Forcing a shut-down on a PC

[tim00]

When my PC freezes the only way out that i'm aware of is:

1. switch off the power - not good.
2. if possible, to attempt to shut-down from Start - when i do this a warning sign comes up "Do i wish to force a shut-down?" I do, otherwise i cant close down and restart the PC again, which seems to release the frozen cursor or page.

There are a couple of issues here, is forcing a shut-down harming the PC and is there any other way to release a frozen screen?

 

[Monsterminty]

how long has this been happening

 

[EFCLee1]

A forced shut down happens to a lot of people, flicking the switch on the wall is not advised in any case

The only way you can do this safely and dont quote me on this is keeping your finger on the POWER button, keep it pressed until you hear the noise of the PC stop then release the button then press to get it back on

Keep us informed if you have peristant freezing

 

[^woody^]

If the PC has frozen than you can't shut it down any other way than via the power button

If you can get a response from the PC (ie your "do you want to force shut-down" message), then your PC has not frozen, its just busy

Force shut-downs can cause problems if you have made some changes to the boot files, OS or altered drivers etc immediately before the shut-down request

Otherwise, forcing a shut down should not harm the PC, all it does is close programs and some tasks immediately so you might loose unsaved work or settings, but the OS will then shut down properly.

 

[tim00]

Thank you all fpr your replies. I know nothing about computers so i'll give you the story so far:

The PC is about two months old, brand new, very fast and large storage with W7. Difficulties started immediately and the PC was returned a couple of times to the seller/maker. However the freezing and long pauses in picking up the broadband have persisted - O2 my provider has investigated their end and claim a clean sheet, directing me back to the PC hardware.
The maker has replaced the mouse and k/board three times, and the new arrangement works somewhat better.

 

[EFCLee1]

In all the years I have been building PC's I have yet to build one that has persistant problems, my reccomendation is to perform (not the company but you) a flat install of Windows 7 and install drivers from your MOBO manufacturer, if you cant do this yourself find someone who can

Sounds to me that werever you got the PC from they dont know there ass from their elbow

First point of call would be to establish if there is a software confilct hence flat install, which contains no 3rd party software its just Windows then onto your drivers, if you still have a problem after this its a hardware issue demand a refund or you will blow their knee caps off

Good luck!!!

 

[tim00]

Thanks for the reply. I couldn't get back as the PC has been freezing constantly this evening.
Interestingly, a warning appeared that said: "Display driver graphic has stopped responding - now recovered."just as the thing "defreezed."

 

[EFCLee1]

Thanks for the reply. I couldn't get back as the PC has been freezing constantly this evening.
Interestingly, a warning appeared that said: "Display driver graphic has stopped responding - now recovered."just as the thing "defreezed."

That is still no clue as to what the issue is Hardware or Software

Once this has been established only then can the correct course of action be put in place

Proceed with a flat install followed by motherboard / graphics drivers but NOT!!! by who built the PC because they have already demonstrated their incompetence and probably over-charged by a huge amount

I would charge £20 for a windows re-install but thats cos I want to undercut by 50%, £40 seems about right so go find someone who can do this for you

Good luck!!!!

 

[Monsterminty]

yep £40 is pretty standard for an os reinstall.
personally, i'd take it back, insert it in whoever you bought it from retrieve your money and go somewhere else.

 

[nicck]

These problems can be caused by a lot of things. Often software driver incompatibility with the hardware and OS.
Freezing is more associated with VISTA than W7. I have seen it occur due t fault RAM chips but this is usually accompanied by an eventual shutdown.

You are unlike to get a diagnosis via a forum, even infront of the PC, the problem may not be clear.
Therefore people are quite correctly recommending fix solutions that may remove the problem by reinstalling everything.
You could look at:
Control Panel\System and Security\Administrative Tools
select Computer Management and a new window will open up.
Look at system tools - event viewer - custom views - administrative events.
You may see events labeled error, warning or critical.
Look at the ones around the time of the freezes and see if they give any specific information which shows a consistent problem.

If you have a hardware problem, this will not help, intermittent hardware problems are the bain of PC repair.

However, as previously suggested this may be a long on going process so
make sure you have backed up your documents before you do anything and it may actually be faster to do a search on your consumer rights regarding this then as suggested

"personally, i'd take it back, insert it in whoever you bought it from retrieve your money and go somewhere else."

 

[tim00]

Once again, thank you all so much for your helpful and detailed replies.
Tomorrow a friend who used to build computers 10 yrs ago and now works in networks, whatever that is, is coming round to have a look. I'll let you all know what the man on the spot says.

Consumer rights are sounding closer and louder.

 

[tim00]

nicc, we tried your suggestion ref. control panel etc last night . It led on my win 7 home premium to device manager ( 17 items ) but no color code of red or yellow.
I can't locate event viewer or custom views or admin events.

 

[tim00]

My friend came over and detected some difficulties in a free security program, he removed it and installed the free AVG security program.
So far so good, but it's early days.
I'm now trying to shut down but i'm puzzled by the last message from AVG - " do i want to close a tab or close all tabs?" What should i do? What are tabs?

 

[tim00]

Correction: the last message is from Internet Explorer asking if i want to close the current tab or close all tabs. The message is superimposed on the last AVG page (that tells me the AVG download is complete). Should i close all tabs?

 

[tim00]

Just to give a heads up for those who kindly replied: the machine is definitely working better, and for longer periods between mini-freezes. However, it's so annoying in a new machine. I'll give it a week or two and see. Thank you all again for your advice.