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My computer is restarting randomly. I have no idea what's causing it.
#1
23 Nov 2012 @ 16:26
GoWings19
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Newbie
Hello, everyone.
I'm having an odd issue. My computer will randomly restart at ANY time. When it comes back up, it will show the screen that says "Windows did not shut down properly (blah blah blah)."
It seems to happen most frequently, when I'm streaming an online video. I want to say that it's mostly youtube, but that's probably because those are the videos that stream the most. It will also happen a lot, almost every time, while playing Magic the Gathering Online. These are not the only times that it happens, though. I have no problem playing more demanding games such as Diablo III, World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, Guild Wars 2, etc. In fact, it almost never happens while I'm playing these games, but it has happened. I also have no problem watching a video stored on my computer. Again, almost never restarts this way, but it has happened.
TLDR: Restarts any time. Restarts most frequently during online video streaming & MTGO. Restarts rarely while playing more demanding games.
I've checked the temperature of both the CPU & GPU using a program called RealTemp. That seems to be just fine. I've opened up the case & cleaned all the components & that also had no effect.
I'm really at a loss for what could be causing this. Any help you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.
I'm having an odd issue. My computer will randomly restart at ANY time. When it comes back up, it will show the screen that says "Windows did not shut down properly (blah blah blah)."
It seems to happen most frequently, when I'm streaming an online video. I want to say that it's mostly youtube, but that's probably because those are the videos that stream the most. It will also happen a lot, almost every time, while playing Magic the Gathering Online. These are not the only times that it happens, though. I have no problem playing more demanding games such as Diablo III, World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, Guild Wars 2, etc. In fact, it almost never happens while I'm playing these games, but it has happened. I also have no problem watching a video stored on my computer. Again, almost never restarts this way, but it has happened.
TLDR: Restarts any time. Restarts most frequently during online video streaming & MTGO. Restarts rarely while playing more demanding games.
I've checked the temperature of both the CPU & GPU using a program called RealTemp. That seems to be just fine. I've opened up the case & cleaned all the components & that also had no effect.
I'm really at a loss for what could be causing this. Any help you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.
AfterDawn
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#4
24 Nov 2012 @ 15:36
Originally posted by GoWings19:what are your system specs?
Originally posted by ddp:About 4 months.
how long has this been going on?
if you don't know
get Speccy: http://download.piriform.com/spsetup118.exe
save it
install it
run it
then report back
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 24 Nov 2012 @ 15:42
#6
25 Nov 2012 @ 2:06
JST1946
Senior Member
I had a computer of mine do that a long time ago.I had un-install all my programs and re-install them until I finally found which one was causing the problem.It was Nero that was causing the problem.After I updated Nero then the problem went away.
20 Year U.S.Army Veteran.Vietnam 1969-1972 101st Abn.Div.
#7
25 Nov 2012 @ 7:51
Originally posted by JST1946:ive had this issue as well my solution was to only allow flash player access to Core 0. the 940BE had issues with any web based interaction but oddly enough Games and local media suffered no restarts or the occasional lockups. I'm now using 965BE and suffer no such issues.
I had a computer of mine do that a long time ago.I had un-install all my programs and re-install them until I finally found which one was causing the problem.It was Nero that was causing the problem.After I updated Nero then the problem went away.
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#8
25 Nov 2012 @ 11:44
Originally posted by DXR88:Intel C2Quad Q6600 (2.4GHz, 2x4MB)
Originally posted by GoWings19:what are your system specs?
Originally posted by ddp:About 4 months.
how long has this been going on?
if you don't know
get Speccy: http://download.piriform.com/spsetup118.exe
save it
install it
run it
then report back
Sapphire Radeon HD 5870
4GB DDR2 SDRAM,800MHZ- 4X1GB,DIM,M
Corsair TX650W
LIAN LI PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
Windows 7
#9
25 Nov 2012 @ 11:49
Originally posted by ddp:I have not tried that, but I'm trying to avoid it. That will be the next step if nothing else works. :/
have you tried system restore to before the problem started?
Originally posted by DXR88:This sounds interesting. I'm going to google how to do this & I'll let everyone know how it goes.
ive had this issue as well my solution was to only allow flash player access to Core 0. the 940BE had issues with any web based interaction but oddly enough Games and local media suffered no restarts or the occasional lockups. I'm now using 965BE and suffer no such issues.
#10
25 Nov 2012 @ 12:29
Originally posted by GoWings19:right click on desktop-click new document.
Originally posted by ddp:I have not tried that, but I'm trying to avoid it. That will be the next step if nothing else works. :/
have you tried system restore to before the problem started?
Originally posted by DXR88:This sounds interesting. I'm going to google how to do this & I'll let everyone know how it goes.
ive had this issue as well my solution was to only allow flash player access to Core 0. the 940BE had issues with any web based interaction but oddly enough Games and local media suffered no restarts or the occasional lockups. I'm now using 965BE and suffer no such issues.
open text document and paste start /affinity 1 *Program name*.exe
save document as .bat and run your browser through the batch file. all browsing related plugins including flash will only run on core 0.
*Program name* is your browser as that's responsible for launching flash.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 25 Nov 2012 @ 12:30
#12
14 Dec 2012 @ 18:38
Originally posted by n8tedog33:That's always a possibility, but that Corsair PSU is a very reliable unit.
Sounds like the power supply is going bad.
Random restarts can have a couple of causes, but usually it's caused by a service/module crash so lets see if we can find the culprit's name.
Lets stop the auto restart behaviour and get a BSOD instead, which lists the Stop Error Code(s) and possibly the faulting module name. At least we'll have something to start with for research.
Open Control Panel/System applet/Advanced System settings - In the System Properties popup, click the Advanced tab, then in the Startup & Recovery box, click the Settings button.
In that popup box, uncheck the Automatic Restart option and make sure the "Write an event to System Log" is checked. Debug info, select "Kernel memory dump" and make sure "Overwrite existing file" is selected, the default dump location should be %System Root%\Memory.dmp.
What you'll get instead of a restart is a BSOD with info that can be used to help find the cause. If it has a faulting module (or service) listed, write that down as well as any Stop Error Code.
One thing to watch, don't just let this happen once, get a number of BSODs if possible. You may see a repeat in the fault or it could show random services or modules, this is also important.
Post back with your results please.
Dave
#13
14 Dec 2012 @ 22:56
No need to wait for multiple bsod's it could be more than one cause,instead go grab bluesecreenview it'll show what you need to know it's free & no install,checking event viewer is another place to look for error messages
#14
15 Dec 2012 @ 17:58
Originally posted by ChappyTTV:
Originally posted by n8tedog33:That's always a possibility, but that Corsair PSU is a very reliable unit.
Sounds like the power supply is going bad.
Random restarts can have a couple of causes, but usually it's caused by a service/module crash so lets see if we can find the culprit's name.
Lets stop the auto restart behaviour and get a BSOD instead, which lists the Stop Error Code(s) and possibly the faulting module name. At least we'll have something to start with for research.
Open Control Panel/System applet/Advanced System settings - In the System Properties popup, click the Advanced tab, then in the Startup & Recovery box, click the Settings button.
In that popup box, uncheck the Automatic Restart option and make sure the "Write an event to System Log" is checked. Debug info, select "Kernel memory dump" and make sure "Overwrite existing file" is selected, the default dump location should be %System Root%\Memory.dmp.
What you'll get instead of a restart is a BSOD with info that can be used to help find the cause. If it has a faulting module (or service) listed, write that down as well as any Stop Error Code.
One thing to watch, don't just let this happen once, get a number of BSODs if possible. You may see a repeat in the fault or it could show random services or modules, this is also important.
Post back with your results please.
Dave
Originally posted by scorpNZ:First, I attempted to re-install flash, which seemed to work for awhile, but was probably just me trying to pay more attention to it. So, the problem has still been ongoing.
No need to wait for multiple bsod's it could be more than one cause,instead go grab bluesecreenview it'll show what you need to know it's free & no install,checking event viewer is another place to look for error messages
ScorpNZ, I looked into BlueScreenView & that seems like something that would really help me. Do I need to take the steps listed by Dave in order for that to do me any good, or can I just use BlueScreenView?
Nevermind. I went ahead & made it BSOD instead. So, I will get BlueScreenView & come back with updates. Thanks guys! :)
EDIT: I went into the event viewer, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for exactly, or what I could provide to help out. Thanks again!
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 15 Dec 2012 @ 18:08
#15
16 Dec 2012 @ 14:20
Okay. I got something from the event viewer. I don't know what to make of it, though.
Source: Kernel - Power
Event ID: 41
- System
- Provider
[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
[ Guid] {331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}
EventID 41
Version 2
Level 1
Task 63
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000000000000002
- TimeCreated
[ SystemTime] 2012-12-16T15:46:49.852025200Z
EventRecordID 49967
Correlation
- Execution
[ ProcessID] 4
[ ThreadID] 8
Channel System
Computer Thom-PC
- Security
[ UserID] S-1-5-18
- EventData
BugcheckCode 0
BugcheckParameter1 0x0
BugcheckParameter2 0x0
BugcheckParameter3 0x0
BugcheckParameter4 0x0
SleepInProgress false
PowerButtonTimestamp 0
Source: Kernel - Power
Event ID: 41
- System
- Provider
[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
[ Guid] {331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}
EventID 41
Version 2
Level 1
Task 63
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000000000000002
- TimeCreated
[ SystemTime] 2012-12-16T15:46:49.852025200Z
EventRecordID 49967
Correlation
- Execution
[ ProcessID] 4
[ ThreadID] 8
Channel System
Computer Thom-PC
- Security
[ UserID] S-1-5-18
- EventData
BugcheckCode 0
BugcheckParameter1 0x0
BugcheckParameter2 0x0
BugcheckParameter3 0x0
BugcheckParameter4 0x0
SleepInProgress false
PowerButtonTimestamp 0
#16
16 Dec 2012 @ 15:22
Hi
Event Viewer can be awfully cluttered with useless info, sprinkled with a few nuggets of good info so it can be hard for many users to decipher it properly. The Kernel-Power error you posted is a critical event but it's only really telling you that your system did not shut down in a tidy fashion.
Do the steps I listed and get Bluescreenview as scorpNZ posted, but I have one change I want you to make to mine, do not overwrite existing files, unselect that one please so we can have a number of dump files to compare.
Post what you get from the BSV program and we'll see what you have there.
Dave
Event Viewer can be awfully cluttered with useless info, sprinkled with a few nuggets of good info so it can be hard for many users to decipher it properly. The Kernel-Power error you posted is a critical event but it's only really telling you that your system did not shut down in a tidy fashion.
Do the steps I listed and get Bluescreenview as scorpNZ posted, but I have one change I want you to make to mine, do not overwrite existing files, unselect that one please so we can have a number of dump files to compare.
Post what you get from the BSV program and we'll see what you have there.
Dave
#17
17 Dec 2012 @ 12:40
I opened BlueScreenView, but nothing is coming up. I did a search for "MEMORY.DMP" on my computer, but there's nothing that came up & it has happened since I made the changes to my system setting & installed BlueScreenView.
#18
18 Dec 2012 @ 5:12
Looking at BlueScreenView further, it looks like it's looking for MiniDumps. My system failure setting are not making minidumps. I'm assuming that's the issue, but I'm not sure. Should I change it?
I read up some more, & I needed to change some setting. Sorry for all the double posts.
I read up some more, & I needed to change some setting. Sorry for all the double posts.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Dec 2012 @ 5:16
#19
18 Dec 2012 @ 21:50
you need a pagefile on drive C of a minimum 150mb for xp or 400mb win vista & 7
xp
right clik my comp then properties your looking for virtual memory its under advanced tab then look for performance
do the same for vista or 7 but when window appears look to the left for advanced settings & clik it then advanced tab performance
xp
right clik my comp then properties your looking for virtual memory its under advanced tab then look for performance
do the same for vista or 7 but when window appears look to the left for advanced settings & clik it then advanced tab performance
#20
20 Dec 2012 @ 23:52
I had a similar problem. Whenever I did video intensive things like rendering a video in premier elements and playing a game at the same time. Drove me nuts. finally I replaced my video card with an equivalent card of a different brand. Problem ceased. I think it had to do with my video card memory and my computer memory not playing together well. (trying to utilize same resources at same time)
#21
26 Dec 2012 @ 2:51
My pagefile is 3326 MB. So, that seems right.
I just got a new mouse (Logitech G600). I installed the software for it & tried to run the program, but my computer shut down. I tried again & the same thing happened. I went to Blue Screen View & it had nothing there. I'm back to square one. This is a bummer.
I just got a new mouse (Logitech G600). I installed the software for it & tried to run the program, but my computer shut down. I tried again & the same thing happened. I went to Blue Screen View & it had nothing there. I'm back to square one. This is a bummer.
#22
26 Dec 2012 @ 6:06
Originally posted by GoWings19:Faulty USB controller?
My pagefile is 3326 MB. So, that seems right.
I just got a new mouse (Logitech G600). I installed the software for it & tried to run the program, but my computer shut down. I tried again & the same thing happened. I went to Blue Screen View & it had nothing there. I'm back to square one. This is a bummer.
if your mainboard has two controllers, like mine try turning one of them off an using the other.
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#23
28 Dec 2012 @ 16:47
It's resetting & I can't seem to get BlueScreenView to find any reports. This is the pits.
#24
28 Dec 2012 @ 19:02
JST1946
Senior Member
Try running this program and see if it helps.
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5314-...ows-repair.html
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5314-...ows-repair.html
20 Year U.S.Army Veteran.Vietnam 1969-1972 101st Abn.Div.
#25
29 Dec 2012 @ 23:24
You can always try to reinstall your OS? If it is a hardware problem, then you might as exchange old parts for new ones and see if that solves your problem. For example: swap your power supply for another one. See if that solves the problem. If not, replace something else. That way you know what isn't the problem.
Other than that, I can only think of faulty voltage spikes or over heating issues. However you've excluded them. I had my laptop restart randomly before. I did a voltage drain by removing the charger and battery and holding down the power button for 1 minute. I found out static charge was causing my laptop to restart on its own. The problem never came back.
Best of luck.
Other than that, I can only think of faulty voltage spikes or over heating issues. However you've excluded them. I had my laptop restart randomly before. I did a voltage drain by removing the charger and battery and holding down the power button for 1 minute. I found out static charge was causing my laptop to restart on its own. The problem never came back.
Best of luck.
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My computer is restarting randomly. I have no idea what's causing it.
