My new Vista computer sometimes unexpectedly shuts off. Any suggestions?

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Weaksauce
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Aug 30, 2005
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My new Vista computer sometimes unexpectedly shuts off. Any suggestions?
 
Specs would be nice.

CPU, GPU, PSU. Any overclocks. etc. You need to give us something to work with here.
 
Did you call the manufacturer (Dell, HP, Sony, IBM, Toshiba, etc) and tell them about it ?
 
It is a built system. Here is what I have:

Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 2.4GHz LGA 775 65W Processor

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard

CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Western Digital Caviar SE16 750GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320-P2-N811-AR Video Card

ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T

Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Business for System Builders Single Pack DVD

Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails

Antec Nine Hundred Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window.

The Event Viewer shows the system log. The Event Log records an error WHEN THE SYSTEM COMES BACK UP: "The previous system shutdown at 7:56:03 PM on 4/8/2008 was unexpected." But when the system went down it was sudden and there was no error recorded.

There are two times when I have noticed it stopping for a reason. Other times I do not know why it shuts off. Once it stopped after I had a flash drive in the USB port. I did the proper procedure for "safely removing" it, but the computer still shut off when I took the drive out.

Another time the computer more or less went to sleep. I was able to restart the computer without it rebooting. I wonder if there is some way to set the time for it to do this.
 
You can change the sleep settings in the control panel under "Power Options."

Which leads me to a question: does it shut off while idle or while you're using it?
 
It sounds like it might be going to "sleep". Try changing the power options to disable the sleep option.
 
If it was going to sleep it'd be expected. Sounds like insufficient cooling leading to hardware panics to me.
 
It sounds like it might be going to "sleep"
Click to expand...

Its definetely not going to sleep, its crashing hence the log message that it was unexpected.

Test your memory
Download memtest http://www.memtest.org/ burn it to a CD and boot from it, let it test your memory for about 24 hours, if it reports any errors then its the memory.

Test your heatsink is correctly mounted and working right
Run inteltat on your system and get it to run an generate as much heat as possible and watch the CPU temps, if they get too high then the machine will start to throttle, if it still gets much hotter it will shut off (throttling and turning off, means its not mounted right)

Double check that all the power cables are plugged in correctly and are tight inside your case.

Sounds like insufficient cooling leading to hardware panics to me
Click to expand...

How exactly did you come to the conclusion it was heat related?
 
Toytown said:
How exactly did you come to the conclusion it was heat related?
Click to expand...
Since it's unexpected, it's clearly hardware rather than software. Memory errors in my experience usually lead to reboots, not shutdowns. Plus, it's a custom-built machine. Whether the cooling's improperly installed or insufficient or the components are OCed too far, I see thermal problems a lot. And with "random" shutdowns, heat could be a cause too - especially if the "random" occurences are under heavy load.
 
"It is a built system. Here is what I have:"

Oh, from your 1st post, how would anyone have known that?

Id say some sort of memory/mobo/cooling problem
 
It needed some updates and I got them.

Changing the settings for the power in the control pannel fixed its going to sleep unexpectedly too.
 
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