Something is causing my Computer to Shut Off

Something keeps causing my computer to shut down randomly and I do not know what it is. I thought it was a program, but someone that worked for the company look at the logs for the program and it was not that. He told me to look in Windows Event Viewer and that would tell me what was causing my computer to shut off. I have opened Event Viewer, but I am not familar with logs. How can I post one so that someone can help me with my problem. Thanks.

 

Hi

Please describe exactly what happens when the error occurs. Is there a blue screen? Does the system freeze at all? When it "shuts off", does it actually power down without warning, does Windows go through a shutdown routine, does it restart, or does something else happen?

Please also describe what programs you are using when this happens.

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode with Networking to see if the problem happens then?

 

I get no warning whatsoever when the error occurs. I will be in the middle of something and then the computer justs shuts off. It does not go through any shut down routine. It just has power one second the next second I get a blank screen. The PC does not restart.
I use Internet Explorer a ton and usually have it open when the computer shuts off but not always.
I have tried running the computer in safe mode with networking and the computer does NOT shut off when I do this.
I did download and switch to Chrome for a while because I thought it was an IE problem at one point. But the computer continued to shut off with Chrome as well, so I switched back to IE. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

What types of things are you doing on IE? Also, when it shuts off, do the fans continue to run, or does the machine seem to be completely powered down?

If you're playing Flash games (Facebook games, etc.), that can use a lot of processor (CPU) power. Even having a lot of tabs/windows open with an older/weak processor can tax it quite a bit. Often, computers will shut off when there is an overheating issue, which is what I suspect. Safe mode will likely not have as much of a heat issue, as a lot of drivers are disabled and the computer isn't working as hard. There is no software that will just shut down a machine like that.

As to an overheating issue, the best way to resolve that is to open the case and use compressed/canned air (a vacuum cleaner can help too) to clean everything out, especially the heatsink over the CPU. I've also seen cases where the thermal paste between the CPU and heatsink has degraded to the point of needing replacement, but I'd guess dust would be the likely suspect. You should also ENSURE that all fans in the case (especially the CPU heatsink fan) are working properly, as a broken fan will definitely lead to overheating issues (and they're cheap to replace).

 

I have the same issue and have concluded that its temp related, ive just installed the programed below and its dropped the cpu rate considerably and brought the indicated temp down

 

I'm having the same problem, but mine only shuts down when I'm playing games that I've bought from a game site, & downloaded to my laptop, or ones that I've downloaded from a dvd. It doesn't happen any other time other than then. I've had suggestions from Microsoft, Big Fish Games, Dell, & none of them have resolved the problem. Any suggestions?

 

ssh49tn, welcome to MajorGeeks.
You need to start your own thread with your problem.
Start here: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21
and click the new thread button. State your problem and also be sure to include what version of windows you are running and about when the problem started.