# computer shuts off by itself



## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

People,

My new (1-1/2 yr old) pc shuts itself off after about an hour all by itself. Happening now for about a few weeks. I checked the fan and it runs OK. Not alot of dust in there either. 

If I remember correctly, the windows also shut down, and when restart there is no messages asking to restore........

Any other things to check?


----------



## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

Also, computer is slow.


----------



## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

Do you get a message saying Windows did not shut down properly?

Do you have the computer set to sleep or hibernate after a time?


----------



## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

Yeah, depending on your computer, some manufacturers turn on the hibernate or sleep options by default, (which IMHO is really dumb).

Check all of the power settings.
.
.


----------



## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

I don't know about the shutting down (power/hibernate default settings sounds like a very good bet) but regarding its speed, we found with our last computer, so much of the loaded software is 'factory set' to run by default which can really bog them down. Our computer-whiz son-in-law got into the settings and shut a lot of it off and it ran much better. When he was showing me the list of stuff that was running in the background it was amazing.

If it used to run fine and is now slow, it might be as simple as a defrag or disc clean-up, you've picked up a bug or your hard drive is on its way out.


----------



## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

Get a solid state hard drive if you're looking for speed. I have one, an Intel 530 series 120gb model, and it takes 17 seconds from being off until it's ready for me to enter my password for Windows.


----------



## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

stick\shift said:


> Do you get a message saying Windows did not shut down properly?
> 
> Do you have the computer set to sleep or hibernate after a time?


Thanks, people. 

I never "set" myself the computer to sleep, although, it does sleep, I think, cuz the monitor goes black after no usage for a few minutes, after which, if I move the mouse it jumps back up, so isnt this "sleep", and isnt it working the right way? 

Now, just last night it stayed on all night! And, I got a restore windows small window! What the heck?? Lets see what happens today/tomorrrow. I wil advise asap.

Thanks.


----------



## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

Separate from the shutting down for the running slow part in addition to the other good suggestions above I would download the free version of Malwarebytes and run a scan.

Its sometimes surprising what Malwarebytes has found and quarantined.


----------



## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

Thanks, Craig. Can the free AVG be useful as well? I dont have it......


----------



## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

Wow- I just ran malwarebytes and it detected 123 threats. I quarantined them. I never knew.......


----------



## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

papereater said:


> Thanks, Craig. Can the free AVG be useful as well? I dont have it......


You need some sort of virus protection...but only one. If you have something now you do not want to double down on virus protection. Personally I use Norton simply because Comcast (Xfinity) offers it "free" as part of my package. 
If you are paying for virus protection there are certainly some fairly good free options AVG being one of them.


----------



## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

Avast is another very good freeware anti-virus program.

But no matter which one you use every day, running malwarebytes now and then, say once every 2 weeks, detects anything that may have slipped through the cracks of your anti-virus program.
.
.


----------



## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

I think I get it, people- since I just ran malwarebytes, just leave it alone for now(?). 

Update: no computer shutdown since running malwarebytes. 3 days now!! Thanks, people.


----------



## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

papereater said:


> I think I get it, people- since I just ran malwarebytes, just leave it alone for now(?).
> 
> Update: no computer shutdown since running malwarebytes. 3 days now!! Thanks, people.


Good news. But to be clear you need an active virus protection of some sort. What are you running for that?


----------



## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

craig11152 said:


> Good news. But to be clear you need an active virus protection of some sort. What are you running for that?


I think, for now, nothing. Still no computer shut down. (what will happen in 2 weeks?).

Maybe I shouyld just buy the premium AVG(?). I think its $75.00......


----------



## ZTMAN (Feb 19, 2015)

My computer geeks tell me that the free version of AVG works just fine.


----------



## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

I would go with a free version of AVG or Avast as ZZZZZ mentioned. Either one works well. 
I would do that _*immediately *_


----------



## diyorpay (Sep 21, 2010)

Highly recommend Ccleaner too. www.piriform.com Select downloads from header and then the free version in leffermost column (is that a word? leftest? most left?) Execute and run. May take a bit of time to run first time. Select bottom left scan first if you don't trust new software. Click on dropdowns under categories to see what will get deleted. Then click on bottom right box to delete. Very safe to remove the cache and temp files you don't need. When you trust it more, under tools are startup settings you can turn off. Even registry settings that can be streamlined.

The free version does no preventive work, only after the fact clean up. Per user. So if you need to run as administrator, right click on icon and run as administrator for deeper cleanup.


----------



## Epeterson (May 29, 2017)

If after you have cleaned up your PC and it continues check your Event log https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/160855-shut-down-view-details-last-shutdown-computer.html

Also see if you have any memory dumps

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/315263/how-to-read-the-small-memory-dump-file-that-is-created-by-windows-if-a-crash-occurs


----------

