Win7 PC suddenly restarting with out shutdown

F

FXDawg

Gawd
Joined
Jan 27, 2009
Messages
679
Hi,

Can anyone help me with a problem I'm having with my PC suddenly restarting? It just blanks out and restarts for no apparent reason. there is no pattern.

I could be modeling in ACAD all day and Viewing NavisWorks walk throughs refreshing often and it will be fine for days on end. Then out of the blue while sometimes having sat idle for a while or under low use it just happens. sometimes twice in a day. I've tried updating drivers and all..but nothing seems to help really.

I also have some weird video thing happening. Sometimes the cursor will render strange on one monitor and be fine on the other. I go back and fourth from monitor to monitor and screwy on one fine on the other. It is monitor 1 that does the weird thing. The other day, both monitors completely scrambled on me and it took a reboot and they've been okay since. the cursor seems to revert to a strange configuration of lines. One verticle line about a 1/2" high and then a series of maybe 8 diagnal lines coming off of the verticle line and heading down to the left of maybe an 1/8" long...

This is the build along with 2 Dell U2410 monitors.


1 GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

1 XFX HD-587A-CNF9 Radeon HD 5870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Eyefinity 6 Edition Video ...

1 CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

1 Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930

1 Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2M160G2XXX 2.5" 160GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM

1 OCZ Gold 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV12GS

2 Western Digital Caviar Black WD1501FASS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

1 Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM


1 CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler

1 CyberPower CP1350AVRLCD 1350 VA 810 Watts UPS
 
Sorry I thought I wrote about that...

No I'm running core temp and it never goes over 60c. Usually it is between 48c-55c
 
Yea I went through all that before and it just shows that it happened, no real indication as why.
 
FXDawg said:
Yea I went through all that before and it just shows that it happened, no real indication as why.
Click to expand...

Shows that a bugcheck happened?
If so, follow these instructions:
win+r
control sysdm.cpl,,3
OK
Click "settings" under "startup and recovery"
Under "write debugging information", change it to "Kernel memory dump"
Install windbg from http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/Debugging/default.mspx
Next time you blue screen, after reboot, launch windbg as admin
Press Ctrl+D
Open %SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP

From the windbg command line, execute the following
.symfix
.reload
!analyze -v

Paste the output
 
press the windows key + r to open the run dialog
type "control sysdm.cpl,,3" without the quotes
click OK
 
Okay, I've followed your direction.

Under "write debugging information", was already set to "Kernel memory dump"

I've installed WinDB.

Now, I did not blue screen as such. The thing just blanked out and booted right back up again. If that makes a difference...

I'll try the rest after it happens again and try to post the results.

Thanks so much!
 
If it was already set to kernel memory dump, you can just go to the next section and analyze the dump :)
 
even with out the windb having been installed? I tried it and couldn't find anything.

Well I tried the windb command line within the program and couldn't type anywhere.

I am the administrator of this machine or do I need to actually sign in as the administrator?
 
FXDawg said:
even with out the windb having been installed? I tried it and couldn't find anything.

Well I tried the windb command line within the program and couldn't type anywhere.

I am the administrator of this machine or do I need to actually sign in as the administrator?
Click to expand...

Did you open the dump file in Windebug before running the commands in the white input box?

It will give much more helpful information if you point it at Microsoft's symbol server.

The following page has pretty good info:

http://thebackroomtech.com/2008/01/...debugging-tools-to-analyze-a-crash-dump-bsod/
 
FXDawg said:
even with out the windb having been installed? I tried it and couldn't find anything.

Well I tried the windb command line within the program and couldn't type anywhere.

I am the administrator of this machine or do I need to actually sign in as the administrator?
Click to expand...

The dump is written with or without debugging tools to analyze the dump. What you need to do is start windbg as an administrator, then hit ctrl+D to open a dump file, navigate to %systemroot% (usually c:\windows) and open memory.dmp

Once you open the file, windbg's command window will allow you to enter commands, use .symfix, .reload, and !analyze -v, and paste the output here.
 
Well I did a search for Memory.dmp and came up with nothing.

I did find these;

acadminidump.dmp
journal.0014.dmp
journal.0003.dmp
journal.0001.dmp

This where the dump file is set to be written,

%SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP

should I add the c:\windows
 
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I know this might be dumb, but are you sure the power plug is in all the way, both in the wall and in the back of your PSU ?
 
And you are certain it was set to "kernel memory dump" and not "small memory dump" and the dump file was still the default of %SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP ? You are also certain that in event viewer, it said that a bugcheck occurred?
 
Tawnos said:
And you are certain it was set to "kernel memory dump" and not "small memory dump" and the dump file was still the default of %SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP ?
Click to expand...
Yes, I never changed any settings there an it is still set that way.

Tawnos said:
You are also certain that in event viewer, it said that a bugcheck occurred?
Click to expand...

No, this part I am not certain of. I'm going from memory, but, it just showed that the shut down happened.
 
Might also want to go into that Startup and Recovery Settings screen and uncheck "Automatically Restart" under the System Failure category.

This way you should get a BSOD with a stop code and hopefully a faulting module before the machine reboots.
 
Electrofreak said:
Might also want to go into that Startup and Recovery Settings screen and uncheck "Automatically Restart" under the System Failure category.

This way you should get a BSOD with a stop code and hopefully a faulting module before the machine reboots.
Click to expand...

Okay, that did cross my mind and now I've changed those settings.
 
Electrofreak said:
Might also want to go into that Startup and Recovery Settings screen and uncheck "Automatically Restart" under the System Failure category.

This way you should get a BSOD with a stop code and hopefully a faulting module before the machine reboots.
Click to expand...

The !analyze solution does the same, but doesn't leave your system hung at a bluescreen. This can be important if you do remote desktop, if you're concerned about power usage, monitor burn in, if you host on a streaming server, etc.
 
Tawnos said:
The !analyze solution does the same, but doesn't leave your system hung at a bluescreen. This can be important if you do remote desktop, if you're concerned about power usage, monitor burn in, if you host on a streaming server, etc.
Click to expand...

Good point! But, I basically shut down when I go home at this point.
When I get this sorted out i'll put it back and then set this thing up for remoting in.
 
Tawnos said:
The !analyze solution does the same, but doesn't leave your system hung at a bluescreen. This can be important if you do remote desktop, if you're concerned about power usage, monitor burn in, if you host on a streaming server, etc.
Click to expand...

True... but none of those are really relevant to the OP, and he seems to be having trouble with the !analyze.
 
Hi guys,

Okay, it just happened again. No blue screen, just heard what sounded like a faint click and the computer rebooted, gave me the "windows didn't shut down properly..." message and restarted. I followed the instructions above but, there is no memory.dmp anywhere. there is no %systemroot% for that matter...

Any ideas? as you can see, some time has passed since the last episode...

Thanks,
Danny
 
yeah, sounds like hardware overheating somewhere, be it a small component on the motherboard or in the power supply, something is triggering some sort of over/under current/voltage/temp failsafe and so thats why there's nothing logged, the OS never had an issue
 
There most certainly is a %systemroot%

Go into explorer, type it into the address bar, press enter ;)

See if memory.dmp is there, but from the sounds of it, your PSU is failing.
 
so, how does the psu tester work? is it something I just plug in and it will monitor the thing and trouble shoot it for me?

I've also determined that the slight clicking sound I hear is the same sound I hear if I press the reset button. So in essence, it is as if the reset button has been pressed. I'm not sure if that makes a difference to the advice given so far but...trying to be thorough in my description.

I see, I need to unplug all the connectors that I have plugged in and test each one, one at a time...so this tester puts a draw on each supply and tests for failure?
 
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Well It just happened again. this time only 30 - 45 minutes after firing it up. I wasn't doing anything heavy, just checking email really...I was in the middle of typing a message...and then, just as if someone pushed the reset button. The computer has been off since Thursday. So, off for 3 1/2 days and then only on for maybe
 
SticKx911 said:
If it is something inside the pc causing it, its the psu. I'd be almost 99% sure.
Click to expand...

Yea, I'm just not sure how to diagnose it. I've never used a psu tester before...It is also my work PC and I don't want to be down....should I bite the bullet and buy another one? Seems like it may be a waste but, probably my only way of not being down for more than the part swap, right?

I've got some unused leads...should I start swapping some out? Can you think of a specific part that might react this way because of a faulty supply? Do you think the whole unit is bad? Maybe I should at least check all the plugs?
 
with a psu. unless your an electrician and know what you're doing. if any of it is bad (short of maybe a fan), just toss it and get a new one. If it were any other part, usually the OS would normally leave you trails (memory dumps BSOD)

with a failing psu the system just restarts just as you;re experiencing.

A psu tester isn't going to tell you if it's faulty or going bad IIRC, it just checks voltage and amperage output; so in your case you really just have to swap and see. If yours is new enough you may be able to RMA/warranty repair.
 
ship date is 7-14-10

I'll contact them and see. I'll let you know what happens. You don't think they'll be looking for some kind of evidence or do I have enough now?

Okay, it seems they'll do an advanced RMA is you pay for it and take the refund after they get the returned one.
 
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With a company like corsair, I dont think they'd even care for evidence. Worst case scenario is it works and they sell it as a refurb? So they offer good service, keep you for the future sale, and not really loose out in the end. (in the grand scheme of things).
 
FXDawg said:
so, how does the psu tester work? is it something I just plug in and it will monitor the thing and trouble shoot it for me?

I've also determined that the slight clicking sound I hear is the same sound I hear if I press the reset button. So in essence, it is as if the reset button has been pressed. I'm not sure if that makes a difference to the advice given so far but...trying to be thorough in my description.

I see, I need to unplug all the connectors that I have plugged in and test each one, one at a time...so this tester puts a draw on each supply and tests for failure?
Click to expand...

A power supply tester, depending upon how sophisticated the model, can describe a few different things. It can show you if your power supply is pushing out too little or too much voltage. Generally random reboots are caused by voltage fluctuations coming off the PSU. Abnormally low or high voltages will cause the motherboard to restart the system.

Even a rudimentary power supply tester will be able to tell you if power supply voltages are within normal ranges. Sometimes a power supply won't start failing tests until it's warmed up or under load. Sometimes a power supply won't fail tests at all, but will still be bad (I've seen this on a PSU that had a loose capacitor).

If you don't want to buy a tester, a multimeter will do the job too, if you know how to use one.

The general consensus on the board here seems to be to just replace the PSU, and while that's probably the right course of action, if it turns out to be a failing motherboard component, you'll have wasted time.

Just my 2 cents.
 
there is still a chance for it to be a mobo part, but its just as hard to diagnose. You have to start somewhere in the RMA process. I was merely suggesting the PSU is the best first place to start as it more resembles a common failing psu to me. (in my experience)
 
Did you turn off automatic system restart on system failure? If not, then if it were blue screening you may not see it, the machine will just restart itself. Were there any application failures under Event Viewer?

Though as others have stated, it could be the power supply as well.
 
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