Computer help

[Canukistani]

my computer suddenly turned off while i was browsing the web.  I just opened a tab to a link to Something Awful.  I mention this because it was the only site i have never been to before.  and i had to flip the switch in the back off and on again to turn it back on.  then it turned off while it was at the windows loading screen.  when i turned it on again it was at the safemode select screen so i'm running a long anti-virus scanner.

 

every other electronic on the same powerbar is fine and my computer is mildly warm with both fans working fine.

 

oh, i'm currently running in Safe-Mode with Networking, administrator.

[Ferathil]

Does your event log show anything horredous?

 

Or is there any files in C:\Windows\minidump folder with the name of files being along the lines of mini032709-01.dmp? Those indicate a blue screen happened and you just didn't see it, those are good places to look if Windows can't start in normal mode, if those are clean, your anti virus AND anti SPYWARE/ADWARE programs come up clean (try more than one) try clicking start>run, type in msconfig click on selective startup, uncheck everything but load system services, then go to the services tab, check the box to hide all microsoft services, click disable all, click ok and reboot. Called a Clean-Boot, if something horrendous is running in the background, it usually disables it so you can get into Normal mode and figure out what happened with more tools available than just safemode stuff.

[Canukistani]

event log?  C:\Windows\minidump ?

 

*eyes glaze over the rest of your words*

 

i don't actually use any installed anti-malware software except the windows firewall.

 

i went into administrator on safemode with networking and did trojanscanner, and f-secure full system scan.  and i updated everything.  it all seems to be running well now.

 

 

[Ferathil]

The event log is in Control Panel Under administative Tools, it keeps a running log of any errors that occur and when they happened, can also be used to help determine why.

 

IF windows crashes to a blue screen and does a memory dump (all information openned is in memory on the computer) the dump puts all the important info into a file that can be used for debugging purposes later, if there is a file created it would be in my computer, in local disk C, the Windows Folder, and in a folder named "Minidump" if there are files there, it means windows did blue screen and with the right tools you can analyze the file to see why Windows died.

[Canukistani]

k, got no folder called "Minidump".  and i don't know where in the event log to look to where i need.

[Ferathil]

Well if the folder isn't there then you haven't ever had any blue screens, yay for you ;)

Event log is just gibberish unless you know a bit about computers or know where to look :P

 

Main thing=It works, yay for flukes hope it doesn't happen again :D

[Canukistani]

yeah, pretty much what i'm going with.

[TheMasterDude]

Might also want to try downloading CCleaner at: http://www.ccleaner.com/

 

It is a Crap Cleaner (It cleans all of these things:

 

Cleans the following:

Internet Explorer

Temporary files, history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat.

Firefox

Temporary files, history, cookies, download history, form history.

Google Chrome

Temporary files, history, cookies, download history, form history.

Opera

Temporary files, history, cookies.

Safari

Temporary files, history, cookies, form history.

Windows

Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.

Registry cleaner

Advanced features to remove unused and old entries, including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more... also comes with a comprehensive backup feature.

Third-party applications

Removes temp files and recent file lists (MRUs) from many apps including Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, Microsoft Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and many more...

100% Spyware FREE

This software does NOT contain any Spyware, Adware or Viruses.

 

 

It also can delete old registry keys that you don't need or use any more, along with deleting programs, uninstalling them, checking startup processes (and turning them off on startup if you want), and one or two other things.

[Canukistani]

my computer just turned off again and no error recorded in the event log.  i wasn't using any browser program.

[Far Dareis Mai]

Sounds like it could be a hardware problem then. Perhaps your graphics card or motherboard. My laptop did the same thing, and my husband said its motherboard was going bad.

[Canukistani]

ug.  i guess.  i'll have to deal with it next month.  spent $200 this month on getting 5yrs of taxes done.

 

guess i'm turning my computer off when i'm not using it.

[Canukistani]

anyone know why my computer turns off when i try to load into windows regular mode when 2 online scanners said i was virus free?

[Talya]

It sounds like it could be your graphics card. If you have an onboard on, maybe try getting a new one (when you can). If you know someone with a graphics card that works try swapping them aroun and see if that solves your problem. If it doesn't it could be you motherboard as Far says!