Windows 7 switching off

[jinky]

Twice since coming back off holiday I have left my PC on in the day with the monitor switched off to go bacvk to and then found on hitting return / mving the mouse that the PC doesn`t fire up. It has switched itself off somehow. When I press the PC start button it comes on telling me that windows was not closed down properly and then starts up again OK. Never happened before. It happened before and after most recent updates and the only relatively new software put on was glary a couple of weeks back. I looked it up and read a post saying it was caused by windows 7 fixing a glitch ad then  restarting itself as it was set as a restart buried in the my computer start up and recovery button in system protection settings. It suggested just disabling it as a default would stop it happening which I have done. Not closed down again since but wondering is it right to just disable it? Anyone else know what might be causing this or solution?

[Hinfrance]

Any chance of a screenshot of the parameter you are changing?

[jinky]

This one in my computer, system properties, start b& recovery, advanced, system restart

[Oldboy]

No, you don't need to worry about changing that as it writes the error to the system event log so doesn't need a reboot. Any major crash would force the system to reboot anyway and not all errors are critical. 

[jinky]

Thanks oldboy. It`s not switched itself off today after doing that so maybe ok now. Never understand why computers suddenly start doing stuff like that! It`s like another "fault" I have where windows tells me fro time to time that my Avast is not switched on when it clearly is and then next time I look it`s ok without doing anything!!!

[Hinfrance]

Automatic restart is the default setting. If your computer has suddenly started to restart there will be a reason that you can see in the event log. In my case it was the constant restarts that led me to discover that one of my bank of RAM chips had completely failed.

To find out what was causing the shutdowns, click on the windows button and type 'event viewer' into the start box. After the logs have loaded you'll get a list of faults, most of which, as Oldboy says, will be of no consequence. You are looking for critical errors:



You see I have four from the last seven days - from moving the memory modules about to find the faulty one.

[jinky]

Looks like I am getting a similar message about 2 events in 7 days in Kernel Power/ system, source / log. What did you do about it? Remember I am a lay man with no knowledge of these things. I have had no further episodes. Is it likely to continue - lead to bigger problems? expensive replacement / repair?

I thought a kernel was something to do with a nut 

The only thing I had done recently was to install and run Glary. I `m uninstalling it for a bit to see if it makes a difference as one entry I looked up linked this fault with software from zone alarms and I read that these faults are hard to track down.

[Oldboy]

You need to look at the message witten in the log, as this gives you a clue of what caused the event. Shutdown is triggered by a number of events like over heating chip, flaky power supply or software trying to write to a reserved/restricted area. Sometimes a software update can cause a shutdown without asking you or it starts a countdown, but if you are not there to see it and cancel it, the computer will shutdown. If you don't have any more problems over the next few weeks just ignore it. 

[jinky]

How do you see the longer message. It was very hot in that room the 2 days it happened. Hoping it goes away

Found it and got this gobbldygook:
- <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
- <System>
  <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}" />
  <EventID>41</EventID>
  <Version>2</Version>
  <Level>1</Level>
  <Task>63</Task>
  <Opcode>0</Opcode>
  <Keywords>0x8000000000000002</Keywords>
  <TimeCreated SystemTime="2014-06-20T13:33:26.700437200Z" />
  <EventRecordID>575934</EventRecordID>
  <Correlation />
  <Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8" />
  <Channel>System</Channel>
  <Computer>PbyPD</Computer>
  <Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
  </System>
- <EventData>
  <Data Name="BugcheckCode">10</Data>
  <Data Name="BugcheckParameter1">0xfffff8a0001f78f8</Data>
  <Data Name="BugcheckParameter2">0x2</Data>
  <Data Name="BugcheckParameter3">0x0</Data>
  <Data Name="BugcheckParameter4">0xfffff80002e8725b</Data>
  <Data Name="SleepInProgress">true</Data>
  <Data Name="PowerButtonTimestamp">0</Data>
  </EventData>
  </Event>

with a summary of "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding , crashed or lost power unexpectedly. Happened 3 times on 3rd, 18th and 20th. I had installed Glary on the 2nd and was away between late on 3rd and 17th. When I ran a Dell PC check it said all components passed the various tests including power units and drives etc.Guess I`l have to see what happens.

I am conscious of dust but scared to take the casing off to clean in case I dislodge something I don`t know how to reconnect / identify. I`ve read that you can blow in compressed air through the grills to dust but surely this might a) be too strong or b) move dust from one component to another and make problems worse?

[Hinfrance]

Event 41 usually means a hardware fault, or less likely a driver. It relates to a response timeout.

If, as you intimate, it was hot and your PC is full of dust bunnies, then overheating could easily have caused it.

As Oldboy says, if it doesn't happen again, ignore it. But do give it a clean! I use a vacuum cleaner. Make sure you turn off the PC and disconnect it from the mains first

[jinky]

Thanks H. Did it again earlier but only partial shut down with the on/ off switch still illuminated.
I`ve unplugged everything and got the dyson in - let`s see if it stays on.

[Beaux Reflets]

Thanks H. Did it again earlier but only partial shut down with the on/ off switch still illuminated.
I`ve unplugged everything and got the dyson in - let`s see if it stays on.

If you are sucking rather than blowing, take care not to loosen any connections etc. 

[jinky]

I kept a healthy distance Andy.Not sure it has done any good really. Worried it is a sign of what is to come like my monitor going.

[Oldboy]

Unplug the whole PC. Check the back for a couple of screws that you need to undo to release the side panel. Slide it out and user a air blower on the fan to remove the dust. Slide the panel back and screw in - job done. 

[jinky]

After thinking the vacuuming might have done the trick with a quieter machine it partly closed down again whilstvat the dentist. I say partly because the PC on off switch was still illuminated but I could not wake it using enter / mouse. Hadto close it down by holding the power button down which I am sure is bad. I had been editing on it for 3 hours with no problems - just seems to happen when I leave it. Any ideas on what to do next? I'm thinking I'll just control my use better and save power by just switching it on, doing what I need and closing down each time rather than leave it in standby. Must admit I've been lazy in past and left it on overnight for a quick start next day often. I'm guessing if it is a power issue its going to go at some point though.