PC keeps shutting down (1 Viewer)

This problem is really starting to wind me up now. In fact it happened a few minutes ago whilst I was typing this out so I had to do it all again. Without warning the PC keeps shutting down and it's getting more and more regular. A blue screen will pop up with a load of writing. I managed to get a photo of the screen before it shut down.

I'm going to click on post quickly before it does it again. Please help before I launch the computer through the window. The bottom line if you can't quite read it says 'dumping physical memory to disk'. Cheers!

Hi Dave
The blue screen is often called "the Blue Screen of death" because it usually shows there is something seriously amiss with your computer (not always, but quite often). With the computer shutting down as yours does, it could be a motherboard problem, which happened to me a few years ago. Two answers.. 1 - Have a repair person take a look at it, and they may be able to repair / replace the Motherboard or 2- buy a new computer (which I did), these days it's probably as cheap as the repair!. Try and do a backup if you can before it packs up completely.
Hope this helps

There are other options, but nothing simple for sure.

I get this sort of thing sometimes simply due to software problems (I install lots of things, then uninstall and generally mess around). One common cause is a problem with drivers, the software that controls things like your graphics card etc.

My suggestion, before throwing anything out the window, is to see if it is software.
One way to check is to boot into Windows' "Safe Mode". To do so, repeatedly press F8 as you turn on the computer, a menu should come up letting you choose Safe Mode. The computer will look wierd, but try using it for a bit and see if you still get the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). Results of this test are a good basis for further troubleshooting. It is useful because Safe Mode starts Windows without lots of these drivers, just really basic versions that should not cause your PC to throw a wobbly.

Another way is just to ignore the troubleshooting and just reinstall Windows from scratch.

If these don't help, then it's hardware and, most likely, the motherboard. Although, sometimes unplugging all the innards, wiping them down and carefully putting all back can be enough, if it was just a loose connection. By the way, if it is the motherboard the repair man will probably suggest replacing it, which is fair enough.

I've also had these issues when my PC has been overheating, but then I do live in Thailand.

Edit: With the back up, which you should try and do, be careful and don't panic - even if you never manage to start this computer again the data is most likely safe and sound on the hard drive, ready to be plugged into your new computer.

Further to the above advice, here's some more info on "Page-Fault-in-Nonpaged-Area" as noted on your BSOD - and some potential remedies

Back up all important data ( Photos, Docs etc) to a CD first.

First off as Graeme suggests try a reinstall of Windows.

Check on your software and go into the websites for each piece and download latest drivers.

Many thanks for all of the advice, very helpful. I'm currently backing up photos and docs on to an external hard drive....just in case. Cheers.

The above BSOD is almost exclusively caused by a fault in the RAM, either a physical fault in the chips or usually in the seating of the stick.

Once you have your data all backed up, you will need to open up the box and fiddle about with insides. Unless of course it is under warranty!

Turn it off first!

Find the RAM chips they should look like http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a07/lh/ci/ram-chips-800x800.jpg unclip the clippy things at each end, take them out and then just put them straight back in, make sure you clip the clippy things in.

Turn the computer on and try it. If you still get the same BSOD then take out one stick, if you have two or more. Leave it out and try again, if it is a physical problem with a chip it is unlikely to be in both sticks. You can get new memory quite cheaply http://www.crucial.com/uk/ is a good place.

Good luck

My old PC used to do that, due to overheating, which was pretty much down to having a layer of dust over the insides. Once I'd blown away all the dust it settled down again.

Thanks again, chaps. But tonight it completely shut down and I can't get any life out of it at all. I know somebody who knows a bit about computers so I will give him a call tomorrow. Hopefully the hard drive is ok as I've not had chance to back everything up.

Hi Dave

We had that same problem with our old PC - died a death ... a few years back...threw up all sorts of screen prints....though it did not produce a blue DOS screen like yours has. :eek!:

I would call in a PC expert, (locally), and ask him if he can save the contents of your motherboard, and if he can get it running once more. If it is on its last legs protect your files first, and foremost on a CD/External Hard-drive as you are doing

If not (if you feel you do not have all your files) ask him to connect his own Laptop, to your Motherboard (meaning the motherboard taken out of your hard-drive), and copy all your files to his Laptop.
He will know how to if he knows his stuff. You can then keep your files, and download onto a Laptop of your own - or a CD/disk of information to download onto another PC that you have.

You can retrieve your e-mails in the same manner too - so take a deep breath, and I am sure that not all will be lost in your case (as we discovered here) It is possible to retrieve your files still as a copied file via another PC

Hope you can sort it all out asap..be careful (costs) who you pick to fix your PC and go by recommended people to your own needs

Regards
Kathy
x

A friend of mine had a look at the PC over the weekend and diagnosed the problem as the power supply. This is the 2nd time this has happened to me now. I bought a new power supply and my mate fixed it today so I now have a working PC again. Many thanks for all the advice.