I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem I was having with ads popping up or not. If I leave my computer alone long enough(usually about an hour or two), it restarts itself. It doesn't seem to happen while I am actively using it. But when I leave it sit there doing nothing for long enough it restarts itself. Any tech savy people here have any suggestions?
It could be anything. I am guessing that you have a poor power supply. It is not uncommon for pre-built computers (which I assume you're using) to come with shoddy power supplies. I would suggest looking at your hardware and finding out what the voltage and amperage needed for your hardware is and then finding a power supply online made by a reputable company such as Corsair, Seasonic, OCZ, PC power & Cooling, etc. and buying one through them to replace your existing one. If you don't want to do that yourself, take it to a PC store that can help you with that.
The computer was made by Alienware, it is ten years old. Maybe it or the whole computer is wearing out. : (
Well, if it is 10 years old, then it is probably time to start looking into a new one. But if you want to work with what you have, I would suggest buying a new power supply, buying an SSD and installing a new OS on it. If you're a Windows user I suggest getting Windows 8.1. There are free ways to get it, but IDK if they are legal. You might want to look into upgrading your RAM too. How much RAM, what type of processor, power supply, and what kind of motherboard do you have?
Of course that isn't legal.
...
10 years old? I didn't know computers even existed in 2004.
Would it be Ok for me to post instructions on here on how to obtain a free copy of Windows 8.1?
Go for it, I look forward to your ban.
TV's Frink said:
Go for it, I look forward to your ban.
What do you got against me, TV's Frink?
Warbler said:
I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem I was having with ads popping up or not. If I leave my computer alone long enough(usually about an hour or two), it restarts itself. It doesn't seem to happen while I am actively using it. But when I leave it sit there doing nothing for long enough it restarts itself. Any tech savy people here have any suggestions?
As was said above, it sounds like your computer might just be getting old. This tends to happen with older computers. Another possibility is that you have a virus and your computer is shutting itself down to prevent the virus from damaging your computer. If so, then it could quite possibly be related to the ads. You may want to try scanning your computer with some virus protection software (if you're on Windows, I recommend "Avast!" and suggest you schedule a pre-bootup scan since in my experience they are more thorough. The free trial version should work just fine as it has eliminated some Trojan viruses from my computer with no problem).
The Terminator said:
Would it be Ok for me to post instructions on here on how to obtain a free copy of Windows 8.1?
No.
Read:
Where were you in '77?
Warbler said:
I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem I was having with ads popping up or not. If I leave my computer alone long enough(usually about an hour or two), it restarts itself. It doesn't seem to happen while I am actively using it. But when I leave it sit there doing nothing for long enough it restarts itself. Any tech savy people here have any suggestions?
Ad pop ups:
If you are on Firefox, go to 'tools', 'add-ons', 'extensions' and see if there is anything strange installed. My just sorted out my parents PC that had 4-5 spy programs installed in there and that's despite having an active anti-virus program.
Switching off:
I had an very old computer that would restart whenever I did anything intensive like render a video/boot up a game etc which I put down to overheating, although I could never be sure. But your problem of shutting down when you are doing nothing sounds the opposite. If it doesn't restart when you yourself are putting additional strain on the hardware, I can't see how it could be overheating or faulty/old components.
Have you tried opening up 'task manager' and seeing what processes are running. Anything look out of place?
Or could something be running in the background? I recently did this (Method 2)...
http://www.pcworld.com/article/241049/how_to_disable_windows_startup_programs.html
...and it sped up my PC about 10% (On the performance monitor). It takes along time to google and readup on what all the processes do, so you can decide if switching them off is safe or not... but worth it.
Try updating all your drivers?
Try restoring windows back to a date before it started happening?
Before ditching the hardware I'd reccomend a clean sweep reinstall of windows and all your drivers and programs. Usually sorts out most catastrophic problems.
VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.
Possibilities
1) overheating
2) virus
3) failing power supply
And please, if you plan to get a new PC, stay away from Windows 8.1.
The Terminator said:
TV's Frink said:
Go for it, I look forward to your ban.
What do you got against me, TV's Frink?
Nothing. I love messing with idiots.
It sounds to me like you have wake on USB activated.
If you have something plugged in a USB socket when that's on the computer will start itself.
There should be settings in preferences somewhere to switch that off if it is the cause.
I also want to add TDSSKiller to the recommendations.
http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/tdsskiller
Rootkits are small bits of malware that are extremely stealthy and difficult for antivirus software to detect. They in themselves don't do much damage, but they download other damaging malware and hide their presence as well. You may remember around a year ago I caught some malware. I tried removing it with every bit of software I could, but it couldn't take care of the problem. My antivirus software wouldn't update, and many functions didn't seem to be working (like the realtime protection, which even showed that it was off, but I couldn't turn it on). When I finally ran the above little program, it found several rootkits, and suddenly my antivirus software found loads of viruses and began functioning again. It took a long time to uproot everything, and I still wasn't sure it had worked (some rootkits are literally impossible to detect). I ultimately restored my computer to factory settings, just to be safe, but I was able to back up my important stuff, and only because I had used TDSSKiller was I able to do what I needed and without so much worry. Fortunately it appeared that nothing had been infected that I backed up. Give that little program a run or two or three. I think there are boxes to check for extra thorough scanning, so I would give the program a basic run, then check the extra boxes and run it again.
Ryan McAvoy said:
Before ditching the hardware I'd reccomend a clean sweep reinstall of windows and all your drivers and programs. Usually sorts out most catastrophic problems.
That's the first thing I'd try in this situation just to rule out hardware issues in case its a software issue.
Warbler, are you experiencing any blue screens of death (BSOD) before the restart? That usually points towards a hardware problem, which could mean a driver issue (and the newest drivers aren't always the best to have!), or it could be a physical problem. An old power supply can cause these kind of issues due to capacitor ageing, but I've seen similar symptoms from faulty hard drives, although usually you get a BSOD.
Installing Windows 8.1 doesn't seem wise on a 10-year old system. There's no guarantee it would even work because I believe it was designed to work with certified hardware, which a 10-year old motherboard probably isn't. Illegal operating systems should not be trusted, because you cannot guarantee security, or that it might sometime trigger the Microsoft Product Activation DRM and lock you out until you buy a legitimate product licence.
Do a clean install if you can, and put some decent free antivirus/anti-spyware software on. If you system starts behaving normally, then I'd put a bit of money up for a quality antivirus product, as the best free antivirus products cannot match the best commercial ones, IMO.
Edit: Bingowings suggestion is a good one. Check your power settings in control panel.
yeah, I won't using Windows 8, I've heard horror stories about it. Thanks for the advice everyone. I would love to buy a new computer, but money is an issue right now. So I'll have to work with what I've got.
As I suggested in the other thread downloading Puppylinux and running it off a memory stick is a good way of trying out Linux without committing yourself to abandoning Windows.
It has the added advantage of being able to run Clam to clean your Windows partition.It should run like a rocket even on an older PC.Linux malware is practically non-existent and what does exist takes more effort to switch on than most Windows malware takes to hold back.Worth a try.
Seconding Puppylinux. I keep Puppylinux (and Parted Magic) on a Help-I-Broke-The-Intermathing Emergency USB Stick. It'll be blindingly fast, compared to what you're used to. Just get used to single-clicking.
Warb, if all else fails, try giving the case a good whack. Can't beat the old methods!
hmm, it was seem terminator got banned *shrugs shoulders*
Leonardo said:
Warb, if all else fails, try giving the case a good whack. Can't beat the old methods!
Percussive maintenance.
interesting . . . I tried to put my computer in stand-by mode twice. In both tries, it looked like the computer when to stand-by mode and then a few seconds later the computer restarted.
I had a computer like that. After a while, I wasn't able to hibernate it or put it to sleep because it would just shut down.
Firstly, you deserve a medal for keeping a PC alive and running for 10 years. that's a fair effort. I think my best effort is about 3 years.
Without taking a good look at your computer it's hard to diagnose but ideally you'd want to start with the cheapest options first with spending money being the last resort.
it could be a virus or nasty software. - running scanners / cleaners should turn something up it that is the case.
it could just be a simple glitch with your OS - in which case you can probably do a 'refresh' by inserting your OS installation disc - similar to reinstalling but should keep your other data intact.
Your system hard drive might be damaged. I had a similar issue recently and that turned out to be the culprit.
Scan your drive/s, run virus / malware checking software.
Try running Linux from a cd. similar issues?
Back up your files [for piece of mind] and try performing an OS refresh?
failing those, reformat and re-install your OS. see if the problem persists.
NEVER smack your PC. This causes far more problems than it solves in the long run.
it could be some other minor thing that I/we haven't covered. If you try some of those it might narrow things down if it doesn't solve the issue altogether..