Windows 7 randomly 'shuts down' in the middle of normal use.

Question

My 3 year old laptop has been installed with W7. The problem I am having is that it will suddenly shut down in the middle of use. When you restart, everything is all normal, with no mention of the 'crash'.

It occurs at totally random times, sometimes minutes after startup, and at other times it will not occur for several days. 

Microsoft Technical Support refuses to help, as I was sold a 'OEM' disc instead of a 'upgrade' disc by the local shop. I am stuck in limbo!

Answer 1

Hi Ronil Jogia,

a. Are you facing this issue from the day one you are using windows 7?

b. Did you make any changes to your computer recently?

c. Are you getting any error messages?

Random shut down may be because of many reasons like hardware failure, driver issue or software issue.

I would suggest you to disable Automatic Restart on System Failure and check for error messages. Post back with the exact error message so that we can help you better.

Steps to Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure:

1.    Restart your computer and start pressing the F8 key on your keyboard. On a computer that is configured for booting to multiple operating systems, you can press the F8 key when the Boot Menu appears.

2.    Use the arrow keys to choose Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure in Windows Advanced Options menu appears, and then press ENTER.

Hope this information is helpful.

Umesh P - Microsoft Support

Answer 2

My machine is not restarting, it is just shutting down after the system does it's Windows Update during the night.  It would be fine if it did a restart.....his email says shut down not restart

Answer 3

Hi richthek,

1. How long have you been facing this issue?

2. Did you make any hardware/software changes on your computer prior to this issue?

3. ‘his email says shut down not restart’ To which email you are referring to?

Step 1: Check for error messages in event viewer. If you find any error messages then post back the exact error message so that we can assist you better.

Steps to check Application Event log:

a. Click on start.

b. In the search box type eventvwr.msc and press enter.

c. Now click on Application under Event Viewer (local).

d. Now look for event log on right hand side of the Event Viewer windows.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Open-Event-Viewer 

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/What-information-appears-in-event-logs-Event-Viewer

Step 2: Try selecting one of the following options for windows updates and check for the issue.

• Download updates but let me choose whether to install them• Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them

Refer: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Change-how-Windows-installs-or-notifies-you-about-updates

---

Thanks and Regards

Umesh P - Microsoft Support. Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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Answer 4

For a couple of weeks, one of my machines that has been running W7  had been shutting down randomly.  I could find no pattern.  I did a system restore back a couple of weeks on the off chance that some piece of software was causing the problem.

Finally, I realized it was a not a problem with the computer, but with the UPS.  While not quite as simple as making sure things are plugged in, it was really one of those "duh" moments.

So, before we blame the computer or Microsoft's software, let's be sure we have a stable power source.

Answer 5

For a couple of weeks, one of my machines that has been running W7  had been shutting down randomly.  I could find no pattern.  I did a system restore back a couple of weeks on the off chance that some piece of software was causing the problem.

Finally, I realized it was a not a problem with the computer, but with the UPS.  While not quite as simple as making sure things are plugged in, it was really one of those "duh" moments.

So, before we blame the computer or Microsoft's software, let's be sure we have a stable power source.

I dont understand what do u mean UPS?

Actually im facing the same problem with u. System poweroff sudenly and reboot again.. during middle of usage. Randomly, can be the window loading interface.. or during the window, Or even during disk boot OS.

When i unplug power (charger ) using battery everything goes smooth. Once i pluged in, the "suden reboot" may happen anytime.

Strange thing is, when i pluged the charger to Safemode, everything was fine.

i was totally confuse!! with this kind of issue.

Please guide and point to me solution.. Billion of thanks!!