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XP computer keeps shutting down

Anonymous
2012-05-29T11:09:27+00:00

Hi Everyone and thanks in advance for any help offered.

Here are the specs of the computer, which I don't understand at all but was advised to view the properties details of the computer and this was what was listed.

I am running windows XP professionals Version 2002. Service Pack 3

The computer is an intel (R)

Pentium (r( 4 CPU , 3.00GHz

3.00 HZ,512 MB of ram

I have two drives running XP on the computer and the problem I have is happening under both drives/windows installations.

The computer keeps shutting down suddenly and I have to wait  an amount of time before it will restart. At first the problem happened when I was playing games that I thought might be putting to much of a strain on my old computer. At first it would shut down when I was playing  Age of Mythology or online casino games and various other games. Also, it seem to happen at ramdom times, sometimes I can play the game/s for ages and then suddenly it would shut down. Other times I would be play only five minutes and it would shut down suddenly or sometimes when I tried to save the game the same thing would happen.

Now it has got worse and evening when I open outlook express to send/relieve email it will suddenly shut down.. When I try and restart it nothing happens and then I switch it off at the power and after ten minutes or so I will try again and it starts and loads up and then every thing is OK , until it suddenly shuts down again.

I have ran anti virus, anti malware , scan disk ,defrag and cleanup manager and the problem remains. I read somewhere that it may be that the computer is over heating and I have looked at the fan and cleared away any dust or dirt that was there and the problem is still happening.

I have checked the event viewer and nothing is showing up here ( nothing that means anything to me anyway) . I installed a free program called wincrash report , but once again I can't see anything that may be causing these problems.

Therefore i would be very grateful for any help or advise that could help me find the source of this problem and sort it out. I have had this computer for about two years now and during that time I have played all the games constantly without any problems until now.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Regards

JC

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-06-05T22:49:02+00:00

    Hi TorrentG ,

    Thanks for the ongoing help and support.

    I have never heard of or know how to use either Skydive or Rapidshare , but I'm willing to learn....

     I done a search for both these and couldn't find Rapidshare , but did find Microsofr Sky Drive , but when i tried to install this I got a message saying this was not a valid win32 application or something to that effect.

    What would you suggest?

    Ta

    JC

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2012-05-29T13:28:44+00:00

    Hi, JC.

    You REALLY should have posted a link to your other thread. I will be happy to do this so that others will have that important information:

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-windows_install/transfer-everything-from-small-old-hard-drive-to/7ea3103f-7684-461f-ba83-ba615f1d2547

    I was struck by your last post:

    "I now have three copies of windows running over two hard drive"

    My friend, you have created a colossal mess. My advice is for you to copy your data and wipe both your hard drives with DBAN and perform a Clean Install. If you agree, you may certainly ask for guidance since it is an involved process.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2012-05-29T17:58:13+00:00

    Hi Daavee ,

    I am running office 2007 and use OutLook and have many emails that I need to keep, if possible.The templates are mainly documents invoicing forms etc.

    I only really need to save pictures, documents and if possible the mainly booked marked websites i have accumulated over time. I am using both internet explorer and Firefox...hope this helps.

    Do you think the problems I highlighted (  computer shutting down suddenly by itself ) are related to the many issues I am facing? Is there a program that I could run that would be able to identify what is making the computer shut down suddenly?

    Once again , all help and advise most welcome and thanks in advanced.

    Regards

    JC

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-05-29T16:27:32+00:00

    Although it is too late to do this now, it is VERY important to have a workable backup strategy, especially if you use your PC for business!!!!! In the future, once things are fixed, I highly recommend you run a hard drive imaging program and schedule regular incremental backups. There are a number of good programs out there, such as Acronis True Image, Paragon, and Macrium Reflect. (You should also use an external hard drive to store all these images.)

    Let's wait to see if others have other suggestions (since a Clean Install is rather intensive and you seem to prefer considering your other options).

    What kind of templates?

    Which e-mail program do you use?

    Before you do anything else, you should get yourself an external hard drive and copy your data. This guide, from a site by regular contributor Tech-Geek, should be helpful.

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  5. Anonymous
    2012-05-29T16:13:27+00:00

    Hi Daavee ,

    Thanks for the response and advice thus far.

    I know I have created a mess and just want to sort it all out. I am not apposed to wiping the hard drives and starting all over again. But I use this computer for my business and have thousands of emails and templates that are essential for things to run smoothly.

    So please feel free to offer me any advise or help that you think I can understand.

    Regards

    JC

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