Computer Turns Itself on and Off and Reboots

I have a HP Pavillion desktop running Vista 32 bit. Recently my computer will reboot itself several times and then work like normal. I ran a virus scan and it appears to have caught some viruses. Now instead of it shutting off continuously and rebooting itself, it does it only once every 2-3 hours or longer. It reboots once and then everything is fine for an unspecified # of hours. I never know when it will shut down or know what the cause is. Any help out there?
 

My Computer

Welcome
Go to search and type event viewer
Go to adminsitrative in left panel
Look for errors in right panel, the may explain the problem.
I can stop the reboot, but lets determine the problem, first.
It can probably be stopped by not ticking restart in advanced settings, but lets determine the problem first.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Richard: I have too many errors to count IF I am looking in the right place, under administrative events. Can you give me an idea of what I should be looking for?

Thanks much,
Barn
 

My Computer

Go by the time
Check your watch. Then try to get the erorr again.
Now go and relate the time with the errors.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Have you thoroughly removed the virus? If yes, how do you know?
It is possible that the virus is still present. It causes the computer to shut down. If you have automatic restart checked, it will restart. Lets check for the virus
Run a full updated virus scan
Download and run malwarebytes, updated and full scan.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Rich: I did the full scan with Malbytes the first time. In the process of doing it again. It will probably take a few hours or less. If I find anything, I will jot them down and let you know. I believe my PC rebooted when I was away from it for the past 10 minutes. I'm lucky you are getting these replies. Thanks,
 

My Computer

Take your time. Too much of a coincidence that this happens right after the virus.
Do a full anti virus scan, too.
Sounds more like a virus than malware. If you dont have an anti virus, first, shame, shame, then download and make a full scan with microsoft security essentials. Be sure to update it first.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/default.aspx
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Rich: Malwarebytes full scan revealed no virus or problems. I have the full version of Avast Anti-virus installed. I noticed my son had the firewall turned off! Well, at least I know where the viruses came from. What's the next step?
 

My Computer

Update the Anti Virus and run a full scan.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Go by the time
Check your watch. Then try to get the erorr again.
Now go and relate the time with the errors.

After the scan, this was my post a while back, regarding your question on Event Viewer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
I will stay as long as I have something to contribute. Then, or even before, others may come and help. Just hang in there, You are with Family, now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Rich:

Computer ran all night without any problems. At 1:28 pm today, I brought up Winamp and it played for a while and then it froze and crashed the PC. I checked the Event Viewer and have 15 errors and one warning in 1 minute.

Errors are with: Service Control Manager Event Log; Distributed COM; Terminal Services and a few others. Crash dump initialization failed, etc.
 

My Computer

A screen shot would help
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
EV.jpg

I need the codes, see my screen shot
and tasks
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Rich: I don't understand what you mean by the codes. Your screenshot is cut off. Just write them down and give them to you? You know, I just replaced my powerstrip. I was getting pops and the like with the music. I have a new one in place. Wondering if that might be the problem. I can't download the Realtek updated drivers because Windows doesn't recognize the signature.
 

My Computer

Sorry not codes, I meant categories
Yes you can write them down.
Lets see what they say before we begin to guess
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
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