Unexpected Shutdown In Windows 7

Hey all,

This issue started several days ago. I was talking on the phone and doing nothing on my computer at the time. I had Gmail, FaceBook and Symbaloo home page tabs open in Chrome.

The computer shut down as if someone had pulled the plug. I tried to reboot with the power button, but nothing happened. I unplugged the power cable from the back of the computer, let it rest a minute, plugged it back in and tried to restart. This time the power lights flashed for a second, I heard the speakers pop as they usually do on startup, but it did not continue to boot. Again I unplugged it but waited a while longer before restarting. This time it booted completely, but only stayed on for about 10 minutes.

I started thinking it might be a bad power button and when I removed the case to check, it did appear as though one leads solder joint was loose. I tried my best to re-solder the connection. This time it stayed on for several hours and died again. I believed it to be a bad solder joint or a bad switch at that time.

I removed the switch and replaced it with one I had salvaged from an old computer. Again, several hours it was fine, then shut down. I opened and cleaned the case very well, checked that all fans were running ~ 3 fans blowing on the CPU, 2 blowing out the back and one on-board the video card.

I don't believe it's a heat issue because there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the amount of time the OS stays loaded. But it does seem that if it stays unplugged longer, it tends to stay running longer. Other times, it will stay unplugged over night and only flash in the morning.

I'm not sure if you guys can help with this. As it normally won't stay online long enough to diagnose the issue. But I'm hoping someone here has a clue as to what is going on.

Thanx for anything you can do,

- Dean -

Hi,

 

Is the fan on the Power Supply working? this could also happens in a fan less power supply's.

 

The behavior seems to indicate a bad power supply some times its heat related, depending on the power requested the power supply gets hot and it cuts the power, in some cases it can power up again automatically.

Thanx for the reply SD.

When it runs yes, all the fans are running. And I agree ~ and hope ~ it's the power supply. Although I don't believe it's a heat issue. I can leave it unplugged overnight and it will still just flash and not boot. Other times I can unplug it for just a minute or two, hit the power button and it may run for several hours. But I have noticed recently that the problem seems to be getting worse. Not staying on for extended periods of time anymore.

I have several old power supplies laying around. I'll try one of those and let you know if it solves the problem.

Thanx again for your help.

-Dean-

Please download and install Speccy to provide us with information about your computer.  Clicking on this link will automatically initiate the download.

When Speccy opens Click on File which is in the upper left portion of the screen, then click on Publish Snapshot.

In the following screen click on Copy to Clipboard.

 In your next post right click inside the Reply to Topic box, then click on Paste.  This will load a link to the Speccy log.

Sure sounds thermal...

 

When things overheat with a thermal event the system shuts down immediately to prevent permanent damage - no warning, no BSOD, no event is logged.

 

If you can't restart right away but you can restart after waiting a but that might give things time to cool off enough to start.

 

The longer it cools off the longer it will run, right?

 

Video intensive operations can generate extra heat so if there is something in particular you can do that will reliably recreate the problem then when you make an adjustment you can no longer recreate the problem you will know you are on the right track.

 

Here is some more information about how Speccy might help:

 

 

If you download the free version of Speccy you can see what your temperatures are and also monitor them while you are performing video intensive things that might cause a failure or BSOD.

 

https://www.piriform.com/speccy  (the CURRENT version of Speccy)

 

You can uninstall Speccy later if you don't like it.

 

When Speccy is running temperatures in green are good and temperatures in red would be bad (in this example everything is green=good and red=bad):

 

[attachment=197326:1.jpg]

 

Remember:  Green=Good,  Orange=A Concern,  Red=Bad

 

If you minimize Speccy to the system tray the average temperature will still be displayed next to the system clock so you can keep an eye on it and if it gets into the red, you have a thermal problem:

 

[attachment=197327:2.jpg]

 

See if you can reproduce the shutdown event while Speccy is running and showing the temperature of things.

 

Keep an eye on the temperature while you are doing whatever you do that causes the shutdown.

Edited by joseibarra, 27 August 2017 - 04:56 PM.

Josei,

If you read my post carefully, you'd see there seems to be no pattern as to when the system shuts down or how long it runs before it does. It can go overnight with the power cord unplugged and when I try to boot up, it only flashes. Adversely, I can unplug it for only a minute or two and then it will run for much longer. This does NOT appear to be a thermal issue to me. I'm not sure what references you have to assume it does.

I cannot reproduce these events with any consistency. It's different each time. I even tried Safe Mode and it seemed to run longer then. But eventually, it shut down in SM too.

I would love to use Speccy, but I seriously doubt my system will run long enough to download, install and run it.

I'm still thinking it's a failing power supply. Time will tell after I install a different one.

-Thanx -

I managed to get a Speccy log.

 

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/q3TKtdFvlMrcEkUWAKP00eZ

 

I'll try to post the SysnativeFileCollectionApp.zip file as instructed by bwv848 in a similar thread. Also the memory and hard drive diagnostics programs on www.carrona.org.

Edited by hamluis, 28 August 2017 - 11:10 AM.

It appears that your Seagate hdd may have a problem.

 

Please download and run SeaTools for Windows

Before the installation begins you will be prompted to either Decline or Accept the terms of the installation, click on I Accept.

1.  SeaTools for Windows will search for HDDs and SSDs on your computer.  Please remove any external storage devices connected via USB ports.

2.  Detected Drives will list the HDDs and SSDs found.  Place a check mark in the drive box you want to run the scan on.  This should be the drive that has the operating system installed on it, this is usually C: drive.

3.  You will see Basic Tests toolbar above Detected Drives, move the mouse pointer over this to open the test options.  Please click on Long Generic Test

4.  This will start the scan.  When the scan is complete you will see the result under Test Status , please post the results in your topic.

5.  The test will indicate either Pass or Fail.  Post the results of the scan in your topic.

6.  Click on Help, then click on View Log File.  If the scan failed take a screen shot of the Log File and post it in your topic.

Thank you,

I'll get those logs to you when I get home. IF my system will run long enough. What part of the Speccy log shows the issue with my Seagate? Just for my own curiosity.

-Dean-

If you scroll down you will find the sections for CPU, RAM, Motherboard, Graphics, Storage.  Under storage you will find the S.M.A.R.T. Attributes for the Partition 1 C: drive.  There you will see the attribute Reallocated Sector Count which shows 41.  This figure is large enough to make me question the health of this drive.

Edited by dc3, 28 August 2017 - 11:09 AM.

If I were to install an operating system on the other Drive, would that prevent the shutdown issues and buy me a little time to migrate my data over to the good drive? Do I need to be concerned about losing data?

If it were up to me I would immediately backup all of my important data to removable media such as a flash drive, a data hdd, DVDs, Cloud,etc.

I would do only that until you have all of your important files saved.

You need to run the SeaTool for Windows to find out if it is indeed failing.