Windows shutting down randomly without warning - no time to run a virus scan!

[HansyB]

I think this is a virus/worm but am unable to run Norton to find out!

Here’s what is happening…
Every so often – after about an hour, half an hour, five minutes or even just five seconds Windows will shut down. Sometimes there is no warning – the screen just goes blank. At other times a dialogue box comes up for less than a second saying something like “variation code failed C:/WINDOWS/” then some other stuff I can’t catch. Or another one will occasionally come up saying something like. “There is a problem with accurate licencing” – but not those exact words. It seems to go in cycles. First I get about half an hour or an hour where it runs OK, then they’ll be a spate of shutting down as soon as I turn it on – 5 or 6 times. Then it’ll run OK for a bit.

I am unable to run Norton to completion as it always shuts down before the end - I think in a way running it sort of triggers a shutdown. Once it got up to about 14000 files cleared (no viruses found) and then shut down. I tried Panda many times but it wouldn't work for some reason. I did Microsoft’s sasser check and it appeared not to be this.

Is there anyway to stop the computer from shutting down so I can complete Norton? When I had the Blaster worm it gave notice so I could type something to stop the shutdown but I am getting no notice. This is really getting me down – any suggestions very gratefully received.

With many thanks,
HansyB.

[snowmonkey]

Go to Start / Run and type in "shutdown -a" then press OK, that will stop the machine from rebooting.

cheers

[HansyB]

Thanks very much for the suggestion JAM,
I was doing that 'shutdown -a' thing when I had the Blaster worm and I had time to type it in, but now there isn't enough time to do this. If a dialogue box come up it will shutdown in about half a second or less. Mostly, no dialogue box comes up and the screen just goes completely blank and shuts down without any warning whatsoever.
Do you think this is a virus/worm perhaps?
Thank you once again,
HansyB

[snowmonkey]

nothing is garanteed in live but I'm positive that this is virus in your case.

[HansyB]

Hello snowmonkey sorry for calling you jam before (didn't notice where your name was).

Sorry to keep bugging you but I have managed to run both an updated norton and trend micro's free online scan now and both say that my machine has no virus or anything on it. Could the trouble be with my connection/power unit then do you think?

Thanks for reading this,
HansyB.

[Gene K]

Originally posted by HansyB
Hello snowmonkey sorry for calling you jam before (didn't notice where your name was).

Sorry to keep bugging you but I have managed to run both an updated norton and trend micro's free online scan now and both say that my machine has no virus or anything on it. Could the trouble be with my connection/power unit then do you think?

Thanks for reading this,
HansyB.

Could be. Check your connections to be sure they are firmly inserted [unplug and re-insert firmly]. If you have an [as you should] exterior power backup [battery backup such as an APC unit] you might try connecting the Computer directly to the wall electrical outlet. DO NOT forget about the Power Supply on the inside of the case if all outside AC stuff checks as valid (good).
Gene K

[hw45]

Scan for spyware

[skooch]

I'm having the exact same issues. I am currently running an install of Windows 2K with no problems. When I boot to XP the machine shuts down randomly.

I tried replacing the power supply, I checked the BIOS, I scanned for viruses and spyware and haven't found anything.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Originally posted by HansyB
Sorry to keep bugging you but I have managed to run both an updated norton and trend micro's free online scan now and both say that my machine has no virus or anything on it. Could the trouble be with my connection/power unit then do you think?

[TheNihl8tor]

in system properties, settings, there is an automatically restart check box that you can uncheck if you can get to it in time.
Try looking for a file called reboot.exe , that might be the problem. Good luck

[pnayagam]

[font=Arial]Hi! I am facing the same problem. I am using Toshiba Satellite and XP Home Edition. The system abruptly switrches of the Power when accessing a file on the disk. This happens even when I search for a file using search. I do not see any solution to be posted. CAN ANY ONE HELP?

peri

[jfrancis]

Same exact thing here.

Alienware dual Opteron Windows XP Professional

Windows suddenly shuts off without warning. I have run a full up-to-date Norton: no viruses.

It's as if someone walked up and yanked the cord out of the wall without warning. The problem is only about a week old.

----------- UPDATE --------------

One of the two fans on my dual opteron motherboard was not spinning. Since I reseated the connection to the fan wire, the fan now spins again. So far no unexpected shut downs anymore.

[RNealP]

has any one found a fix to this problem, my amd 1.5 ghz vaio running xp pro with all current updates is now infected with the same problem

[ccole2020]

If the machine doesn't properly shut down (going through the steps... "shutting down Windows... saving settings...") then it is a good possibility that you have HEAT issues or power issues, but I suspect HEAT may be the culprit here. For those of you that know how, go into the BIOS config and check your CPU temperature. You may need to open the case and blow all the dust out really well. I had the same problem and had to remove the CPU fan and CPU, blow all the dust out and even had to remove the metal heatsink from the electrical components and had to wash in between the fins with warm water and a toothbrush (the dust was caked on too hard to be blown away easily). But after reassembling everything, the system works like a charm and I keep it on 24/7.