Windows Shutting Down & Rebooting (W2K)

[grafitama]

While working on any open program for a few hours, WIN2K SP4 shut down screen comes up and a message "Window is shutting down"; the computer shuts down normally as though I initiated the shut down from the Start menu. It doesn't even give me a chance to close any programs; the message comes up saying Windows 2000 is shuting down...
The computer then tries to reboot itself about 15-45 minutes later. The computer boots up again without my interaction. But then it won't boot completely and the computer would then goes to the BIOS Setup screen instead, as though it did not have enough power to boot up the computer normally. Sometimes, after I shutdown the computer normally, a few hours later, the computer goes on by itself and try to boot up. But it can't boot up to Windows, and the computer goes to the BIOS Setup screen. The computer seems to have not gotten enough power to go on; it keeps going off and on again for a few seconds before I have to switch the power off completely because afraid might damage any other devices such as my harddisk or motherboard.

Steps I have taken to try to fix the problem:

1. Installed NEW Power Supply
2. Cleaned the Pentium III, 500Mhz processor from dust and dirts
3. Have check to make sure wake on lan and wake on ring is disabled, hybernation in WIN2K Power Option Properies is not checked, disabled any running services that are not necessary, disabled anything that can cause the computer to go to standby or hybernation in the Bios setting; have set the computer to ALWAYS/ON in Power Option, and set Never for any display screen to go off; and have erased any Schedule Tasks; have turn off any IIS services; but still problem exists!!
4. Have check the Event viewer for any message, but none showing that are not normal; everything seems normal.
5. Have check the Security log, and none showing that are not normal; everything seems normal.
6. Installed BRAND NEW Batteries for the APC Back-UPS Pro 650.
7. Installed NEW IC Board for the APC Back-UPS Pro 650.
8. Had APC Techinician calibrate and set properly for the APC to not shut down the computer for any power failure or surges; I even tried not connected to the APC and also Uninstalled the PowerChutte sofware totally.
9. Had check for Blaster Worms and any other viruses and trojans, from online scanning through PC-Cillin and Symantec; as well offline; no blaster worms, virus, or trojans found.
10. Have tried changing the New RAMS on the computer as well
11. Have diagnosed the HardDisk for any problems as well, and done the defragmentation as well.

So, what's my next step before I decide to try to reformat the HardDisk and Install Windows again as my last resort?

What should I check next in regards to hardware or softwares?

I would really hate reformating and installing WIN2K over since it's has been updated so manytimes and no time to do this at the moment.

Any suggestions please...

[schwerv]

Heat?

Have you checked the heating situation on your machine? Do you have your computer in a cabinet under your desk with no ventilation? I havent personallly run across this situation, but the first thing that I would look to since it is taking hours for it to shut down would be heat.

You can check your case for air flow problems. If you have messes of cable hanging everywhere, zip tie them up somewhere out of the way. You can do the same with those big old ide cables that always slow down air flow in the case. If that doesnt work, you could always install another fan into one of the open spaces in your computer. There are normally places for 2-3 extra fans in a normal case.

You can check your cpu temperature in most BIOSs. It will depend on your Motherboard Manufacturer as to where the CPU temperature is in your particular BIOS, but you can usually find it if you hunt around enough.

Hope this helps

ScHwErV

<font color=red>Vegetarian: Old Indian word for Bad Hunter.</font color=red>

[grafitama]

Yes, I have already thought about heat at first.

I have always placed my computer on top of my work desk, never on the bottom of the desk.

Right now I even have both panels of my casing open; at one point, I even place a big fan next to the computer to keep the inside cool.

The CPU temperature is normal at around 39-41 celcius & MotherBoard temperature is around 30-33 celcius. I've been using the ASUS Probe and Sisoftware utilities lately to keep monitoring my temperature.

I am also working in an air conditioning room, so the room temperature is much cool most of the time.

I have also done a check on the CMOS battery of the MotherBoard, and it's still normal/good condition.

But still the computer keeps shutting down after a few hours.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by grafitama on 10/22/03 19:09.</FONT></P>

[schwerv]

You said that you ran a virus check, but how about spyware / malware? You can download Spybot here (http://www.tomcoyote.org/SPYBOT/>here</a>). You should update both of these using the utils provided to do so and run a scan with them both.

--Copy from rjmac--

You could also post a HijackThis log and we could have a look at everything that is running to see if something out of the ordinary shows up.
Go to <a target="_blank" href=http://tomcoyote.org/hjt/>http://tomcoyote.org/hjt/</a> , and download 'Hijack This!'.
Unzip, doubleclick HijackThis.exe, and hit "Scan".
When the scan is finished, the "Scan" button will change into a "Save Log" button.
Press that, save the log somewhere, and please show us its contents.
Most of what it lists will be harmless or even required, so do NOT fix anything yet.

--end copy--

Give these suggestions a try and well see what we can come up with.

<font color=red>Vegetarian: Old Indian word for Bad Hunter.</font color=red>

[grafitama]

Yes, I have scan for spyware and adware as well before. I have the adware and spy stopper installed and did a full scan of everything as well as updated every virus definition, trojan definition, adware/spyware; as well as updated version of the firewall I am using.

I will try the HijackThis and post to it later...

[grafitama]

Is there something wrong with this forum?
I can's seem to copy and paste and post the HijackThis log.

Everytime I already paste and click continue, the page doesn't go anywhere/stuck; and then the page cannot be displayed appears.

Is there a limit to how many lines of words we can post? So, how can I post my HijackThis log?




<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by grafitama on 10/24/03 20:33.</FONT></P>

[grafitama]

Can anyone help me with this problems?

1) The original problem
2) Why I can't post my HijackThis log in this forum?

THANKS

[hammerjammer]

addressing the paste problem first:
you have to save the log (notepad works) then open it (-with- notepad), copy...paste, etc... if that doesn't work i've got no idea on that...heh

now as to original problem:
use the tools option in SpyBot to check for resident programs, bad BHOs, etc... but i'm fairly sure that's not it. what it sounds like is you've got a corrupted MBR (master boot record). other than reinstall, (i'm not sure that will work) there's not much you can do about a bad MBR except manually repair it (pain in the ***).

if it IS a hardware problem, it probably is either a voltage problem (which would've been solved by the powersupply replacement), or a heat problem (which you said you -shouldn't- have any trouble with).

the one other thing i can think of is if you've installed the Blaster worm security update, for some reason the update screws a process in windows that allows for normal registry unloading. while this would normally just make your logoff take 800 million years longer than usual, if you've done severe hardware/software changes (which you have) it could cause a conflict somewhere which your machine simply can't handle. again, NORMALLY this would show up as an Event 1000 error in your event viewer, but considering the relative hell your system seems to have gone through, i can see it forgetting that detail as well.



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what has happened to the quick logon and easy drop-down menus on forums?

HJ

[grafitama]

I think I am having a hardware problem, because I did a fresh installed of Windows XP Pro SP1 on a brand new harddisk, and without installing any other applications/software/updates on it; and the PC still shutsdown.
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On the HD that has WIN2K OS, I already uncheck automatically reboot on Startup & Recovery under WIN2K, but the PC stills reboot after a few minutes sometimes few hours after it shutsdown, WITHOUT my interaction.

Event Viewer/Security Log/System Log doesn't show any error...

Another problem, when I do a normal shutsdown after working, the PC also boots up by itself in the morning or during the night.

Somebody tells me it's my RAM. But that same RAM tried on another PC, didn't have any problem.

Could it be the Motherboard? How one can tell if a Motherboard is bad?

[grafitama]

I finally found what's wrong with my computer...

It's the CPU fan!
Just changed it today, and now everything is working normally again...PC hasn't shut down for 24 hrs now..

[hammerjammer]

told you it was a heat problem



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what has happened to the quick logon and easy drop-down menus on forums?

HJ

[grafitama]

After almost a month going normal, same problem occured again! CPU fan is still new and speed is normal at 4200; but my CPU do go up in heat.
Is this an indication the CPU is going dead soon?

[Esquilax]

Exact same problem, except computer will never fully boot. Always hangs about halfway through loading and reboots. Booted through Win2000 CD and went into repair console, fixed MBR, also ran chkdsk, still would not boot. Reinstalled win2000 from disk and still have the same problem. Went back into repair console, after being in repair console about 10 minutes computer rebooted.