Internet Shuts off Computer

Hi everyone.

I have a co-worker who's having some issues with his son's computer. Everytime his son goes on the internet, his computer shuts off. It does not reboot, it just shuts off. I'm thinking its either overheating. I dont have time to do research right now because i'm at working (very busy :)) and I was wondering if any of you knows of any vulnerabilities in IE that would cause that. I dont have the computer stats right now but i'll get them as soon as I pay a visit to his house. He said he's using winXP. Also, are there any viruses that would cause this to happen? I'm aware of an Indian virus that makes the PC reboot uncontrollably to the point that you have reformat but i doubt that virus is the culprit. Any help on this would be very appreciated and thank you in advance for your time. The computer is about 1 year old btw. The son does download music so i'm guessing he could be running Kazaa or some other p2p software. Just something to keep in mind.

Cheers and have a Wonderful New Year.

is there a message when it shuts off? for example a countdown that starts at 60 seconds...?

nope, it just shuts off out of the blue

maybe this thread might help you.

http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=252741

me thinks we need to know the O/S here.. as well as a few other specs..

Yes Malware could cause the problem..
so can a corrupted device driver or Virtual device driver.. or a problem in winsock
also some Adware/spyware will cause some bloody weired problems like this. (some corrupt system files ie device drivers and VXD's and dll/exe's)


Cheers

Sounds like he might be infected by a Trojan maybe probably with SubSeven or some thing else like it. My guess.

1] Do they have an anti-virus program ?
2] When was the last time they ran a full system scan ?
3] When was the last time that it was up-dated ?
4] Do they run Adware/Spyware program ?
5] When was the last time they ran a full system scan ?
6] When was the last time it was up-dated?
7] How long is he logged on the Internet for ?
8] Have they installed the latest security patches for their Operating System ?
9] Have they installed a firewall ?

Not much to contribute here but if the machine works fine, and only shuts off when the kid is on the internet it is not a heat problem? Also heat should produce a fairly consistent shut off interval, rather than a random one.........even if it were dodgy dry joints or a defective modem?

I did come across this once.......the problem was that the phone socket was in the hall and the kid ran an extension cable under the door............over time opening and closing the door damaged the cable so that vibrations cut the internet connection.......it took me about 2 hours to figure that one out :(

Good luck & Happy New Year

EDIT: Go into BIOS and turn off power management...like everything is on all the time

What antivirus program is he running? :D

Have you installed the msblast patch? Its worth a go anyway. You can get it at http://msblast.maruhn.com/msblast-patch.html

Thank you very much for your help to all of you and I'll try the options you gave me.