Laptop keeps rebooting unexpectedly

[mlour]

I won't know for a few days IF my solution is correct BUT while surfing on March 21st  I discovered I have Windows 10 DEFENDER.    WHO KNEW?????:smileysad:  My suspicion is that Defender and AVG are fighting each other.

Yesterday I decided to REMOVE all traces of AVG, checked the set up for DEFENDER to make sure everything is turned on and so far NO rebooting BUT it has only been 24 hours.

I will update this in a few days to let you know that all is WELL or not.

It didn't take a few days !  Tonight at 11:02 pm my computer rebooted.  The search goes on for a solution to this rebooting problem.

[mlour]

I posted earlier that I think I found the problem that was causing my computer to constantly reboot. 

There was a conflict between W10 Defender Virus software and my AVG virus software.  I removed AVG, reviewed settings in Defender to make sure everything was turned on.

All quiet until 11:02 pm when the darn computer rebooted.  Sorry, thought I had discovered a solution.

[mlour]

I tried unchecking "Automatically Restart" a couple of months ago and it didn't solve the problem.  Since then I've removed AVG and now using W10 Defender.

When I followed your instructions this time,  I also changed the other settings in Startup and Recovery to match the settings in your screen shot which I had not done last time.  I don't know if those other settings are important or not.

Will let you know what happens.

My problem started shortly after I installed Office 2016 (not Office 365) but I had also renewed my AVG subscription 6 weeks earlier and was having problems with AVG.

I did not set up an account for Office because I don't need to access Office 2016 when I'm away from computer.   I hope this isn't the cause of my troubles.

Forgot to report that when my laptop unexpectedly shuts down and then restarts, the backlit keyboard is turned off PLUS W10 Defender icon (was same with AVG) does not appear in the Notification Area (used to be called the System Tray in the old days).  Normally when I turn on the laptop and it is ready to go all items are in the "Notification Area" just as I set it up.

[mlour]

Hi Timbo28,

I bought my laptop in Oct 2015 and was problem free until Dec 2017.

I saw a folder McAfee under Programs but it was empty so I ignored it until someone on Windows forum said I should run McAfee uninstall regardless,  There were files which surprised me, now all is gone.  I also removed AVG and I'm using Defender which I like a lot once I got it set up.  

My last reboot episode was at 11:20 am this morning and I uninstalled McAfee around 8 pm tonight.  IF THIS SOLVES my constant restarting I will let everyone know.

I have read that this restart problem started for some who don't own hp computers after an update for W10 but I also found complaints going back to 2015.

It is a ridiculous situation and I'm inclined to blame MS Windows.

[IKE8120]

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@mlourwrote:

Hi Timbo28,

I bought my laptop in Oct 2015 and was problem free until Dec 2017.

I saw a folder McAfee under Programs but it was empty so I ignored it until someone on Windows forum said I should run McAfee uninstall regardless,  There were files which surprised me, now all is gone.  I also removed AVG and I'm using Defender which I like a lot once I got it set up.  

My last reboot episode was at 11:20 am this morning and I uninstalled McAfee around 8 pm tonight.  IF THIS SOLVES my constant restarting I will let everyone know.

I have read that this restart problem started for some who don't own hp computers after an update for W10 but I also found complaints going back to 2015.

It is a ridiculous situation and I'm inclined to blame MS Windows.

I don't want to jinks myself. But I read an article that stated if you have a AMD processor and WIn10 disable the fast start feature. Seems that feature and AMD don't play nice. 

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[IKE8120]

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@IKE8120wrote:

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@mlourwrote:

Hi Timbo28,

I bought my laptop in Oct 2015 and was problem free until Dec 2017.

I saw a folder McAfee under Programs but it was empty so I ignored it until someone on Windows forum said I should run McAfee uninstall regardless,  There were files which surprised me, now all is gone.  I also removed AVG and I'm using Defender which I like a lot once I got it set up.  

My last reboot episode was at 11:20 am this morning and I uninstalled McAfee around 8 pm tonight.  IF THIS SOLVES my constant restarting I will let everyone know.

I have read that this restart problem started for some who don't own hp computers after an update for W10 but I also found complaints going back to 2015.

It is a ridiculous situation and I'm inclined to blame MS Windows.

I don't want to jinks myself. But I read an article that stated if you have a AMD processor and WIn10 disable the fast start feature. Seems that feature and AMD don't play nice. 

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Here is a link to explain how to turn off/on fast sartup https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-turn-off-fast-startup-windows-10-a.html

[mlour]

Ike8129 you wrote:  "I don't want to jinks myself. But I read an article that stated if you have a AMD processor and WIn10 disable the fast start feature. Seems that feature and AMD don't play nice. "

I also read an article that there is a problem with AMD and there is supposed to be a "fix" coming in March . . . missed that one!

I posted about an hour + ago that I think My restart problem has been resolved.  My post disappeared.

Yesterday and last night (Apr 1) I removed all traces of AVG and McAfee.  Got Defender cleaned up and working properly and then had Defender run a full scan.  Took 5 1/2 hours and Defender found one "severe" item which it quarantined.

Then I downloaded Free Malwarebytes and it did a scan and found a bunch of PUPs (not the cute kind) and they were quarantined.  I bought 1 year of the Malwarebytes program, made sure Defender was updated.  Finished about 2 am.

NO shutdowns, restarts, rebooting all day today BUT occasionally things would be quiet for a day leading me to believe all is fixed.  

At 10:55 pm tonight my laptop SHUT DOWN again so I give up.  Time to dump this thing and buy a new higher end laptop with NO AMD inside.

[mlour]

One final observation that may be meaningful . . .  when I turn on my laptop, it boots up and everything is open and ready to go I never hear the Windows music announcing it is ready to go.  I often have sound off so never noticed this.

However, when my laptop shuts down on its own and then restarts, I always hear the Windows opening music.  To test this I turned on laptop, no music heard, waited a few minutes then did a Restart myself.   When windows opened there was the music.

What does this mean?  Something wrong with the Startup?

April 4/18 Update

I turned on laptop in the morning, once up and running I went to Power under Start and selected Restart.  After restart I left laptop on from 8 am in the morning and overnight.  It NEVER did a spontaneous shut down.

I did uncheck Fast Startup but only tonight and this doesn't affect Restart so this may be the answer BUT after almost 6 months of this restarting I'm not hopeful.  At least if I manually Restart everything seems to be AOK so far.

[IKE8120]

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@mlourwrote:

One final observation that may be meaningful . . .  when I turn on my laptop, it boots up and everything is open and ready to go I never hear the Windows music announcing it is ready to go.  I often have sound off so never noticed this.

However, when my laptop shuts down on its own and then restarts, I always hear the Windows opening music.  To test this I turned on laptop, no music heard, waited a few minutes then did a Restart myself.   When windows opened there was the music.

What does this mean?  Something wrong with the Startup?

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Did you try to turn off the fast startup?https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-windows-10-fast-startup

As I posted be before may have to login as adminstrator https://routerunlock.com/how-to-enable-hidden-administrator-account-of-windows-10/

[mlour]

After unchecking Fast Startup I did a Power on traditional start up and the Windows Music was working.  In past I only heard the welcome music when I did a manual Restart.

Now I will leave laptop running for the rest of today (only 4 am here) to see if the rebooting has been resolved

many thanks Ike8120, fingers crossed.

As for your 2nd suggestion to find hidden Administrator . . . not sure i have the courage to do that.