"Windows has encountered a critical problem and will restart in one minute"

What exactly does this error signify? I only got it once, but found it weird that Windows forced my computer to restart.

 

First thing I would check for is virus/malware. If none is found check you system logs for any related messages just before the unforced restart happened.

 

Thanks. What exactly causes the error? If I haven't had any problems since then any major reason to worry?

 

A few years ago I had a similar problem. Unfortunately I don't remember what I downloaded. In case it might help you a bit, in my case it was a virus that kept on restarting the computer. I contacted my internet provider, at that time it was dial up from some sort of MSN bundle and they told me to download some software, which I did and it fixed the problem. If it's the same or similar virus then most likely an antivirus software should be able to detect in an remove it.

 

Based on a one sentence explanation of the problem, an EXACT cause is impossible to determine.

A loose unspecific reason this error comes up is some code has punched it's way into an area of memory it's not supposed to be in, and this is an area Windows has considered to be holy (highly sensitive workspace). When this happens, Windows wants to restart it order to clear out the rogue code.