Mine was doing that off and on for awhile along with some other strange things. Finally pinned it down to a bad stick of RAM. Replaced the RAM and have had not problems since. Thank heavens for a relatively cheap fix!

Draclvr, how did you determine it was bad ram and how did you figure out which stick?

If you haven't done this already, check that the power settings aren't set to turn off the hard drive after a few hours.


I don't know how Draclvr did it, but you can check your RAM using memtest86 or memtest86+, which is a free download.
http://www.memtest86.com/
http://www.memtest.org/

Another strategy is to remove one stick of RAM at a time and see if the problem goes away. If you find what you think is a bad stick, try it in a different slot to make sure it's not the slot that's gone bad.

Jenny, I ordered the cd from them. I probably should have at least tried to download it myself but I got nervous looking at "iso files" "extract to bootable cd", etc. Anyway, once it comes I'll test-out the memory and see what happens. It probably won't hurt to have that on hand as a utility anyway.

Edit: I just checked the power settings in my control panel. On the first screen the setting for hybernate was never as were all the other settings. On another tab there was a check block for allowing hybernation. It had been checked to allow. I unchecked it and hit apply. Don't know if that will make any difference.

Edit: So far, so good. Machine has not turned itself off yet. I'll watch it for a few days (only turning it off at night) and see what happens.

Windows 7 comes with a built-in ability to test the memory. When I ran it, it found problems with the hardware. So, I then ran memtest and it verified what the Windows 7 test found.

Does the computer have to be powered up for the internet phone to work? Unless you power down the modem I would think the internet phone would work with or without the computer on.

No. I use MagicJack and the computer needs to be on for it to work. Or at least my version. There is a newer version that plugs into the wall that does not require the computer to be on but I don't have it yet.

However, I unchecked the block in Power Management in XP Control Panel that allows hibernation. Since then it hasn't turned itself off. I'm going to give it a few days, but so far so good.

Yeah, turning on hibernation will put the computer into sleep/standby mode. Usually all that's needed to bring the computer back to life is to press the power button again. We have our computer setup that way, so I can leave it and go do something else knowing the computer will go to sleep after a certain amount of time. Then pressing the power button wakes it up.

The thing is that it wasn't supposed to be on. The first tab has hibernation listed as never. Then another tab had it listed as enabled. Maybe my computer was confused??

A computer cornfused? Never! But they do have a tendency to cornfuse.

Well, I spoke too soon. My computer turned itself off again yesterday while I watched. It did the Windows turn-off music and a moment later it was off.

I'm just going to turn the machine off earlier than I normally do and keep my fingers crossed regarding it's long and productive life.

Sharon

Did you receive the CD you ordered Sharon? If so, have you checked the memory in your computer?

If it did the Windows turn-off music before turning off, that's different from just suddenly being off as if you pulled the plug on it. Somehow it's getting the signal to turn off.

Correct - when mine was randomly turning off, it would just be off and didn't go through the shut-down procedure.

Well I don't know what's going on. I went thru the control panel and could not find any settings that would turn the computer off. I think my motherboard is running hot at 59/60c but I don't know if that would cause the system to power down.

I have to check the mail to see if my memtest cd has arrived. Will let you know the result.