I'm about to throw in the towel as far as Windows 10 is concerned. Tomorrow I'll revert to 8.1. I've found absolutely no advantage to 10. Things, simple things, aren't easy to find and tonight I again had the experience of the whole thing freezing and needing to be restarted while I was using the browser - this has happened a few times. I haven't threatened to chuck the laptop through the window as I realise it isn't its fault, poor thing.
I actually find it cheaper to purchase a new printer with ink instead of buying ink on it's own. So far I have 2 printers that haven't been used minus ink. Saying that I can get a new printer Canon MG2400 series for $39.00.
Strumpet
Hmm, that doesn't really work, because usually the 'free' ink cartridges supplied with a subsidised printer are only partly filled.
Forget printers, I just hold a piece of paper to the screen and trace the image.
Quote: billwill @ 22nd March 2016, 1:08 PM GMTHmm, that doesn't really work, because usually the 'free' ink cartridges supplied with a subsidised printer are only partly filled.
It works for me, so I'm ok with it.
Strumpet
So my 2 year old tower PC has intermittently shut down of its own accord over the last year or so, which was a bit worrying as we all know how damn hard and annoying an intermittent fault is to rectify.
But, last week it kept on doing it while I was authoring a DVD and it made me wonder if it was connected with the shutting down as I do this sort of thing quite often. The C drive, which holds all the progs. etc. has always been on the storage limit and I know DVD temporary/render files can be quite big and are stored within the software on the C drive.....................so I am wondering if this is what is causing the shutdown, before I invest in a bigger hard drive.
The spare capacity on the C drive varies from around 250mb to 1.5Gb and am now wondering if say at some point the C drive "overflows" that the PC will shut down as a matter of course if this hard drive is full?
So just to make it absolutely clear then after going around the houses - does/will a PC shut down if the hard drive has no more capacity?
(The C drive has only the Windows/Programs operating systems on it - I have a separate hard drive for storage + an external one that backs that one up)
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 12th April 2016, 4:53 PM BSTSo just to make it absolutely clear then after going around the houses - does/will a PC shut down if the hard drive has no more capacity?
Possibly, although I'd assume that you'd receive some sort of "drive space low" message before the problem, and I'd expect the DVD authoring program to complain about free space, too. You can probably change the location of the temp files and keep them on the larger drive.
My hunch is that it's either an electrical problem or an overheating issue. If you're compressing/converting video files to DVD format it can be a very processor-intensive activity and your PC may be shutting off because the CPU is getting too hot. Open up the case and check for large amounts of dust/lint that could be blocking fans on the case and/or CPU. Use compressed air to blow everything clean. You might also carefully power up the PC with the case off so that you can make sure the case fans and CPU heatsink fans are all spinning. The usual warnings about electrical safety and shock hazards apply. 
What version of Windows are you running?
Windows has an Event Viewer which logs various system activities. If you open it up and see warning messages that took place just prior to the shutdown they might give you a clue.
>So just to make it absolutely clear then after going around the houses - does/will a PC shut down if the hard drive has no more capacity?
Unlikely. You should first get onscreen warnings that space is low, then if it really runs out it would jam with the display still onscreen but possibly unable to do anything including closing programs.
Sudden shutdowns are almost always software faults or the CPU is overheating.
A common cause of CPU overheating is that the CPU fan has stalled or jammed due to its lubrication drying up.
Another common cause is dust and fluff in the computer particularly in the CPU heatsink. You can generally blow this out with an "Air-Duster" aerosol, or if you have a vacuum cleaner in which the hose can be pushed into the air outlet (do any cacuum vleaners have this facility nowadays?).
There are supposed to be dangers in using a vacuum cleaner in suck-mode, close to electronic circuits due to a buildup of charge at the nozzle. But I have done so many times without problems cleaning out the fluff.
Thank you for that Bill, I will check it out.......and buy a larger hard drive.
RAM can also be a factor with unexpected shut downs and restarts. I once had a problem for months where my PC had a mind of it's own and it turned out to be a faulty stick of RAM. I had used MemTest which is free software you can burn to a CD which tests your RAM but it found no faults. It was only after I opened the base unit and started taking out the sticks that I noticed one of them was the culprit. It doesn't sound like the issue here but it's still worth checking.
It sounds like your issue is being caused by overheating either on the CPU, GPU or motherboard itself. If you have never cleaned the fans that is the first job. Open it up and inspect the fans and if they are caked in dust clean them until they look brand new which could stop the random restarts because more air is circulating around. You can get software to monitor temperatures but I don't bother doing that because hearing the fans in overdrive is the giveaway that there is an overheating issue.
Dabutt's Event Viewer logs suggestion is also a good one because this holds logs for months.
Control Panel > System & Security > Administritive Tools > Event Viewer (or something like that) It's the system logs you're interested in.
Thank you for that Tarbs..........much appreciated.
Quote: DaButt @ 12th April 2016, 5:03 PM BSTPossibly, although I'd assume that you'd receive some sort of "drive space low" message before the problem, and I'd expect the DVD authoring program to complain about free space, too. You can probably change the location of the temp files and keep them on the larger drive.
My hunch is that it's either an electrical problem or an overheating issue. If you're compressing/converting video files to DVD format it can be a very processor-intensive activity and your PC may be shutting off because the CPU is getting too hot. Open up the case and check for large amounts of dust/lint that could be blocking fans on the case and/or CPU. Use compressed air to blow everything clean. You might also carefully power up the PC with the case off so that you can make sure the case fans and CPU heatsink fans are all spinning. The usual warnings about electrical safety and shock hazards apply.
What version of Windows are you running?
Windows has an Event Viewer which logs various system activities. If you open it up and see warning messages that took place just prior to the shutdown they might give you a clue.
Many thanks DaButt. Will check out your suggestions. I have Windows 7 Home Premium.
My son fitted the new 250Gb I bought on the C drive for the operating system, so shouldn't have any probs. now with it overflowing!
And he gave it a good clean out as the vents were badly choked up - looking good so far...............
It never rains but it...............a month ago I had the problem of my PC tower shutting down, which seems OK now and looks like it was overheating BUT NOW for some reason 
the bloody thing has gone completely opposite of that and is intermittently switching itself on!! DUH??
I come to use it in the morning and find it blazing away on its own sometimes and am now posting this as it booted itself up just now while I was doing some paperwork and thought I would use the opportunity to post this plea. 
Anyone any ideas please?
Settings in the BIOS alllow the computer to switch itself on at predetermined days and times. Those might be set now.
Other settings there determine whether the computer can wake up to network signals or mouse signals or keyboard. If this setting is ON, vibrations can disturb the mouse enough for the signal to wake the computer.
If the computer is not actually off but is 'sleeping' Windows has settings for it to wake in the night to do updates.
As per usual, thank you Bill - will look into it.