disk cleanup win xp

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jim
  • Start date Start date
J

Jim

I have a 0ne year old computer my son built for me. I run win xp with P
4 chip. I have two hard drives installed and the system runs great. The
"F" drive is used to store digital images I have scanned.
My question is that within the last 2 or 3 weeks when I try to use the
window disk cleanup function the program gets to "compress files", it
runs for a while then shuts itself off.
The only thing I have added latley is an external hard drive, but it
does not help to disconnect it.
Any ideas on what causes the computer shut itself off?
 
Jim said:
I have a 0ne year old computer my son built for me. I run win xp with
P4 chip. I have two hard drives installed and the system runs great.
The "F" drive is used to store digital images I have scanned.
My question is that within the last 2 or 3 weeks when I try to use the
window disk cleanup function the program gets to "compress files", it
runs for a while then shuts itself off.
The only thing I have added latley is an external hard drive, but it
does not help to disconnect it.
Any ideas on what causes the computer shut itself off?
Click to expand...

Usually a hardware problem. Have a look in the event log.
Right mouse click on My Computer and select Manage in the popup menu.

Your data is at significant risk, BACK UP ANY DATA YOU CARE ABOUT NOW.
 
Whatever the cause, your first task is to back up all data to cd or dvd. I
use my system a lot, and after a year or so, hd's start to die. After
backup, you can do disk checks or disk swaps till you get rid of the
problem. You may also wish to consider reimaging you hd and reinstall
programs and data.
 
The default configuration of XP is to shut down the computer if it
detects an hardware issue. This is to "protect" the system from becoming
even more corrupt.

IMHO it is a harddisk fault as you say it only happens when disk cleanup
runs, so my advise is to get the manufactorers harddisk analyse tools,
if not available use those from ibm/hitachi to check your drives
fitness.

To save your work, a device copy should be made prior, which can e. g.
be done by linux dd to another harddisk device which is the same size or
bigger. Continuing using XP is dangerous, because it can erase your
data. You should read backup and desaster recovery information.

cu
Sascha
 
Any ideas on what causes the computer shut itself off?

Probably overheating when both CPU and Hard Disk are working harder.
Make sure that your system has a good ventilation and fan(s) are working
properly.
 
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