Troubleshooting Unexpected System Shutdowns

My computer has unexpectedly shut down several times in the past few weeks. When this happens, the Chkdsk utility runs on reboot. Chkdsk has found several file fragments and stores them in files named found.001, found.002, and so forth. When I try to look at these files, I receive a warning that says removing or changing the files could damage my system. How can I restore these file fragments so that I can remove them from my system?

Your system has corrupt files, which means you're probably facing a hardware failure in the near future. Usually, the signs you list are related to drive problems, but memory failure and other problems could also show the symptoms that you describe.

Typically, the best solution is to replace the malfunctioning device, and I would start by looking at the hard disk. The least aggressive fix is to run Chkdsk or ScanDisk; a better solution would be to reformat the hard disk. These solutions require that you have a current backup of the system or some way to clone the disk before you attempt to repair the problem. Most local computer shops can handle the task for you. No magical fix exists, but the file fragments are probably useless and can be removed.

—Bob Chronister

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