Hardware or Software?

[JSD7878]

First thanks in advance for anyone who takes the time to respond.

My issue: I have been running Windows Vista 32bit version for several months now pretty much problem free. About a week ago I noticed that when I tried to shutdown the computer it wouldn't. Instead the computer constantly just restarts, I rebooted into safe mode and tried to shutdown from there but here again it doesn't, it just restarts? Is this mostly like bad hardware (power supply?) or bad software Vistas? Where do I start? Thanks Again.

Computer Specs:
Vistas 32bit
OCZ Platinum 4GB 8500
850Watt Antec
(1) 250GB Western Digital
(1) 250GB Maxtor
Intel Core Duo 6850
ABIT IP35PRO

 

[SimonDavies]

First of all you need to check in the event log to see if there is anything there.

Secondly you need to have a look at the running processes to see if there is anything suspicious.

Next I would look at running something like Spybot Search and Destroy and\or Adaware just to make sure you don't have anything suspicious on that machine.


One thing you should note, although you have 4gb of ram your OS won't actually utilise more than 3.5gb of ram (that includes video ram).

Simon

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[JSD7878]

Ran the Spybot Search and Destroy and yes it found some Malware, ran it 3 more times and now everything is clean. However the inability to shutdown the computer is still alive and well. All it will do is restart when I ask it to shutdown which then causes me to perform a hard shut down by pushing and holding the button.

 

[SimonDavies]

Have a look in the device manager, what processor type is used in the Computer (ACPI Multiprocessor PC) or something similar. Are there any devices showing exclamation marks (as in drivers missing?)

Have you tried running a Windows Update to see if it wants to update any drivers?

Simon

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[BadBigBen]

a restart at SHUTDOWN, indicates that the OS has encountered a problem (BSOD) and is set to reboot...

this could indicate a bad driver, or bad hardware...

to find out which or what BSOD, you need to get it to stop rebooting on errors, which can be done through this procedure:

Right-click Computer >> Properties >> Advanced System Settings >> Advanced Tab - then click Settings at the bottom alongside Startup and Recovery. In System Failure untick Auto Restart.

Next time you have a BSOD, the STOP error will be displayed on the screen. Write this error message down and post it here for our perusal... then we are able to lead you further with the troubleshooting...




Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[JSD7878]

Hi BadBigBen,

Thanks for your suggestions, however I'm not experiencing any BSOD's. Windows Vistas actually shuts down normally meaning via the start menu. It's when computer goes silence that it automatically re-starts back up again even when I have asked vistas to shutdown. I did take your suggestion and unchecked the automatic restart just to see if there was some error message that I wasn't seeing, but alas there wasn't.

Thanks again anymore ideas?

 

[tlcscousin]

Look in the BIOS of the computer and see if wake on LAN has been made active. If it receives network traffic and if it is plugged into ethernet it could turn the PC back on again.There is possibly a setting there to wake on ring as well.

 

[JSD7878]

Hi tlcscousin,

Thanks for your suggestion I checked the Bios and wake on LAN has not been made active, they are all disabled.

 

[tlcscousin]

Do you have any sceduled tasks set to run? Have you updated video drivers lately?

 

[BadBigBen]

JSD7878, must have missed that the PC shuts down normally over the START menu... so the suggestion I gave you would not work...

but to go along tlcscousin's train of thought, just for the heck of it, unplug the ethernet cable and see if the PC does shutdown normally... I read somewhere someone had similar probs and even though WOL in the BIOS was shut off and under the NIC (device manager info), it still would go into wake up mode and restart the PC, that happens only if the ethernet cable is hooked up once unplugged it does not get a signal and does not wake...



Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[JSD7878]

Hi thanks for everybody who contributed to this thread, my problem has been solved. Apparently something was flawed in my Bios, I did nothing more than flash it to the most current version and this has fixed my automatic restart problem. I had done this 8-9 months ago, and sadly I was unaware that Abit had created a new version as of August of 2008.

 

[BadBigBen]

glad you got it to run with out too much hassle...

that would have been my next suggestion ...


Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."