New
#1
Desktop PC reboots randomly, sfc errors each time
Hi folks--
I have been having this problem intermittently over the past year or so. It had settled down for a while but then it started up again just recently and has become very annoying. As the title states, my desktop PC (specs are on my profile page) started shutting down and restarting randomly quite a while ago, and it continues to cycle that way for several times before eventually settling down on the Windows 7 login screen. I replaced almost all the hardware -- motherboard, CPU, video cards, RAM, etc -- except for the hard drive and the power supply. I ran various tests on the hard drive and I am fairly confident it is not the issue. I eventually decided the problem was the PSU. I replaced the main filter capacitors and the system seemed to run very smoothly, until just a few weeks ago. Now it has started doing the same thing--shutting off in the middle of a session for no apparent reason and restarting. I got a blue screen the other day complaining about the hardware, but after some tests I came up empty--none of the hardware seemed to be having issues.
Anyway, this is the reason I'm posting here:
Whenever the PC reboots, I try to boot into safe mode with command prompt and run the sfc /scannow command. It always comes up with errors--if the computer doesn't restart in the middle of the scan--most often complaining about shell32.dll (according the the CBS log). It says it repairs it, but then as soon as I start using my computer again it shuts down again. I restart the sfc and get the same error. Now I'm not sure if the system files are damaged because the power supply quits (if that is, indeed, the issue), or if the system shuts down because the files are damaged. This is the reason I'm asking here.
Before anyone asks, yes--I've tried re-seating the RAM, run chkdsk (no issues found), memtest turns up nothing unusual, and CPU-Z shows nothing out of the ordinary. Keep in mind though that I'm lucky if I'm able to complete any of these tests without the computer shutting down in the middle of it.
Anyway, if anyone could answer my question about shell32.dll, I'd be very grateful. I have ordered a new power supply and it should be here within a week, but until then I'm pretty much out of options. Any and all suggestions/recommendations are very much appreciated!
Regards,
Matt L.
Last edited by derstrom8; 29 Dec 2013 at 14:46.