Windows Vista Computer Shuts Off Randomly

Since i have started with Vista Home , my computer shuts itself off when it feels like it . A couple of times a week , if i am online or not , it simply shuts itself off with no warning at all . A few times it was when i was downloading with firefox 2.0.0.11 , that it did it . It just did it again now when i was paying my telephone bill online
I only have 28.8 dial-up connection . It's a Compaq . I have run my reg checkers and virus checkers , but they say nothing is wrong . I am using a power scheme that states nothing is ever to be shut off . All my drivers are up to date because flash movies used to cause it to shut off if i played certain ones with my firefox browser so i updated them all . They don't crash me now .
Anybody got a best bet freebie software or better idea as to what to do ? I gotta believe it may be malware ...but....

CallBob

 

The computer shuts down completely, it does not restart? That may be a sign of overheating. There should be temperature readouts in the Startup/BIOS settings, so you may want to check those after a shut-down. Have you cleaned the dust out of the case (recently). Is there a good air-flow through the case?

If the computer was not designed for Vista, it may need to be upgraded to cope...more fans, or say, a bigger power supply.

28.8 KPS, is it an old modem or do you live well away from the telephone exchange? If the modem is running on upgraded (Win XP) drivers, it may be the reason.

For shut down, I would expect some hardware is overloading.

Matt

 

My fault.....It's a brand new computer which came with Vista Home pre-installed on it . No dust or air problem , and it is not over heat situation . Actually i should have continued that it shuts off completely , but it does do a re-boot and comes back with the do U want to continue or go to safe mode ?.....so maybe that's not actually a complete shut-off ..
All i have is Dial-up where i am located..........................nuts.

 

If you trying to do things like stream video on a 28.8 connection, that may be the reason. If you come across webpages with flashing information (that may continually update) close them after you read them, since they will possibly keep tying up your bandwidth.

[I gave up even trying to stream audio on a 35-40 KPS connection.]

In the Start -> Start Search bar, type and run Event Viewer and check for errors related to the restarts.

There is a method of getting crash dump logs
http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=70330
Although I have found it somewhat complicated by Vista's User Account Control and/or security settings.
Edit: To run the debugger without interference, right-click on the link and select "Run as administrator ".

Matt

 

Well,,,,anyway.......it finally crashed and i did a restore ...need to see what happens from here on...

 

Did it work "fine" before?

A Restore takes it back to a previous time. What has happened in-between?

Matt

 

Actually.....restore wiped the disk clean and setup from the factory settings

 

Ah, factory restore. Check for updates for major drivers at the HP/Compaq website.

When you are installing programs (or uninstalling trial programs), do some testing in-between. Check if programs may have a minimum requirement on connection speed. Be careful of programs installing "updaters" and helper programs that run in the background and want to connect to their web servers.

I hope you have some luck getting a better connection.

Matt