Windows 2000 Server SP4 suddenly shutdown. i don't know why. I see eventlog. no trigger. this system sometimes suddenly shutdown. about one for a week.i'd like to know why. How do i investigate the cause of this problem?

You probably have a hardware problem, which causes automatic shutdowns or restarts.

I suspect H/W problem, but I don't have the evidence of H/W problem.Where do i check for judging for H/W problem ?

Well, try removing one of your hardware. Did you purchase any new hardware recently? If so, remove that one first, and see if that solves the problem. If you find the conflicting hardware, I suggest you replace it.

Also, reboot into safe mode and leave it running for awhile - if the issue doesn't occur, it's less likely to be hardware (although that's not conclusive). If the issue does occur when in safe mode, you can be fairly confident that hardware issues are the root cause, and the vendor should be contacted to do hardware diagnostics.

safe mode, or boot with something like BartPE or Knoppix to isolate software issues.

if it happens again... check the power supply.

(FDV, who had faulty power supplies do this to him in two separate pc's several years apart)

I would also recommend removing and reinserting the RAM DIMM's.

Windows 2000 Server SP4 suddenly shutdown. i don't know why. I see eventlog. no trigger. this system sometimes suddenly shutdown. about one for a week.i'd like to know why. How do i investigate the cause of this problem?

Does your system shutdown instantly or do you get the shutdown message box about system going down

in like 20-30 secs ??

There's this one virus doing that..

I'd suggest you scan your complete system with the latest virus definition updates..

Had a similar issue a few months back. Turned out 2B a problem with the firmware in the SCSI raid controller not being able to handle RAID 10. A firmware upgrade fixed the problem. Like U, we didn't get much help from the logs.

Had a similar issue about eight yrs ago with an HP server on Novell 4.1.

Check your HDD and controller vendor(s) for patches (and make sure your UPS is working B4 you apply them).

Had a similar problem a few weeks ago (2003 Server)

Did not happen all the time, had a mind of its own.

Power supply problem. When I opened the old PSU I found 3 blown capacitors

similar to the motherboard problem many people have had.

If it's a server, use a Thermaltake or Antec PSU. Rock solid.

A UPS would probably help.

A UPS would probably help.

it would actually be a *must* for a server.

Had a similar issue a few months back. Turned out 2B a problem with the firmware in the SCSI raid controller not being able to handle RAID 10. A firmware upgrade fixed the problem. Like U, we didn't get much help from the logs.

Had a similar issue about eight yrs ago with an HP server on Novell 4.1.

Check your HDD and controller vendor(s) for patches (and make sure your UPS is working B4 you apply them).

That probably would be a crash, not a power down literally like someone pulled the plug. If your PC literally powers down, it's probably the motherboard's processor thermal protection being triggered. Dust bunnies in your heatsink can cause this problem.

I agree with Bigbrit as far as the blown capacitors. It is really possible, check it out. They may not completely destroyed but u will recognise the bad ones by seeing the upper part inflated-like or by having on them a yellow-orange thing (like a dry fluid). I had the same problem a month ago (crashing 3D games, DVD movies and other power spending programs). The problem had to do with 4 blown capacitors around the CPU (propably used for the built-in motherboard power stabilizer circuit). I changed them and everything is perfect now. If u don't find exactly the same capacitors, be careful to use the same capacity (μF) and at least the voltage of the blown (probably 6.3 V). Keep in mind that the parts on the MoBo r soldered with silver alloy solder instead of the commonly used lead, so u will need higher temperature (or a lot of patience waiting for the solder melt ). I hope I helped.