I'm looking for some help with an Acer XC-705 Aspire desktop PC. The symptoms are that if the PC is left doing nothing (just on), when you return to it, it has restarted itself. Checking event viewer, under the title critical, it says the PC turned off without being shutdown correctly. If the PC is being used, it never happens, only when idle. It can do it as it boots itself up after one of these events as well. The other night I left it on and it did it five times. Some days it doesn't do it. I have replaced the power supply, updated the BIOS, blown all the dust out of the fans, replaced the hard drive, reinstalled the operating system and carried out updates. I also have the older XC-600 which does exactly the same thing. Any help would be appreciated. Regards, Nigel.
The first question: What OS are you running? Next question: Are the two machines running the same OS? If so, did a Windows update clobber both machines? See if you can boot one of them into a cmd prompt. Let it sit there and see if it does it again. I'm not talking about from Windows, but on startup. This should stop the OS from running. If it does it again, then you need to look at the BIOS update you did. If not, then look and see if an update did the damage. Just some thoughts...
Thank you for your reply. The OS they are both running is windows 8.1 One of them has been doing it from new (don't ask!) The BIOS update I've done only to one of the two that is playing up. I don't believe it's an operating system issue, as I upgraded one of them to windows 10 and it still did it. I will try one of them just running a command prompt and get back to you. Thanks again, Regards, Nigel.
Good afternoon, thanks for your reply. Yes, I normally run them in that power option and they still do it. I've also tried them in balanced but without sleep. Regards, Nigel.
Have you checked the RAM and GPU?I have come across this kind of issue before and it was a problem related to the RAM. I am not saying it is in your case but there is nothing wrong in trying to use the recommended RAM for your mobos first.
@Hadron-Curious: A RAM issue was the first thing that came to my mind as well, but He has 2 different machines doing the exact same thing. But He should check the RAM anyway. It never hurts to be sure.
It depends and could be a coincidence. Funny thing like that happens all the time not knowing it could possibly be a mere coincidence. I agree with you he should check the RAM first because it doesn't hurt to do so.
Thank you for all your replies. I have never seen them BSOD. The screen goes black and the PC restarts. No event error code is logged because it goes off so quick. Both machines still have the single ram modules they came installed with from new (one is 4GB, the other 8GB). Both are running on board graphics, not separate graphics cards. As suggested I'm running both in DOS but I guess this is not going to rule out a memory issue. Is there a memory test that I could try or would I be better off just replacing one of the modules to see whether that cures it? Thanks again, Regards, Nigel.
I have ordered a replacement memory module, which will hopefully be here tomorrow and I will try that and see if it cures the issue. Thanks again to all of you for your continued assistance. I will post the results. Regards, Nigel.
Aren't the C states disabled by default at the BIOS? If I can recall correctly OP stated he has looked into the BIOS already.
So you have two desktop PCs with the same problem? Very unusual. My first thought is: "What do these two machines have in common?" One answer is - "input power." Have you verified input power (AC line voltage) is in spec. and properly grounded?
Good morning all. I replaced the memory module in one of the faulty machines on Friday. I left it running all weekend and it died and restarted nine times. So it appears the memory module isn't at fault. Re Quantumbug message about Intel C, that is something I've never heard of, so is this something I should try? When I say I have two machines with the same fault one of them is at a different location, not on the same power source. Any further suggestions would be gratefully received. Thanks again for your continued help, Regards, Nigel.
sounds like generic bios bug of same laptop maker.. 2 with same ? i would crc check the iso u used to install. does other os like linux work ok ? ive seen intel watchdog do similar issue.