Mystery shutdown

Peppurr101

Peppurr101

Power User
Hello all,
Yesterday after a week long holiday, I came home and started my computer which ran fine until this afternoon.
I was out and about doing things and I left the computer on and logged online as I usually do.
When I came home, I found it had shut down and restarted and I was at my Windows Logon screen.
I figured we must have had some sort of electrical outage, so I logged in and let my Intel RAID storage manger do it's thing (it has to re-verify and re-match the data on my two RAID 1 drives)
I wandered back in a few minutes later to find the computer had gone into a CheckDisc. Check Disc didn't find any bad things so I let it run through and restarted, now all seems well again.

I am curious as to why it might have shut down in the first place and not quite sure where to look.
Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer says no critical errors, just one error message that says the shut down was unexpected (duh).

Anywhere else I can under Event Viewer etc?
Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 420
    CPU
    Intel (R) Core(TM) Quad 6600 @2.4GHz
    Memory
    4GB dual channel DDR2 667MHZ [4x 1024]
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
    Sound Card
    Creative SB X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic Dell PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    2 500GB Hard drives in a RAID 1 Mirror configuration.
    Keyboard
    Standard USB QWERTY keyboard
    Mouse
    Standard optical mouse
    Internet Speed
    Actual 2.2 Mbps
    Other Info
    Connected to DSL internet via ethernet via Netgear DGN2000 modem router.
    Also connected via ethernet to HP 8180 All-in-One Photosmart printer.
    19-in1 card reader and 1 DVD and 1 DVD RW drives
Peppurr101 said:
Hello all,
Yesterday after a week long holiday, I came home and started my computer which ran fine until this afternoon.
I was out and about doing things and I left the computer on and logged online as I usually do.
When I came home, I found it had shut down and restarted and I was at my Windows Logon screen.
I figured we must have had some sort of electrical outage, so I logged in and let my Intel RAID storage manger do it's thing (it has to re-verify and re-match the data on my two RAID 1 drives)
I wandered back in a few minutes later to find the computer had gone into a CheckDisc. Check Disc didn't find any bad things so I let it run through and restarted, now all seems well again.

I am curious as to why it might have shut down in the first place and not quite sure where to look.
Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer says no critical errors, just one error message that says the shut down was unexpected (duh).

Anywhere else I can under Event Viewer etc?
Thanks
Click to expand...

To my knowledge, Event Viewer is the only place to find the information, and you have already checked it. You could also contact your local power company and verify if there was a power outage in your area. That is certainly what sounds like the suspect since Event Viewer simply listed it as an unexpected shutdown.
 

My Computer

System One

SuperFuzz said:
Peppurr101 said:
Hello all,
Yesterday after a week long holiday, I came home and started my computer which ran fine until this afternoon.
I was out and about doing things and I left the computer on and logged online as I usually do.
When I came home, I found it had shut down and restarted and I was at my Windows Logon screen.
I figured we must have had some sort of electrical outage, so I logged in and let my Intel RAID storage manger do it's thing (it has to re-verify and re-match the data on my two RAID 1 drives)
I wandered back in a few minutes later to find the computer had gone into a CheckDisc. Check Disc didn't find any bad things so I let it run through and restarted, now all seems well again.

I am curious as to why it might have shut down in the first place and not quite sure where to look.
Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer says no critical errors, just one error message that says the shut down was unexpected (duh).

Anywhere else I can under Event Viewer etc?
Thanks
Click to expand...

To my knowledge, Event Viewer is the only place to find the information, and you have already checked it. You could also contact your local power company and verify if there was a power outage in your area. That is certainly what sounds like the suspect since Event Viewer simply listed it as an unexpected shutdown.
Click to expand...

Thanks Superfuzz. I think it was my power. My cable box is having fits as well.
Someone has told me to get a power supply backup with batteries.. can you recommend a type?
Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 420
    CPU
    Intel (R) Core(TM) Quad 6600 @2.4GHz
    Memory
    4GB dual channel DDR2 667MHZ [4x 1024]
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
    Sound Card
    Creative SB X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic Dell PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    2 500GB Hard drives in a RAID 1 Mirror configuration.
    Keyboard
    Standard USB QWERTY keyboard
    Mouse
    Standard optical mouse
    Internet Speed
    Actual 2.2 Mbps
    Other Info
    Connected to DSL internet via ethernet via Netgear DGN2000 modem router.
    Also connected via ethernet to HP 8180 All-in-One Photosmart printer.
    19-in1 card reader and 1 DVD and 1 DVD RW drives
I would say a power drop off on the circuit. I would figure out what else shares your circuit. I put in a 20A independent circuit for my workstation and a second 20A circuit for the rest of the stuff.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    pair of Intel E5430 quad core 2.66 GHz Xeons
    Motherboard
    Supermicro X7DWA-N server board
    Memory
    16GB DDR667
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB video card
    Hard Drives
    SAS RAID
Thanks Superfuzz. I think it was my power. My cable box is having fits as well.
Someone has told me to get a power supply backup with batteries.. can you recommend a type?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Well while you can get a UPS starting around $40.00 USD, I wouldn't recommend going with any priced that low. You want one that has good battery power/life, high enough voltage to run your system, and consistent voltage regulation. You get what you pay for and a good quality UPS is going to run $100 or more usually.

There are many brands available, but APC is probably the front runner with the best reputation. Ultimately which model you choose should be based on how many devices you have plugged into it (computer, printer, monitor, etc) and the total wattage draw from the devices.

Here are links to two of them to check out. The $129.00 model is a 315 watt unit and the $199.00 model is a 750 watt unit. Obviously there are many other brands and models available as well, but as I said, APC is generally considered the leader in the field and has a good reputation for quality products.
 

My Computer

System One

UPS will not fix a power problem. I would recommend a Tripp Lite 1800W Line Conditioner over a UPS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    pair of Intel E5430 quad core 2.66 GHz Xeons
    Motherboard
    Supermicro X7DWA-N server board
    Memory
    16GB DDR667
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB video card
    Hard Drives
    SAS RAID
The Tripp Lite is all well and good, but if it doesn't provide Battery Backup then it can still be useless in total power failure.

APC UPS also do Line Conditioning. APC UPS ,,, IS,, absolutly a fine solution.

Reason,,,, Total Power Outage can cause the Hard Drive to fail mechancally rendering it useless and all data lost.

Battery Backup prevents the system from cutting off aburptly and damaging the Hard Drive. APC UPS (among Others) provide a USB cable and software to do a proper shutdown of the PC when power is out for a period of time. Not an abrupt disconnect of power. From what I can see,, the Tripp Lites are not UPS, but only Line Conditioners, which is fine, but most UPS's have line condtioning built in, which for a normal home user is plenty.

Only thing you don't want plugged into it are Laser Printers. They will kill the battery.
Also, most, if not all, UPS Batteries have to be replaced about every 3 years.

EDIT - Generally,, the only things you want plugged into a UPS (on the battery side) are PC, Monitor and External HDD's. Nothing else is important. The work time won't be enough (unless you buy a huge UPS) to do anything more than shut the system down. So, there is no point in killing the battery with other unnecassary devices.
 

My Computer

System One

One more edit,,, Remember,, the main point of a UPS is to protect the HDD and the data on it,, that's all.

Also,,, if the power problem is in the house wiring ,,, then a Tripp Lite won't fix it either,,, it's a bandaid, not a fix.
 

My Computer

System One

Many UPS are square wave. They are not a great solution. During low power, shutdown and protect your hardware. A consumer UPS is square wave and not a good source of clean power. I am an electrical engineer. My corporate server room has a sine wave UPS. My workstation at home runs on Tripp Lite line conditioners that keep properly sine wave power to my power supply. It can run down to 97V.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    pair of Intel E5430 quad core 2.66 GHz Xeons
    Motherboard
    Supermicro X7DWA-N server board
    Memory
    16GB DDR667
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB video card
    Hard Drives
    SAS RAID
And what happens when the power cuts off totaly?

Your Tripp Lite won't protect against that at all. If the conditions are right, and I have seen it many many times during storms and wide scale power outages, hard drives coming in that are scrapping and clicking like mad. Yes, some of them could have been from under/over voltage just before the power failure. But, even a Consumer level UPS would have prevented these problems.

Consumer level UPS's work just fine.

So, are you telling me that you don't have any UPS's on your Corporate servers? That would be dumb.

All I am trying to say is,, for the normal every day schmo,,, The Tripp Lite is over kill in (i would say, my opinion) every situation for that person. You have more than just a single system and need it? Great,, it is probably a much better solution... but for avaerage joe,, Most other UPS's are just fine.
 

My Computer

System One

Thanks for your replies guys. I'll look into it..
:)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 420
    CPU
    Intel (R) Core(TM) Quad 6600 @2.4GHz
    Memory
    4GB dual channel DDR2 667MHZ [4x 1024]
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
    Sound Card
    Creative SB X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic Dell PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    2 500GB Hard drives in a RAID 1 Mirror configuration.
    Keyboard
    Standard USB QWERTY keyboard
    Mouse
    Standard optical mouse
    Internet Speed
    Actual 2.2 Mbps
    Other Info
    Connected to DSL internet via ethernet via Netgear DGN2000 modem router.
    Also connected via ethernet to HP 8180 All-in-One Photosmart printer.
    19-in1 card reader and 1 DVD and 1 DVD RW drives
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