you might need to run Disk
Defragmenter!"

Perhaps you should stop using what we on this continent call a
"scattergun" approach, and focus a tad more specifically.

Frame your cookie-cutter reply material so that you can easily refrain
from adding non-essential material to your request for info if such
info doesn't apply to the fix.

Do I need a sledge hammer to drive the point home so that it fixes into
your memory and comprehension?

MY point is clearly stated in the first paragraph in this reply. Do I
need a sledge hammer to drive the point home so that it fixes into
your memory and comprehension?

 

[Doug]

Does the PC shutdown, or just swicth off suddenly?
I've just had a PC that would switch off suddenly due to CPU overheating.

Switch on and go into SETUP or BIOS. Check all the options to see if CPU
temperature is shown. In my case it was in the PC Health section.

I watched this setting, if it gets over 60 degrees you may have a problem.
Mine switched off at 90 degrees.
I removed the CPU fan and cleaned all the junk off the heat sink and that
fixed the problem.

 

[Jason]

Thank you for all of your responses. Now if only my computer will stay on
long enough to try all the remedies!

Jason

 

[Gerry]

PD43

So how did your diagnostic technique lead you to determine that
replacing the hard drive was the solution to Jason's problem?



~~~~


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[PD43]

PD43

So how did your diagnostic technique lead you to determine that
replacing the hard drive was the solution to Jason's problem?

It's clear that you're mind is muddled. Have a little more coffee in
the morning before you start prancing around the groups disguised as a
sage.

Read the entire post. You'll see that I was telling him what would
help his extreme lack of disk space. Period.

 

[Gerry]

PD43

Jason's complaint was that the the computer was shutting down
automatically. As a supplement he was asking whether the problem might
be related to insufficient free disk space. It would seem that like
myself you do not know the answer.

Spending money on a new hard drive hardly seems sensible when you have
no idea what is causing the computer to shut down! It's just throwing
money at the the problem with no certain expectation that it will work.
If you thought the hard drive was the problem a more sensible approach
would be to test the hard drive. If you think the lack of free disk
space is the problem you test your proposition by creating more free
disk space and seeing if the problem goes away.

Not everyone has the deep pockets you have!


~~~~


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Gerry]

Jason

It sounds like a hardware problem. It could be a failing power supply
unit. I would take the computer to a small computer repair shop.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[C.Joseph S. Drayton]

Thank you for all of your responses. Now if only my computer will
stay on long enough to try all the remedies!

Jason

Hi Jason,

1) Is the computer in question a laptop? laptops as they get older tend
to develop overheating problems. Because of their design, cleaning them
can be difficult so a lot of people don't ever think about the amount
of dust/dirt that can accumulate in the laptop.

2) Can you tell us what you are doing when the shutdown occurs?

3) Do you process data files that require more physical memory then
available? If so and you are making heavy use of the swapfile, it can
cause your hard disk to overheat more easily which means the computer
itself will be having more heat within it case.

4) When you are clearing space on your hard disk, do you make sure to
clear ALL of the temp folders?

5) If disk space is at a premium, have you removed the uninstall
folders for Windows updates?

6) Have you run a S.M.A.R.T. drive test on your hard disk?

--

Sincerely,
C.Joseph Drayton, Ph.D. AS&T

CSD Computer Services

Web site: http://csdcs.itgo.com/
E-mail: (e-mail address removed)