Posted on 01/22/2005 3:45:24 PM PST by zoobee
Can anyone help me? I have a computer here (My brothers actually) that constantly turns on and off by itself. Sometimes it doesn't even let you boot up until the 4th or 5th self-rebooting....it tries and then starts over and over again.
I remember not too long ago a virus did this and was hoping someone in here could tell me what virus did that....and how I can fix it? It won't let you get online either.....
No...he did not have a firewall and let Norton expire......I yelled at him already.... :)
You can go to a command prompt and type in 'shutdown help' and it should give you a list of switches for that command.
You might want to get into the BIOS to see PC Health , will tell the temp of the processor...
The AMD Athlon processors run hot, and can also be a cause of the rebooting problems....
Just be methodical and see if you can eliminate the various Hardware problems before you go to the more major efforts regarding software and malware........
Not sure how you elimanate the power supply problems other than perhaps disconnecting some components, how much is in the machine and can you tell the rating of the powersupply? ..
Would need to open the box and look at the label on the side of the power supply ( hmm...if it is failing that won't help you much. ) Is this a Brand name box, HP, Dell, ?
Zoobie if you're running Windows XP you can enable a built in Firewall that already comes with XP, If you can boot up in normal mode I'd strongly suggest you go to SYMANTEC.COM ( That's Norton Anti Virus' web page ) and you can download the program I use Norton Internet Security,
You can run it for free for 15 day's and after that you might consider buying it,
I further suggest you run the Anti Virus Program in "SAFE MODE" on your Comp ,
If you need any further help feel free to Mail me
I echo what others are saying about the power supply. They ain't too pricey, either.
Oh no....see # 61 above....he's NOT LOGGED ON ANYMORE! OH, THE DESTRUCTION, MAYHEM, AND SUFFERING THAT WILL OCCUR NOW......
Bird Abuse! PING(WEN)
WEll....when i started her up I noticed TONS of processes running...so I quickly shut down all the ones that I thot were junk....and I was able to stay on for awhile.....about an hour! I installed system mechanic, AOL 9.0 security and checked out as much as I could. I found a program in the startup folder called: REBOOT.EXE.
I laughed at that...and deleted it for good. After several reboots it was still gone....HOWEVER.....after awhile....in fact whenever I tried to clean out the registry...it died and rebooted. I figured there might be somehting in there that didn't want to be touched and it shut me down? Just guessing. So every time it rebooted, I shut down as many processes as possible since it was going crazy! It would jump the CPU usage from 3% to 88% back and forth jumping all over the place ....is that normal?? Anyway, after a couple more instant reboots I was not able to get in at all....and while unplugging stuff I noticed that a lot of HOT air is coming out of it. The fan is running, but its HOT. I never noticed how hot MY computer gets...but since you mentioned this, I will bet it's part or ALL? of the problem.
HOw do I fix that? JUSt save what I can and tell him to buy a new computer? They just want their documents and pics.....and they have the CDWrite thank God.
Guess it's just time for a new computer?
ANother thing....only 256 RAM. ..could also be part of the problem?
I'm a SHE.....
Thanks...it sure does sound like that is the problem.
My son's computer was doing the same thing. He took the case off and he had so much dust inside. Cleaned it all out and it works fine now.
Do you have Roadrunner or other cable modem access? I ran across this problem being caused by Motorolla cable modems without Windows XP compatible drivers. Time Warner/Roadrunner were actually installing these bad drivers and blamed the problem on the computer. Sometimes the computer would go to the blue screen of death, but more often than not it would spontaneously reboot. There was nothing in the system log that indicated any problem. Virus checks showed nothing.
If you're using a Motorolla cable modem, go to the Motorolla website and download the latest driver for the cable modem.
Heh, you know that's the command for shut down and restart? The poster might have been sarcastic. The -a switch aborts a shutdown.
This is likely a power supply issue. The restarting is the clue. The BIOS will be in the Run state and will restart the system if set do so, which is the default power-loss setting in most systems.
The power supply can be tested by booting into BIOS and waiting to see if the computer shuts down.
That "virus" has a name....and its name is SATAN! The devil has taken command of your heathen computer and is using it for his evil purposes! Douse it with holy water and call a priest. Then buy a new one since the holy water will ruin it.
Are you logged on?
It sounds to me like a bad power supply. Been there, done that. One morning I pushed the button and nothing happened.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.