Spontanious Shutdowns

[Guest]

sometimes windows just shuts down if im playing a game. help!!1

 

[WTC]

What does it say in the Event Viewer?

start>run>eventvwr.msc

Post back with details.

 

[Jeff]

Could be a virus or this problem can be heat related. Is the HS Fan making
any strange noises? Is the inside of your case very dusty, especially the
heat sink? Or its possible the HS fan is running intermittently.

First move get a can of air and clean the case and HS. If this doesn't help
run the pc with the case off and keep an eye on the HS fan.

There is also the remote possibility it could be your power supply.

Jeff

 

[Malke]

Could be a virus or this problem can be heat related. Is the HS Fan
making any strange noises? Is the inside of your case very dusty,
especially the heat sink? Or its possible the HS fan is running
intermittently.

First move get a can of air and clean the case and HS. If this doesn't
help run the pc with the case off and keep an eye on the HS fan.

There is also the remote possibility it could be your power supply.

Jeff

As Jeff said, this sounds like hardware. However, since you haven't
given us any useful information - description of your PC including
video card, RAM, processor, etc. - or if this only happens with some
games and if so, which ones, for example, we can't give you specific
advice. Here are general troubleshooting steps, including help with
games:

First, stop the automatic reboot (if that is what you mean by "shuts
down") by going to System>Advanced>Startup and Recovery>Settings and
under System Failure uncheck "Automatically Restart". This is so you
can get a blue screen with a Stop Error. The exact Stop Error (if you
get one) will be used to troubleshoot.

Here are hardware troubleshooting steps:
1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86 from www.memtest86.com - let the test
run for an extended (like overnight) period of time - unless errors are
seen immediately.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system - this isn't applicable to a laptop, of course.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a good local
computer repair shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy type of store).

And here is some game-related information:

1) Be sure you have a fast processor with plenty of RAM - at least 256MB
but 512MB is better.
2)Test the RAM with Memtest86 if your computer is randomly freezing.
3)Be sure you have updated video drivers and that your video card is
adequate for 3D gameplay.
4) Be sure you have applied the latest patches for the game - get them
from the game's website or a place like FilePlanet.
5) If you continue to have problems with one specific game (as opposed
to all games), see if there are user forums where you can post for
help.
6) When you play a processor-intensive game, don't have other
applications running in the background - keep extraneous
programs/services to a minimum.

Malke

 

[Kelly]

Hi Bob,

Could be many things. Suggestions:

By default when WinXP encounters a system failure, it reboots without
warning. The setting that controls this can be changed:

Control Panel/System/Advanced/Settings (Startup & Recovery)/System
Failure/Uncheck-Automatically Restart.

You can use Event Viewer to view and manage the event logs, gather
information about hardware and software problems, and monitor Windows
security events.

To view the event log: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or
Start/Run/eventvwr.

To review Shutdown Event Tracker data, Open Event Viewer. Click System Log,
scroll to the Event column, and find entries with the number 1075.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q308427

And also:

Go to Start/Run/Msinfo32/Hardware Resources, Components/Problem Devices and
Software Environment/Windows Error Reporting.

Go to Help and Support/Pick a Task (left side)/Use Tools to view.../(left
pane)My Computer Information/(right pane)View the status of my system
hardware and software/Hardware/Update and Troubleshooters.

How to Troubleshoot Hardware and Software Driver Problems
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q322205

Try running the DirectX Tool: Start/Run/Dxdiag, Lower Hardware Acceleration
(Display/Settings/Advanced/Troubleshoot/Hardware Acceleration). Check
System Info for problematic issues: Start/Run/Msinfo32/Hardware Resources
and Components/Problem Devices and Software Environment/Windows Error
Reporting.


--
All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com