Computer keeps shutting down

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Christie
  • Start date Start date
J

John Christie

My laptop is 6months old. XP came pre-installed. I have
added Office XP Basically there are two problems which I
exerience.
1. Doesn't happen as often as problem 2 but still
happened twice this
afternoon. While working on Word a dialogue box appears
on screen saying that
Word has encountered a problem and needs to close. It
might be possible to
recover any information. Then I have to check
a box confirming the recovery of my work (up to last save
or automatic save)
and word is restarted and a document appears on screen
that I was working on,
when I last saved it with the option of the computer's
last automatic save, if
it's more recent.

2. This happens more often. While working on Word or
sometimes the internet the computer flashes up a message
for a nino-nano
second saying there's a problem and the screen goes
blank. Then the computer
tries to restart however it always freezes before
managing. The only way to
get it to do anything is to press down the power button
for some time until
the computer shuts down. After letting the computer sit
for a bit, I then turn
it back on. I am informed that the computer experienced a
serious error and
had to be shut down. I am offered several options to
restart the computer-
normally/ last known good configuration/ safe mode. The
first few times I
chose "normally". Still problems. Following laptop's
suggestion of "last known
good configuration" also suffers from problems. The
computer then checks all
the bits and pieces (roms and rams I guess) and boots up.
It suggests that
perhaps recently installed hardware is to
blame...perhaps. Doesn't want to
commit to anything! Well, the only thing I have recently
installed is
the "Speakfrench" cd from my dictionary. I have since
uninstalled it, to no
avail. All work is lost that has not been saved.

This is more than a bit frustrating! I followed the error
report onto the
internet which offers updates to download. It only came
up with one update but
I am unable to download it because I do not have the
Windows' installation
cds. Help me! Please!
 
Hi,

Frequent hard shutdown would cause serious and
unrecoverable damages to the harddisk, e.g. bad sectors.
Can you see any error messages in the event log?
If it keep on shutdown with no reason, the best way to do
is backup your invaluable data files and use the recovery
CD to re-install the OS in scratch.
If you don't have the recovery CD and the laptop is still
within the warranty period, backup the data and send it to
the vendor for a repair.

Peter
 
Hey John,

Sorry I didn't understand this last bit,

snip>
This is more than a bit frustrating! I followed the error
report onto the
internet which offers updates to download. It only came
up with one update but
I am unable to download it because I do not have the
Windows' installation
cds. Help me! Please
pins>

Why do you need the windows xp cd to download an update ?

Anyway, sounds like a crash,disable automatically restart so you can see
what the error is

control panel/system/advanced/startup and recovery settings

Uncheck "Automatically Restart"

If you get a blue screen error, post the details.

You can also check the system event log for any errors labelled with a white
cross on a red circular background with a description of "Save Dump" or
"System Error"

start/run
eventvwr.msc

Click on system in left pane, search for the errors I described above.
Double click on the latest and use the copy button below the 2 arrow keys to
copy the error codes to the clipboard, and then use right click/paste to
copy them into a post.

While you're in the eventlog, have a look at any other errors which look
hardware related, such as disk timeouts, crc or parity errors, indicating
some kind of hardware problem.

The blue screen will hopefully give the name of a driver causing the problem
next time the fault occurs.



Paul
 
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