System Shutting Down

[Guest]

I am running Windows XP Home Edition on a Dell PC. Recently, my computer has
begun randomly making the "click" sound that it makes when you click the
mouse. It does this periodically, on its own and then my computer shuts down
and turns off on its own. I do not have the "power saver" feature turned on,
so I do not know what is causing this to happen. Can anyone help?

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Deeb

Please look in the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for
Warning and Error Reports at times when the system shutdown and
post copies here.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Administrative Tools,
Event Viewer. When researching the meaning of the error, information
regarding Event ID, Source and Description are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;enus;308427&Product=winxp

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Double click the button and close Event
Viewer. Now start your message(email) and do a paste into the body of the
message. This will paste the info from the Event Viewer Error Report
complete with links into the message. Make sure this is the first paste
after
exiting from Event Viewer.


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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[Malke]

I am running Windows XP Home Edition on a Dell PC. Recently, my
computer has begun randomly making the "click" sound that it makes
when you click the
mouse. It does this periodically, on its own and then my computer
shuts down
and turns off on its own. I do not have the "power saver" feature
turned on,
so I do not know what is causing this to happen. Can anyone help?

Random errors are most often caused by failing hardware. You can look in
the Event Viewer as suggested by Gerry Cornell for clues, but don't be
surprised if you see nothing. I'll give you some general hardware
troubleshooting steps, but if the machine is still under warranty you
should probably just call Dell tech support.

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.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power supply can be faulty.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.

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 professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke