Crosswords0 min ago
Windows shutting down...
37 Answers
Every now and again, my screen will turn Blue, and I get a message that says something along the lines of Windows has encountered a problem and needs o shut down. There's a load of other writing, but I think it's just codes and numbers (can't remember)
It then has a little countdown thing, and shuts down.
This has happened at least five times this week.
Does anyone know what it is, or how I can stop it from happening?
Ta very muchly :-)
It then has a little countdown thing, and shuts down.
This has happened at least five times this week.
Does anyone know what it is, or how I can stop it from happening?
Ta very muchly :-)
Answers
> I'm an idiot...
> OpenOffice sounds absolutely fine. Shall I just Google it and then download it?
Not yet. Let your IT department sort verthings out first.
Hurr
So,
1) Backup all of your documents onto external source,...
> OpenOffice sounds absolutely fine. Shall I just Google it and then download it?
Not yet. Let your IT department sort verthings out first.
Hurr
So,
1) Backup all of your documents onto external source,...
23:47 Sun 04th Nov 2012
Thanks, Mark :-)
Blue screen of death? Great! The machine is only a couple of years old, maybe three. I haven't done a windows update recently, no - although I do keep getting a message saying something about doing one. Should I?
Tambo - I usually just let it reboot and use it as normal... until it does it again.
I can't think of anything I've downloaded recently, but I did do a Malwarebytes scan on it, a few days ago, and it came back with two bad files, which I then deleted.
Blue screen of death? Great! The machine is only a couple of years old, maybe three. I haven't done a windows update recently, no - although I do keep getting a message saying something about doing one. Should I?
Tambo - I usually just let it reboot and use it as normal... until it does it again.
I can't think of anything I've downloaded recently, but I did do a Malwarebytes scan on it, a few days ago, and it came back with two bad files, which I then deleted.
> Should I?
Yes.
A two-year-old machine is almost certainly perfectly serviceable. However, all machines running Windows accumulate an increasing amount of drek over time in the registry which can be fixed by doing a trash and rebuild.
Do not, under any circumstances, try to do a system restore or use one of the many so-called registry "cleaners" [sic] which are available...
Yes.
A two-year-old machine is almost certainly perfectly serviceable. However, all machines running Windows accumulate an increasing amount of drek over time in the registry which can be fixed by doing a trash and rebuild.
Do not, under any circumstances, try to do a system restore or use one of the many so-called registry "cleaners" [sic] which are available...
That means reinstalling Windows and any applications from their original CDs / DVDs. It may sound drastic and a bit daunting but, if anything's going to return a slightly old machine to tip-top performance, this is it!
For the vast amount of home users, this involves little more than Windows, Microsoft Office (or free alternative) and Google Chrome (or another browser).
Obviously, make sure you have all your documents backed up first onto an external drive! If all your email is on web-based systems such as Hotmail, Google or similar, then you don't have to worry about that. It should be possible to back up your browser's settings and favourites too.
For the vast amount of home users, this involves little more than Windows, Microsoft Office (or free alternative) and Google Chrome (or another browser).
Obviously, make sure you have all your documents backed up first onto an external drive! If all your email is on web-based systems such as Hotmail, Google or similar, then you don't have to worry about that. It should be possible to back up your browser's settings and favourites too.
Tambo, how do I do that? Is it simple?
DT, yeah, that's probably the best option for me, as I really don't have a clue what I'm doing and wouldn't know where to start. I don't really like the thought of a stranger nosing through all my photos, etc, but something needs doing. It's literally just happened again. I suppose I could take it to PC World, they'd obviously know what they were doing!
DT, yeah, that's probably the best option for me, as I really don't have a clue what I'm doing and wouldn't know where to start. I don't really like the thought of a stranger nosing through all my photos, etc, but something needs doing. It's literally just happened again. I suppose I could take it to PC World, they'd obviously know what they were doing!
System restore is useful in certain circumstances - this isn't one of them. You haven't just installed a piece of software which has buggered up your system. If you had, restoring it to how it was just before you did that would possibly be a good solution.
What you're experiencing here is the inevitable reduction in performance of Windows-based machines over time due to a variety of reasons but, mainly, due to the registry getting filled up with unnecessary junk.
There are registry cleaners out there which will try to fix this for you. They never work properly and, more often than you might imagine, just make things worse!
There's every chance that your machine will be right as ninepence again after it's been trashed and rebuilt. The suggestion of a specialist is a good one - I know how to drive my car but wouldn't have a clue how to do its annual service, so I take it to people who do.
Is it a desktop or a laptop? Does it have a sticker on it with the Windows activation code? It should be a combination of numbers and letters in groups of five, e.g. XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.
What else do you have on there? E.g. what do you use to work with spreadsheets? Is it Microsoft Excel? If so, where did it come from...?
What you're experiencing here is the inevitable reduction in performance of Windows-based machines over time due to a variety of reasons but, mainly, due to the registry getting filled up with unnecessary junk.
There are registry cleaners out there which will try to fix this for you. They never work properly and, more often than you might imagine, just make things worse!
There's every chance that your machine will be right as ninepence again after it's been trashed and rebuilt. The suggestion of a specialist is a good one - I know how to drive my car but wouldn't have a clue how to do its annual service, so I take it to people who do.
Is it a desktop or a laptop? Does it have a sticker on it with the Windows activation code? It should be a combination of numbers and letters in groups of five, e.g. XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.
What else do you have on there? E.g. what do you use to work with spreadsheets? Is it Microsoft Excel? If so, where did it come from...?
