PC Restart Problem

This happened to me once, over a period of a few months. I found out that one of my web browsers was set to automatically download and install updates. Sometimes it would have to restart the PC for the changes to take effect, and it would just do it without warning me first. After I finally found the cause, I just reset it so it had to ask permission before restarting my PC.

Hope this helps.

This pretty much sums up what I've seen.

http://askbobrankin.com/computer_restarts_itself.html

Well, now that your good find has mentioned the name of the renegade software that restarted itself, it was Firefox that I had the problem with, too.

I think it's a great browser so I didn't want to trash it publicly. As I recall it was an easy fix, or else I never would have been able to do it.

It sure would be nice if, instead of making computers faster and faster, and adding bulky bells and whistles to software, someone would come up with a way to just make everything work, every time. Now that would be nice. I'm dreaming.

If you haven't yet tried Linux, it might be worth your while, depending on a few things. (I had a long learning curve, but some of that was the condition of Linux applications when I started making the transition.)

Now I wouldn't go back!

There are, however, some specific (usually commercial) applications that are available only for Windows. There are some Windows emulators (or similar) on Linux, but none of those work for every Windows application, and some Windows applications that just will not run on Linux (so far--people are still working on things like that).

But, for many specific applications, there are Linux equivalents or workalikes. Just as an example, both Open Office and Abiword (word processors) will read and write Microsoft .doc documents (well, actually the read real .doc, but write .rtf which can be named .doc and re-opened in Microsoft Word. Similarly, I believe Open Office can do the same for Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint files. (I'm not as sure about Access files.)

Fortunately for me, I don't have to worry abouit compatibility with Microsoft document formats--if you do, you probably want to experiment to avoid any surprises.

There are a few things I'm not satisfied with yet. I'd like to experiment with Dragon Speaking Naturally--there was a Linux version a few years ago, but I didn't get a copy, and I'm not (I wasn't) happy in that there is no AskSam for Linux, but I'm working on developing something equivalent (and have it working well enough to generally satisfty me--it's certainly not ready for prime time).

I won't mark this OT--I'll let the next guy do it ;-)

Win 7 seems pretty stable. I do use open office, as well as other alternatives to MS anywhere possible.

I tried Linux, and I'm sure it's good, but I hate computer stuff.....any learning curve is more than I want to deal with.

My problem with random reboots went away when I switched to Linux. In fact, I have found with Linux (after a bit of a learning curve, but not as monumental as in years gone by) everything just works, out of the box...

rhkramer- OpenOffice can handle most Excel files (some minor issues if you are in to writing your own macros), and Access, PowerPoint. There are usually some minor formatting issues (typically associated with graphics objects, which tend to jump around a bit), but otherwise fully compatible.

I am not sure of all that DragonSpeak is capable of, but, if you are looking for a screen reader (that reads text, etc. from the display), there is a Gnu project (formerly a Sun project, dealt a death blow by Oracle) called "Orca", designed for the visually-challenged- available in an Ubuntu derivative package called "Vinux". The Orca project is quite active...

Re: I am not sure of all that DragonSpeak is capable of, but, if you are looking for a screen reader (that reads text, etc. from the display)

It is just the opposite--it is a speech recognizer. CMU has one that might be pretty good, but the last thing they did was convert it to Java (from C or C++), which has to have made it slower. (I can't remember the name of the CMU software--IBM has some involvement in it also.)

I just haven't taken the time to experiment with it, and probably won't in the foreseeable future.

I had the same experience with FF on a XP box I maintain for my unwife...

I use chrome most of the time myself, which just waits until you do a restart to finish an upgrade.

RH you should try Oracles Virtual box 4.0.4 [install the extension pack to if you want to use USB devices] I can run the latest version of ITunes, which is something that wine just can't do. I have a 10.10 ubuntu host & a XP guest. CW will post a more detailed procedure on his blog at some point...

I had talked Kramarat into trying mint a few months ago, but as he said his tolerance for computer learning curve is pretty low

linux isn't for everyone

Re: linux isn't for everyone

Ahh, but it could / should / will be ;-)

That's a good link.

I do note that one, and possibly two, of the problems are somewhat Windows XP specific. (The two are the Windows XP shutdown on error option and the Firefox reboot after upgrade -- I'll let someone else decide which is which ;-)

Just my gratuitous blurb--Linux doesn't typically need to reboot after a software installation / upgrade. (There are some exceptions, or some cases where I intentionally make an exception.)

I have experinced too, I'd just thought problem on my PC. But it come every time i tried to download from 4shared.com, I use other browser Chrome, not firefox and fine..no problem

Two reasons; 1. SMPS problem: keep pressing del key and check whether BIOS is loading. If staying "ON" on BIOS for longer time then it is a OS problem, else change SMPS.

2. Some virus damaged your OS. Hence format C drive and load systems software again.

Good Luck!

An intriguing observation about computer equipment/operating systems:

I have noted on several occasions, when loading the Linux software on older computers with components originally believed dead (i.e., audio boards, network cards, etc.), the components suddenly start working again...

Computer worm or cyberattacks.

I had the same problem once. I had the power cable damaged. Have you check your power cable?