Windows 10 PC unexpectedly shuts down

Hi Paul,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community. I understand that your Windows 10 PC unexpectedly shuts down. Be rest assured, I am glad to help.

This issue could be either due to some issues with the power settings or corrupted system files on the computer.

Try the below methods and check if that helps:

Method 1: Run the Power Troubleshooter

1.   Open Control Panel.

2.   Type “Troubleshooting” in the search bar and press “Enter”.

3.   In the “Troubleshooting” window, click on “View All” on the left pane.

4.   Click on “Power”.

5.   Click on “Advanced” and then click on “Run as Administrator”.

6.   Click “Next” and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the troubleshooting process.

Method 2:

It could be a compatibility issue with the new Fast Startup component.

Try the below steps and check:

1.   Open Control Panel / Power Options.

2.   On the Left side menu, select Choose what the power buttons do.

3.   Select Change settings that are currently unavailable.

4.   Scroll down to the Shutdown settings section.

5.   Remove the check mark from the Turn on Fast Startup option.

6.   Select the Save Changes Button.

Shut Down the computer, wait a couple of minutes and then use the Power Button to start the computer.

Method 3:

I would suggest you to restore default settings of power plan and check if it helps.

1.   Open Control Panel.

2.   Click on the Power Options icon.

3.   Click on Change advanced power settings.

4.   Select the option “Restore default settings for this plan”.

Also install all pending updates and ensure that your drivers are up to date by visiting the manufacturer's site for driver download.

Hope this post helps. Get back to us for further queries. We are happy to help!

Well.., I did all of the above.

1. Troubleshooter only recommended I go back to a balanced plan, I did.

2. My PC did not have a 'Turn on fast startup' option that I could find.

3. I went back to default settings.

I left my PC on at night with nothing running but startup and background apps and the PC was off in the morning. Again, nothing in event viewer that told me much.

What are my next steps and think you ever so much!!

Note: This started happening on 4/7 and has occurred 3x's.., all while I was away and not performing anything resource intensive while providing no clues as to why system shut down. (No Blue screen or errors)

Thank you!! - Paul

I found an article that showed how to go into command and turn on hibernate so that the option shows up to turn off fast startup.

Next I just have to wait and leave my PC on to see what happens.., hopefully no more shutdowns!

Paul

Hi,

Keep us posted on your findings. We are happy to help!

Joy,

Well,, unfortunately, it did not help. I have 'Turn on fast startup' unchecked and I have the same issue. As long as I am actively using my PC it runs fine. As soon as I step away for a few minutes and it sits idle, it shuts down. How do I fix this..? Seems to me it is some sort of power\sleep\hibernate issue within the OS.., does it to you?

What can I do to have this issue diagnosed and fixed permanently? I really need this system to work as it is used for work, side work and many other activities. I have invested a lot of time and money in this machine, I keep it up to date and protected so it is very frustrating to have this issue occur form out of seemingly nowhere and continue to be a problem.

I look forward to your feedback and direction. Thanks a bunch!

Paul

Hi Paul,

What is the make and model of your PC?

Ensure that you have the latest Windows updates installed on your computer with all device driver up to date. Get the drivers from the manufacturer's website.

Also if the issue persist,

Method 1: Run the SFC.

System File Checker is a utility in Windows that allows users to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore corrupted files.

Follow the below steps:

1.      Right click on the Start button, click on Command Prompt (Admin).

2.      Type “sfc /scannow” without the quotes and hit Enter.

3.      After the scan, restart the computer and check for the issue.

Method 2: Run the DISM Tool.

If the issue persists, I would have you run the DISM tool to check the system health and will try to restore the files. 

1.      Right click on the Start button, click on Command Prompt (Admin).

2.      In the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type the following commands. Press the Enter key after each command:

·         DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth 

·         DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

To close the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type Exit, and then press Enter. 

Note: The tool might take 15-20 minutes to finish running, so please do not cancel it.

Hope it helps.  

So, strangely enough, nothing above helped, or if it did, there must have been some sort of delayed response.

After having no luck with any of the above mentioned steps, I started preparing for a rebuild. I copied all of my documents folders and personal files to another drive and cleaned up my downloads folders.

Then, after moving around gb's worth of data to another drive and freeing up more gb's worth of space via cleanup and deletion, the issue went away seemingly on it's own??

Also worth noting, the drive that I moved everything to somehow got renamed and everything I currently had saved there and to be re pointed since apps couldn't locate the files anymore. I didn't rename it, the system somehow did through all of this...?

But, the bottom line.., my PC is NOT shutting down unexpectedly anymore. Unfortunately, I don't know what 'fixed' it or stopped it from happening or why? Which is somewhat disturbing too since it could come back at any time,..?

Thank - Paul

Hi,

Thanks for the update and response.

If the issue persists further I would suggest you to perform clean boot and check if it helps.

Perform a Clean Boot and check the status of the issue.

Perform a clean boot to check if any third party application is causing the issue, as clean boot helps in eliminating software conflicts.

How to troubleshoot problem by performing clean boot in Windows:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135

Note:  Refer "How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting" to reset the computer to start as normal after troubleshooting

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.

I have this exact same problem. None of the 'recommended fixes' works.  This is really serious.  It has almost ruined my life.  And apparently Microsoft cannot provide adequate instructions on it?  Totally unacceptable...

The 4 suggested power management fixes did not help.

There were no integrity or corruption problems.

All other devices have been unplugged.

All start-up programs are disabled.

Video driver checks out as current.

Norton and Malwarebytes have been run.

Also Norton Power Eraser.

I have no available restore points.

Foolishly, I upgraded from 7 to 10 6 months ago.

I dearly wish I had stayed on 7...

I find that it WILL run in safe mode and off the network without shutting down.  It is an HP desktop.

I am wondering if it is some kind of remote control attack a Trojan installed before I could remove the Trojan.  ?? 

Microsoft tech support wanted $100 minimum to try to fix it.  Thanks so much Microsoft.  This is only about the 10th bad problem I've had with Windows 10.  Is that perhaps the reason for its name?

David