PC shuts off randomly

[fredsr]

Besides my earlier problem PC, now my wife's PC shuts down without notice. I ran CCleaner & Spybot, (all current editions) & deleted all malware & trojans found. I'm not sure if this is relevant, but MBAM would not update; all attempts to do so failed. Installed Core Temp to monitor CPU thinking it may be due to overheating. I ran chkdsk /r, rebooted & ran it for 18 hours. Temp's were running in the mid 30's with a low load & low to mid 40's with a high load. Thinking I resolved the problem. I shut the PC down. The next day, symptoms returned. Ran SUPERAntiVirus & deleted 2 more trojans. PC runs Avast 5.0 & I installed MSSE too. It's a Gateway running XP Home. Almost forgot, when it shuts down, pressing the ON button reboots it. Any ideas as to what could cause this?

Thanks for any advice you can give me, Fred

 

[webrabbit]

I had the same problem. I bew the dust off the CPU and that solved it.

 

[G0AOZ]

Does the machine suddenly and immediately go completely dead, i.e. no fans, no l.e.d.s, etc., or do you see the shutdown screen, or hear a fan still running?

The fact that it ran for 18 hours without shutting down suggests it's possibly not hardware. The ability to restart it again immediately also points away from hardware. It's just possible there could be an intermittent electrical connection somewhere which is causing this. Check tightness of ALL connections inside the PC.

Ensure there is nothing set to powersave, monitor, screensaver, hard disk, standby, hibernate, etc. Try a different mains power wall socket to eliminate the house wiring.

See if the machine will run successfully in Safe Mode without unexpectedly shutting down.

I'd suspect you may still have some infections in the system. You could try an on-line virus check, e.g.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/

Was MalwareBytes installed previously, or has it just been installed to try and resolve this problem? If it was installed previously, then I'd uninstall it, reboot the machine, and do a fresh download and install. Then try updating it. Make sure you have a working Internet connection prior to attempting the update, and check to see that any firewall software is not blocking MalwareBytes. I have often found that a MalwareBytes installation can get damaged by viruses, etc.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[fredsr]

MBAM was installed previously. When it shuts down, there are no screens, notices or fans. It's like power went off but monitor was still active (as far as power lite anyway). I'll try uninstalling MBAM using Revo, reboot in Safe Mode with Networking to download, install & update to see if that works. Prior to this recent problem, it updated without problem. Alas, I don't give my wife's PC much maintenance due to time & the fact that she hates it when I take over her PC. But when something happens, it's "Fred, what's wrong or what do I do now?" (never what did I do now). I guess after 19 years, it's too late to upgrade. I'll let you know how things work out.

Thanks again for the help, Fred

 

[fredsr]

New factor added into the problem. Apparently, the shutdown isn't so random. Wife admitted PC only seemed to shut down shortly after signing on to the Internet. I've cleaned all fans including heatsink & have uninstalled MBAM. I plan on rebooting in safe mode with networking & reinstalling, updating & running MBAM sometime tomorrow . I'll let all know how that works. Also ran cwshredder & it found 2 variants of CWS which I deleted.

Fred

 

[rclarke250]

You will also want to disable the restore function, as viruses like to hide there and come back at a later date.

 

[FredWagner]

Are you sure it's not just going to sleep from non-use? check the Power Save settings. Does your wife logon to the internet and then walk away, leaving it on without keyboard activity ? When she 'signs on to the internet' what home page URL does she leave it on ?

Fred Wagner

 

[fredsr]

Aleady planning on shutting down sys restore when I'm sure all nasties are gone & then restarting it with a new restore point. Power settings are not the problem. She use to sign on to Facebook & a site called jigzone (put jigsaw puzzles together). She would never log out & shut the browser down, so I took matters in my own hand. Once, I not only logged her off & shut the PC down and then tripped off the power to the surge suppressor. Thankfully, I could turn the switch back on with my toe as she was accusing me of sabotaging her PC. Now I simply put an Admistrator password so if I find she didn't log off, I reboot the system & act dumb when she asks why.

Fred

 

[FredWagner]

perhaps if you explain to your wife that permanently logged in PCs are the favorite places for malware to plant spambots and other evil things, she might be induced to shut down her PC when it isn't in use. Tell her about Botnets, and explain why she shouldn't encourage them!



Fred Wagner

 

[kjv1611]

Definitely, if you don't HAVE to leave your PC on for some reason, I would suggest it best to shut it down, or at LEAST disconnect Internet access, when you're not going to be using it.

Also worth mentioning here. If you don't have a router, get one. That is assuming this is broadband Internet access, not dial-up.

I just got finished (at home) looking at a machine where the family had taken their router out of the mix most of the time (when didn't need wireless), and left the PC on all the time. Well, they AT LEAST got a handful of various viruses, malware, etc. They also had one really fishy thing on there. They had a partition no their system hard drive which neither I nor they recognized. Also, Windows could not access the partition. So I just went ahead and deleted the partition after wiping out what viruses/malware I found.

Maybe if I get time this afternoon before getting it back to them, I'll take a look at the deleted partition with some recovery software to see if there was anything on there that should be of concern.

All that to say - you can't be too careful, I suppose.