Gateway ZX4000

Auto shutdown
We bought new Gateway ZX4000 Windows 7 Premium 64-Bit for our grandson's birthday. We are having so many complications with it.
We were using the computer and then we went downstairs to eat and when we came back, the computer was turned OFF. Is this something new with this desktop (All-In-One)? Does it turn off by itself? We noticed the Hibernate mode was turned OFF (marked - Never).
Is there any way to stop this? I believe this All-In-One (touch screen, etc.) is configured like a laptop.

 

Was it turned off or went to sleep mode ?
Try this
Start - Control Panel - Power Options - Change when the computer sleeps (left Side) - set the time as desired

 

Thank you. Power Options has the "Balanced" checked.
We looked in "Change when the computer sleeps" and all three categories has "Never" displayed.
Checked the 'advanced' settings also and all of them have Never also (hard disk, etc.)

Called Support (Gateway/Acer), but they (India I believe) were of no help what-so-ever. I remember in the past that when I called I spoke to someone in the USA who was always so very helpful. In one of my calls to Support yesterday, the girl actually hung-up on me! I wish there was a USA Support Number. Don't think I will ever buy a Gateway or Acer computer again.

 

Monitor the temperature using hwmonitor application after running the computer for atleast half an hour to see if the temperatures are high. Post the temperature here if possible. If the temps are too high the system will auto shutdown in most cases to prevent damage. That might not be the case but still looking at the temps is worth the effort than calling CS and waiting for a long period for no help in certain cases.

 

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(I thought I posted this reply, but don't see it posted; so will post again. I hope it posts this time.)

Monitor the temperature using hwmonitor application ????

BTW -
#1-Do you own a ZX4000?
#2- Do you kow where the fan might be and whether it is always supposed to be ON and humming, etc.? As I mentioned, we were not using the PC when it went off.
#3-Is there such a thing as a complete Shut Down, or is there only a Hibernate Mode?
#4- Is Sleep Mode and Hibertate Mode the same thing?

(Please remember that I and my grandson are novices at this. You are right about Gateway Customer Support. I remember a few years ago their Customer Support was great. Now that it is in India (I believe), the CS is just awful. Called yesterday and a girl hung-up the phone after I asked my question. Guess she couldn't answer it.)

 

the application can be downloaded from here
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Answer to your questions
1 No i dont
2 Check if there are vents behind, fans usually are there. Thats what i guess with all in one systems since its very compact everthings packed close inside just like laptops. Thats my guess.
3 I dont think there is a shutdown mode since nobody(esp MS) wants the computer to autoshutdown esp if you are doing some work and just because you are away it shuts down and you lose your work.
4 My guess is sleep mode is where the laptop is on power but most of the compoent powers down but a few are on power which is to keep your programs running whereas hibernate mode is where the computer shuts down while remembering your work. So the next time you start it everythings there. So its just like Sleep requires less power just to remember ur work without shutting down completely. Hibernate shuts down completely after it saves your work. Like i said thats my guess. Lazy to research now on that. lol

 

Thanks. I have a feeling that this ZX4000 is set-up similar to a notebook. Even has a black box on the power cord (similar to my notebook) which has a green LED light on it. The light remains ON even when computer is turned OFF and (so Gateway says) can only be turned OFF by unplugging from wall socket. Why? No one could explain, but a bit difficult explaining to my grandson and I wouldn't want him pulling plug out of wall every time he is finished with computer. Just something Gateway Customer Support couldn't answer. I liked Gateway support in the past, but now that they are owned by Acer, the Customer Support (as I said -India I believe) leaves a lot to be desired.

Thanks for your kind assistance.

BTW: Would you know what the Gateway Updater is? My grandson said he saw a pop-up a few times in lower right of screen. It is probably something similar to "Big Fix" that I saw on one of my earlier Gateways. I don't know what I did to disable it. Is there any way to disable the Gateway Updater, would you know? My grandson does not want anything running in background, etc. I'd rather disable than uninstall it. I see it in the Add/Remove. But if I deleted it, I wouldn't know if that would damage the computer. If you don't know answer, no need to answer.

 

If i were you i would uninstall anything and everything that i dont need. All the new computers have a lot of crapware installed. Beleive me i bought an Acer laptop a couple of months back. It had Acer updater in it. I uninstalled it. Its the same here renamed to Gateway updater. Register your product and get rid of whatever you dont need. Just leave alone the gateway recovery manager. Rest can be gotten rid of. Also ensure you make your recover discs first since nowaday no OS discs are provided.

 

Thank you again.

You mention:

"Just leave alone the gateway recovery manager. Rest can be gotten rid of. Also ensure you make your recover discs first since nowaday no OS discs are provided."

#1- What (and where is) Recovery Manager?
#2- How do I make recovery disks?
I have already loaded some new programs and have gotten rid of Norton and MS Office. Does that make a difference?

Saw this in another post and it scares us:

"I just went through this with gateway guys... Gateways recovery system is A ONE TIME SHOT THING !!! Even if through no fault of your own the recovery fails on your 1st attempt---QUIT WASTING MEDIA !!! It will never work again !!!"

 

Its an application by gateway wherein you can restore your pc to factory default(just like the new pc you started after buying it). It also allows you to create the discs required to restore your pc. All you have to do is start that application and create discs by inserting blank discs as and when required. The post that you saw meant while creating(dvd writer) that recovery disc, at times it fails. Nothing serious, got to insert new blank discs till it completes without errors (failed writing renders the disc useless). Gateway recovery management can be found under start-programs. Just search and you will find it. I assume that you did not receive any discs(OS) with your new pc. If thats the case then Gateway recovery management should be there on your pc.

 

Thanks so much. Was just signing off when I saw your answer. Staying up late fooling around with this Gatway ZX4800.

I went to the Start and typed in Gatway recovery, and it found "Gateway Recovery Management." I guess that is what you were talking about but I didn't want to click on it for fear of starting the recovery disk process. I wouldn't know how to do that at this time and I don't know what disks they would be calling for. I have a lot of DVD-R and DVD+R and CD-R