PC shutdown

[John Hawkins]

All of a sudden while I was checking some websites, my Dell PC shut down and the writing on the screen said that the shutdown was done to protect my computer from possible damage . I run Windows XP Home

The screen told me to re-start which I did manually and things seem to be running ok after the restart .

Anybody ever had that happen to them ? It was my first time to experience such a immediate shutdown that I had no control over .

Could you give me some help understanding what might have happened ? I ran Malware and Anti virus programs after restarting and no problem/s were detected .

Thanks for you advice !

[Alain-Yves Pigeon]

Would it rather be a blue screen of death that you went through? This means something went wrong inside the computer and to protect you, it froze and ask you to restart it. The reason this happens is because when the computer reboots, it allows new addresses to the memory and this is why you've had the BSOD (blue screen of death). Now that the memory has new addresses, the BIOS will handle your commands easier. This is normal in every computer and not necesserely the indication of a problem. This happens more often when you change a peripheral and the system does not recognize it. You then have to either reinstall it or get the right driver for it.

Hope this reassure you.

ayp

[Jack Stoner]

If it only haappens once I wouldn't get concerned.

Dell's (or most Dell's) have hardware diagnostics on the hard drive accessed by F12 at POST (Power On Self Test). Run a complete diagnostic and see if it shows anything.

I do a lot of support on the Dell forum, what model Dell do you have?

[John Hawkins]

Jack ,

According to my original info. from Dell -- I have a Demension 3000 series INTEL PENTIUM 4 PROCESSOR ( 3GHz) W/HT Technology and 1MB CACHE gv6xf61

packing slip date delivered to me 12/29/08 .

Many thanks for your advise !

[Jack Stoner]

The Dim 3000 is relatively old. Have you ever cleaned out the "dust bunnies" inside? That can lead to overheating and cutting off.

I have a Dim E510 which is from the same era.

[John Hawkins]

Jack ,

Yes I have opened the case and cleaned out the interior two or three times since I have had the system . It may be time to do that once again so I will attend to it today !

I aprreciate your advise and action to take . You are always a big help along with Wiz and others , to us old PC dummys . We need all the help we can get !!!

Kind Regards,[/u]

[John Hawkins]

Jack ,

Did my "dust bunnie" cleanup as you suggested ! It was needed !!! I hope this will eliminate the
shutdown suddenly from now on !

Thanks again !

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