Help! my computer turns itself off??

General Forums Off-topic Chat
1

Hi all, i need some help here…I’m using Window XP pro.

It started about a few weeks ago. it seemed it had something to do with the Adobe Reader Updater? i cancel the updater a few times while surfing the net. then, the Reader kind of acting sluggish and took longer to close the pdf files. a few days after that( i think )and my computer started to turn itself off.

at first i didn’t suspect the updater. The 1st few days, the updater message pop up after i log on. i clicked “later” or “cancel” (can’t remember) then wait for the Window to load. and in less then a minute, my computer would then turn itself off suddenly as if someone just press the power button. i reboot the computer, and it worked fine for the rest of the day. (2 or 3 times i had to reboot the computer twice)

it got to a point that my computer would turn itself off right after i press the “cancel”/close button of the Update message. i test it twice by not clicking anything of that updater and i opened window explorer, xnview, blender etc and everything seemed okay, but as soon as i closed the updater, my computer turned off. so, i tried connected the net after i log on and then clicked the “update” button. guess what? my computer didn’t turn itself off, and everything seemed back to normal for a week or so.

now my computer started to turn itself off again, minus the Reader update message. again, it only happens when i turn on the computer after it was turned off for more then a few hours, and after i reboot the computer, everything works fine for the day.

my questions are,

1)is it possible that the Adobe updater is the cause? is there some known issues/bugs etc that will cause this? (i’m thinking about un-install the Reader)

2)does it look like my computer is infected? i don’t have antivirus program at the moment, i know, i should have. anyway, i think i read something like there is some site that would run diagnostic on-line for free? any suggestion?

3)the last two days i’m thinking maybe it has something to do with the fan/computer temperature? it’s awfully quiet when i first boot the computer, compare later, after everything works fine. and i remember some warning message regarding the fan, but,

how can i make the DOS(?) screen stay longer? the screen that shows up before window when one boot the computer, listing things like hardware detected etc. right now it flashes for a split second and is gone.

it reason that screen stay for a split second is because a few days after i bought the computer, there was something wrong with the motherboard and i took it back for them to change. it was then i told them that i saw some warning message from that screen, about the fan/ temperature (can’t remember), but when i picked up my computer, the sales guy happily told me that they took care of it by making the screen not showing up(it flashes for a split second), so that i didn’t need to worry about that message anymore. it was like “What?”:eek:

4)any other possible cause?

sorry for the long post, and thanks for any help. oh yeah, almost forgot, Merry X’mas :smiley:

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  1. yea there are a few third party software packages that allow you to read PDF files.

  2. there is a version of ClamAV for windows, it is pretty decent and free… trendMicro also has an online one that is not too bad… you will need to use explorer, and enable active X controls for it to work

  3. Over heating will shut the system down, Same with some CPU and memory issues… it is more common for the power supply too.
    IF you installed any Eco-friendly power saving crap, uninstall it… also look in the control pannel for the power management, and tweak it.

  4. Look in the air intakes of your computer for bugs,spider webs, hornets nests, and anything else blocking the ports… Make sure the CPU fan is mounted properly, and is running… same goes for your GPU cooler on the graphics card.
    Here in hawaii we get lots of problems with ants, and other pests inside the computer cases.

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It’s could also be a hardware issue.

I once had a similar situation with my machine. Later I found out that the top of the CPU fan had to pull air through about an inch of dust that accumulated on the top. So, my PC was shutting off seemingly at random, because the CPU would overheat, and when it does that it’s programmed to shut down.

*edit - bah, Mmph! beat me to it.

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hey you guys are fast, thks!

i will uninstall the Reader and check the inside of the case and see what happen. (but the thought of finding a hornets nests inside my computer make me shudder )

not sure about the Eco-friendly power saving thing? where do i check it? (i just check Control panel–>power options and don’t see anything)

about overheat…right now my computer shut down only when i turn it on after hours of it being turned off, so the computer is not warm yet. maybe there is some problem with the fan and it’s program to shut the computer down?

anyone knows how to make that dos screen stay longer? can i change the setting inside window?

thanks again guys.

5

check the thermal paste on the cpu, it can dry up and become useless.

6

Thermal compounds don’t have to be moist to pull heat.

7

Yes, check the obvious like overheating or power supply failure.
Check Event Viewer for anything that may give some indication as to the problem.

However, what version of Adobe Reader are you using?
I had a problem about 12 months ago that sounded very similar to yours. I had 2 PC’s sitting side by side that started crashing on adobe reader. I tried updating, reinstalling, reverting to original version, and all sorts of things. This was at about versions 4, 5, and 6.

I ended up reformatting these PC’s and they have worked ok since I installed version 6 straight off. I think maybe it was something in the registry that “stuck”

Not neccessarily what your problem is though.

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I would uninstall adobe acrobat and install foxit reader http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php It’s smaller and faster.
I would also make sure to get a anti virus Avg Is A Good One I would also open it up and clean off all the dust and stuff incase it’s overheating… like get one of those cans of compressed air and spray that at the cpu and powersupply… And start it up with the cover off and make sure all the fans are spinning…

Basically what everyone else already said.

9

what’s a thermal paste? i’m technically challenged.:o

azecraze-- it’s Reader 8 to Reader 8.1

scabootssca–thks for the links.

10

Check the power supply, make sure the power cords are in firmly and wires from the power supply are plugged in the motherboard aswell. This similar thing happened to me and if I bumped it the whole computer turned off.

Check the heatsink above the cpu fan and make sure it isnt clogged up by dust and other misc. shit

Run a virus checker, hackers like Adobe Reader updater and can easily modify & replace the program with a virus infected one, prone to being used as trojan horse due to their nature, check for spyware too

All else fails, remove all your new software & restore your system, all of them to the date before all this stuff happened

11

The adobe updater and reader 8 is the just a piece of shit that is good for nothing. I was happy with reader 7, but ver 8 is just junk. It takes 120 MB of hdd space, and the updater doesn’t work, it goes into some cycle and uses cpu for 100%, only restart can kill it. Now I use foxit to read pdfs.

I had bad RAM one time which caused restarts. Also, that CPU usage might lead to overheating and then your comp shuts down to protect itself. And viruses are bad also, they do a lot of evil.

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Reinstall the OS then install an ativirus , check the memory if it is ok push it a little and then see the cpu fan if it is rotating at right speed.

Don`t ever install adobe reader , and disable any update thing on any software , tend to kill your net bandwidth and same time sucks worms in to your hardrive :smiley: