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Re: Computer Rage - Unexplained Shutdowns
JEJeffrey wrote:
> I have a very puzzling problem - my Windows XP PC shuts itself down
> from time to time. Not properly, either! It just goes off as if the
> power had been cut, then immediately reboots without any further
> action from me. Sometimes it restarts completely, but sometimes it
> fails again during the reboot and can take several tries before I get
> back to the desktop display.
> The manufacturer (Novatech) has run tests and are convinced there is
> no hardware problem (though I am not 100% convinced, since this is an
> intermittent fault). Apart from the waste of time waiting for the PC
> to become usable again, I am sure the registry must be getting
> corrupted by all these undisciplined shut-downs.
> Two questions - First, is there any software I can run in the
> background which will report the state of the system after one of
> these episodes?
> Second, is there any way of cleaning up the registry? All the
> packages I have seen rely on having been installed before a problem
> arises. If I re-install Win XP, does that rebuild the registry from
> scratch?
Try this to see why the system is crashing and post back the reason.
(From Microsoft).
If you haven't changed any of the system failure settings, you should be
able to see the error by looking in the Event Log. But a better long-term
solution is to turn off the automatic reboot so you can actually see the
error when it happens-chances are it will tell you enough about itself to
let you troubleshoot further. To change the recovery settings to disable
automatic rebooting:
1.Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3.Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings to open the Startup and
Recovery dialog box.
4.Clear the Automatically restart check box, and click OK the necessary
number of times.
5.Restart your computer for the settings to take effect.
Now when you go to shut down and a fatal error occurs, you'll at least see
it and it won't cause an automatic reboot. You still have to sort out what's
causing the problem, but that gets us to the next section quite nicely.
Software Incompatibility
The most common cause of a fatal error or BSOD is a software or driver
problem, and troubleshooting these can be tricky. The mechanism for
troubleshooting, however, is pretty much the same for any problem on a PC.
The first thing to look at is what's changed-what new software program or
driver have you added, usually just before the problem started. This sounds
easy and it often is, but if it's something you've lived with for a while,
you'll often have no idea what the proximate cause is. When you do, it's a
lot easier. When you don't, you need to do a bit of research to find out if
there is a specific cause for the particular error message you're getting
(when you have one) or a known issue with certain programs or drivers that
causes the behavior you're seeing. In the case of automatic reboots, even
when you've selected a shutdown, a search of the Microsoft Knowledge Base
turns up Windows XP Restarts When You Try to Shut Down Your Computer, which
points to a known problem with Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5.0 and Windows XP.
And, sure enough, a check of the Roxio Web site shows that there's an update
from them for Windows XP. Here's a suggestion-in my experience, solving
problems with CD-writing software requires one to follow the outlined steps
exactly. Many of us have installed numerous programs, patches, and drivers
over the years and think we know what to do. For most things, we probably
do. However, I've been a happy user of Easy CD Creator since version 2 and
if there's one thing I've learned the hard way, it's the need to follow
their instructions exactly when doing an update.
Clark...
--
Don't you have Google in your part of the world?
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