switch off at midnite 30

[superstarman]

Every nite at midnite 30 my comp switches itself off

its frustrating as I might be in the middle of a download,
or virus scan .

Ive set nothing to do this... its been doing it now
for about 2 months.

[RTechnik]

look for some virus/malware in your comp could be ii. It would be easier to know what OS you use.

[iLikeBigButtz]

Originally Posted by superstarman

Every nite at midnite 30 my comp switches itself off

its frustrating as I might be in the middle of a download,
or virus scan .

Ive set nothing to do this... its been doing it now
for about 2 months.

As RTechnik mentioned, it sounds like you picked up one of those annoying viruses that were written for the Lulz. Luckily they tend to be mostly harmless, but run your anti-virus/anti-malware program to get rid of it.

[buttsie]

If your lucky something as simple as

malwarebytes

Anonym zu techsupportalert.com/content/malwarebytes.htm

will remove what ever it is

Wise folks alway go into safe mode PF8 when removing this type of crap

Question you should probably be asking yourself is how did it get on board
ie whats wrong with my current security set-up

Couple of tutorials here that woke me up to where i was going wrong

Gizmo's Guide to Securing Your PC - step by step - in depth

How to Surf More Securely - 3 different ways to reduce the risk that any infection can do to your computer

Anonym zu techsupportalert.com/tutorials


Its one thing to advise how to remove but the real gain is in stopping it the next time it comes knocking



If none of the above solves it the very powerful tool Hijack This is worth using
If your skilled enough you may well fix it yourself...if not

Post the log to a malware forum and they will diagnose what needs to be done

[superstarman]

I have avast ( free ) installed and it does a full scan every tuesday
Im on xp
the avast scan always seems to end with... no threat found ...

I do a quick scan with Superantispyware (free) and that comes up with 160 odd malaware junk, and then at the end
it gets rid of them.

The last two times I did a full scan with Superantispyware it was doing ok then the blue screen flashed and my comp shut down.

Ive used malawarebytes, CCleaner also , but still get
this annoying switch off at 12.30 am .

Its usually 10 to 15 mins before things boot back up again so
its a pain.

[RTechnik]

there is probably some .exe active and it runs the off program that is in windows for pre planed actions when something try ro remove it.

Use CCcleaner or Regcleaner to get the picture what runs on startup. I had one nasty trojan years ago (when I used IE and not better browser) and i had to remove it from start register and then delete the file.

[buttsie]

A few others I use when i'm malware paranoid

Rkill - simply stops known malware from running - if there is anything that the others have missed this will tell you what it is in a log but it wont remove it - its what you use when other anti-malware software wont work.

Anonym zu bleepingcomputer.com/download/rkill/

Eset online scanner - this tends to pick up the occasional obscure infection the others miss in my experience

Anonym zu eset.com/us/online-scanner/


Putting the guesswork aside

checking the event viewer via
start/programs/administrative tools/event viewer/system

warnings in yellow,errors in red(serious)...right click and select properties
and you may get some idea as to the cause

Otherwise as silly as it sounds

start/programs/accessories/scheduled tasks

- I had 2 google updaters for god knows what crashing my XP sp3
until i removed them from scheduled tasks which i had never set-up
a remnant of a removed software item most likely



The other reason computers shut down is over heating though given the specific time a bit of a long shot but then maybe its coicidence

Length of time the PC has been running as opposed to the time it happens

Bit of compressed air shooting through the tower to remove dust is almost a must do from time to time.



From bleeping computer a complete guide to cleaning a desktop tower safely

Introduction

Most people think computers, being electronic devices, don't require any mechanical maintenance, but this is not so.

Many computer faults are caused by components overheating due to poor airflow in the case because of a buildup of dirt and dust over time.

It's worthwhile cleaning your computer annually or even more often if it is in a particularly dusty environment, on carpet or in a household with pets.

This tutorial is designed to help you safely clean the interior of your tower or desktop PC so as to maximize its lifespan. No computer knowledge is assumed other than familiarity with component names.

Cleaning the computer is not rocket-science and does not require any special skills or tools but you do need to know how to avoid possible damage to some of the more sensitive parts.

That's what we will demonstrate here. Although the same principle applies to laptops and notebook PCs, because of the difficulty dismantling them these instructions do not apply to those types of computer.

Anonym zu bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/cleaning-the-inside-of-your-pc/

Originally Posted by superstarman

I have avast ( free ) installed and it does a full scan every tuesday
Im on xp
the avast scan always seems to end with... no threat found ...

Avast doesn't do malware that well.

Originally Posted by superstarman

I do a quick scan with Superantispyware (free) and that comes up with 160 odd malaware junk, and then at the end
it gets rid of them.

Always run a full scan