Computer Restarts Windows Every Hour It is On

Affected Products: Desktop Computers
Affected Operating Systems: Windows Vista™

ISSUE: While powered on, the computer randomly restarts Windows at 45 to 60 minute intervals without warning or notification as to why it is restarting. Event viewer notes each restart as, Event ID: 6008, "The Previous System Shutdown ("Date/Time") was Unexpected".

RESOLUTION: Perform the following steps. Check after each full step (1, 2, 3) to determine if the issue is resolved.

  1. Verify the BIOS version. If not already BIOS version DPP3510J.15A.0296, download and install filename 9539095.exe or above to update the BIOS.

      Verify BIOS version

    1. From the Start menu, click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click System Information.

    2. In the left pane of the System Information window, locate BIOS Version/Date.

      • If the value listed is Intel Corp. DPP3510J.15A.0296…, then the BIOS is already updated. Continue with step 2 below.
      • If the value listed is not Intel Corp. DPP3510J.15A.0296, continue with step c.

    3. To determine if the BIOS file has already been downloaded but not installed, click Start, and then in the Start Search text box, type C:\cabs\9539095\read_me.txt. Press the ENTER key.

      • If the read_me.txt file opens, the BIOS update file has already been downloaded and can be installed. Follow the installation instructions in the read_me.txt file to do this.
      • If a dialog box with the message "Windows cannot find C:\cabs\9539095\read_me.txt" opens, click OK. This means that you need to download the BIOS file from the following location, and then install it.

        http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?param=9539095&st=kw

  2. Check to see if the computer has Trend Micro Anti-Virus and Web Spysweeper installed. If so, remove Web Spysweeper and then refer to the software supplier for support and resolution.

  3. In many cases, a blue Fatal Exception Stop error screen appears for a moment, and then the computer restarts. This is because Windows® is set to restart automatically when a STOP error occurs. By default, Windows Vista automatically restarts on a system failure and keeps restarting. To stop Vista from automatically restarting, perform the following steps:

    1. From the Start menu, click Control Panel.

    2. In Control Panel click System and Maintenance.

    3. In the System and Maintenance window, click System.

    4. In the System window left pane, click Advanced system settings.

    5. In the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.

    6. In the System Properties dialog box Advanced tab, in the Startup and Recovery section, click Settings.

    7. In the Startup and Recovery dialog box in the System failure section, click to clear the Automatically Restart check box, and then click OK.

    8. In the System Properties dialog box click OK.

    9. Close the System window.

DATE RESOLVED: 01/17/2008