Computer question

[Bugman]

I don't know whats going on here.Last night i ran a full system scan (AVG 8.0)
Except for a few tracking cookies that came out fine.Then i did the same with Spybot which turned up no problems.When i try to run my AdAware2007 however,my computer shuts off about 3/4 of the way into the scan.I'm assuming this is not a good thing.Any ideas and or suggestions?

 

[venray]

Do an upgrade....search for updates...reboot the system and run a new scan after that...

It may help....

 

[Bugman]

Thanks Ray,i'll give that a try.😀

 

[Bugman]

Do an upgrade....search for updates...reboot the system and run a new scan after that...

It may help....

I'm still having the same problem.Anything else i can try?

 

[ViperGTS]

GO to HDTune.com and download the free version of the software. Install it and run a scan for errors. Do not use the Quick scan - it is not thorough enough.

Let it run for ~2 hours. If any of the blocks come up red, your HD is failing and should be replaced.

 

[TKpervert]

Here's a suggestion: dump AdAware2007 and stick with Spybot (the newer one that takes 20 minutes or so to run).
Also, run SpywareBlaster on your machine. (It's free).
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

I find myself accidentally (*cough*cough*) stumbling onto some pretty raunchy websites once in awhile, and SpywareBlaster protects you to the point where Spybot can't find any spyware anywhere on the machine. This is goodness.
.
.

 

[Bugman]

Thanks Viper and TK,i'll give those a try.😀

 

[Gothika]

you can also go to http://www.techguys.org/ it is a great site i have used it before all u have to do is sign up post what kind of problems you are having and someone will help you the people there are good at fixing all kinds of problems. hope that helps

 

[Bugman]

Thanks goth,i will keep that in mind also.😀

 

[ViperGTS]

Random shutdowns are not generally indicative of spyware or virus infections. It's usually a short or another kind of hardware problem. That's why I'd like to know the results of the HD Tune test.

 

[His Divine Shadow]

If it isn't the hard drive (which it may be), it could be RAM at fault. There's a free tool which tests your memory, although it is a bit more complex to use than HD Tune. You have to burn a file to a CD as a bootable CD in order to use it. Here's a step-by-step:

1. Go to http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

2. Look under "** Memtest86+ V2.01 (21/02/2008) **" for a link labeled "Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)"

3. Save the file it links to and extract the compressed zipped folder

4. You'll get a file ending in .iso as output of the decompression; if you know how to burn a bootable ISO CD then do that and skip step five

5. If you don't know how to burn a bootable CD from an ISO file then head to http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm
-- Download the appropriate version; probably the 32-bit version one the page linked with "ISORecorder V2 - for Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2003"
-- As I suspect you have Windows XP, Service Pack 2 32-bit, this is a direct link to the installer: http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/download/ISORecorderV2RC1.msi
-- Once installed you will be able to right-click on the downloaded ISO file and see an option for "Copy image to CD"; click that and follow the instructions to burn a CD with memtest on it - obviously you'll need a black CD in your CD burner

6. Once the CD is all prepared insert it in your CD drive and restart your computer. You *should* boot into the CD (or be given an option to) and, once in it, will be given options to run tests. Let the tests run repeatedly for a few hours; if any errors appear you've got a problem.

If the CD doesn't boot automatically then we have to fiddle in your BIOS settings to get it to boot. I can attempt to direct with that, although it is difficult without seeing it. Use Viper's idea first; it requires but an install. Don't waste time on this unless HD Tune doesn't show any problems.

 

[Bugman]

Random shutdowns are not generally indicative of spyware or virus infections. It's usually a short or another kind of hardware problem. That's why I'd like to know the results of the HD Tune test.

None of the boxes turned red,just a blue line snaking around and a bunch of yellow dots scattered around.I ran it a number of times,and i think i went through the complete scan.Might be easier to just get a new hard drive methinks,i need more memory anyway.Thanks everyone for your help.😀

 

[ViperGTS]

None of the boxes turned red,just a blue line snaking around and a bunch of yellow dots scattered around.I ran it a number of times,and i think i went through the complete scan.Might be easier to just get a new hard drive methinks,i need more memory anyway.Thanks everyone for your help.😀

No no, that was the Benchmark. But, there's is some good information there.

The Benchmark test is a general speed test for your hard drive. Most hard drives will start around 30 to 60 MB/s and trail off towards 15 - 20 MB/s by the end of the test. Then, the yellow dots (called the Burst Rate) measure how quickly your HD can process random equations - it's basically being told to run out, grab a random piece of information, and come back. This should be a thin band of yellow dots that starts in the lower right corner and slowly rises as it moves right.

If they are scattereed EVERYWHERE, you probabl;y have a problem here. CLick on the tab to the far right that says "Error Scan" and make sure "Quick Scan" is NOT checked, then click "Start". Let this run to completion and let us know what it turns up.

 

[guitman69]

I had a computer that would turn itself off like that. It turned out to be a cooling issue. I would probably be a good idea to crack the case and take some compressed air and clean out all the fans, ports, and heat sinks inside.

If you've never done that, you would be surprised just how much dust gets in there.

Word of warning: use the air in short bursts. If you hold the nozzle down too long, condensation will form on the sprayer and could drip.

 

[His Divine Shadow]

That is an astute observation, guitman! A nonfunctional or semi-functional fan or other cooling apparatus could indeed be the cause of the problem; as the part cooled by the faulty cooler heats up it works less and less well until it finally dies. If you don't want to crack the case try installing Speedfan and watching what the temperature gauge says. If it goes up just before the reboots you've got a cooler problem. Don't change any settings with Speedfan; just see what it reports.

 

[Bugman]

This should be a thin band of yellow dots that starts in the lower right corner and slowly rises as it moves right.

Yes,thats what happened,although i would not call the band of dots thin.They covered about half of the squares i would say.I doubt i will have time to get the rest of it run before i leave Friday.Thanks again to everyone for your help.😀