PC keeps turning itself off

[M Skabialka]

A friend says her computer shuts down frequently, including every night, and
sometimes in the middle of using it, without warning, and the monitor shows
a message to do with auto save or something. I didn't observe it shutting
itself down but when I rebooted it this message was on the screen before
anything else so I think it is generated by the monitor. The computer
completely shuts off, and has to be powered on.

I looked at the power options in the Win2K Display Properties and all
setting were for Never shut off anything.

The monitor is a newer flat panel monitor, the PC several years old on
Windows 2000, reformatted a couple of years ago. Nothing has changed
recently besides the new monitor.

What might cause a PC to totally shut down often?

Thanks,
Mich

 

[smlunatick]

Things to check for:

1) Running anti-virus protection. Some wrom style viruses can shut
down PCs (msblaster.)

2) Runnig anti-spyware scans. Some "trojans" style spywares can cause
unpredictable results.

3) Firewall protection. Remote "hacker" can gain access to the PC,
especially when using broadband Internet (cable, DSL, etc...)

4) Power supply wattage. Too much power requested at once can cause
shut downs.

5) Over-heating -- Fans are usually used to cool off processors, video
cards, chipsets and some hard drives. If one fan not working, system
can over heat and the system should/will shut down for safety reasons.

6) Update "bad" drivers. Driver incompatibly possible


BTW: This is a Windows XP newsgroup and not a Windows 2000 group. The
same recommendations are to be done for both.

 

[M Skabialka]

Thanks,

I will check into these things - sorry about posting to the wrong group - I
lokked at the "hardware" rather than the OS when I chose the group, thinking
it wasn't OS related.

Mich

 

[Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User]

It most likely isn't software related.. get a can of compressed air and blow
the dust out of the fans.. you may need to remove the CPU fan to get at the
buildup of dust on the heatsink.. don't forget to replace the fan..

 

[Loren Pechtel]

A friend says her computer shuts down frequently, including every night, and
sometimes in the middle of using it, without warning, and the monitor shows
a message to do with auto save or something. I didn't observe it shutting
itself down but when I rebooted it this message was on the screen before
anything else so I think it is generated by the monitor. The computer
completely shuts off, and has to be powered on.

I looked at the power options in the Win2K Display Properties and all
setting were for Never shut off anything.

The monitor is a newer flat panel monitor, the PC several years old on
Windows 2000, reformatted a couple of years ago. Nothing has changed
recently besides the new monitor.

What might cause a PC to totally shut down often?

1) A failing power supply.

2) A failing cooling system.