My PC for no apparant reason just shuts down and restarts
when it feels like it. This has only happened since XP
pro has been installed. When i want it to shut down it
won`t. I press turn off computer but the PC just reboots.
Has anyone else got this problem or can someone advise
me . Kind Regards. Richard
XP installs with a default setting to automatically reboot when there is a
serious error. You should find error reports in Event Viewer that
correspond to the time of the automatic reboots. The info in the error
reports will help you to track down the cause of the problem.
You can turn off this setting, if you prefer. It won't get rid of the
errors but instead of rebooting, the system will display an onscreen
error message. The error message may match the one already
recorded in Event Viewer but at times it offers additional error info
that Event Viewer was not able to capture. You will have to manually
restart Windows.
To turn off this setting, use System Properties. On the Advanced page,
click the Settings button in the "Startup and Recovery" section. Uncheck
the "Automatically restart" box and click OK.
Automatic restarts can also be due to overheating. This is a failsafe built
in to most motherboards to protect the processor from getting fried. In
these situations, the restarts are pretty consistent. For example: Always
restarts 15 minutes after booting the computer. Or always restarts after
initiating an intense process such as CD burning.
Random restarts can be caused by flakey RAM. If you suspect bad RAM, you
can try a software tester. These are not as accurate as a tech with tools
testing the RAM but are often helpful in uncovering questionable memory
modules. Another method for troubleshooting is to swap out the existing
RAM for known good RAM.
A link for a memory tester:
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp