Monitoring UP Time

[mcp6453]

A non-profit organization for which I volunteer just received a donation
of ten Dell computers with XP. They all have fresh installations.
Normally I power up new computers and let them run a while to make sure
everything is working as expected.

Just now, I think one of them rebooted on its own after running for more
than a day. It may have rebooted on its own before now. What utility can
I use to monitor the up time such that I can tell if the computer is
rebooting? (It does not have bad caps on the motherboard. Plus, it came
from a company with a gigantic IT department. Presumably there was
nothing wrong with the computer.)

 

[Ghostrider]

A non-profit organization for which I volunteer just received a donation
of ten Dell computers with XP. They all have fresh installations.
Normally I power up new computers and let them run a while to make sure
everything is working as expected.

Just now, I think one of them rebooted on its own after running for more
than a day. It may have rebooted on its own before now. What utility can
I use to monitor the up time such that I can tell if the computer is
rebooting? (It does not have bad caps on the motherboard. Plus, it came
from a company with a gigantic IT department. Presumably there was
nothing wrong with the computer.)

Might as well use Windows XP's own Event Viewer under Administrative
Tools in Control Panel. Eventlog in the System folder will show when
the computer re-cycled. There might also be error reports, indicating
any problems or issues. Also check the Application folder for unusual
events.

 

[JS]

Check the Event logs for any evidence of services
shutting down and restarting within a short period of time.
(System events)

JS

 

[Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM]

A non-profit organization for which I volunteer just received a donation of
ten Dell computers with XP. They all have fresh installations. Normally I
power up new computers and let them run a while to make sure everything is
working as expected.

Just now, I think one of them rebooted on its own after running for more
than a day. It may have rebooted on its own before now. What utility can I
use to monitor the up time such that I can tell if the computer is
rebooting? (It does not have bad caps on the motherboard. Plus, it came
from a company with a gigantic IT department. Presumably there was nothing
wrong with the computer.)

If they have Internet connections it may have been an automatic update.

 

[mcp6453]

If they have Internet connections it may have been an automatic update.

It definitely rebooted, but there are no errors in the Event Viewer. Is
there any way to tell if the reboot was caused by an automatic update?

 

[Twayne]

It definitely rebooted, but there are no errors in the Event Viewer.
Is there any way to tell if the reboot was caused by an automatic
update?

Not that I know of, but unattended updates often do that. Who knows
what updates it may have had to download, including SP3? Unless system
restore is turned off, there should be a restore point for the reboot
since the system files changed; That would give a "when" at least.
Set the updates to notify but let me install; then it can't happen
again and see if it re-boots again.

How about writing a small batch file to count, say once per minute, and
echo the up time to the screen? But don't schedule it or anything. A
reboot should reset it.


HTH

 

[JS]

Check the creation date and time for the Windows Update uninstall folders.
Example: C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB951748$

JS