how to tell why my remote machine crashes

dbarton

Senior member
Apr 11, 2002
767
0
76
I have a PC with no screen that I access via Remote Desktop.
It locks up lately after a few days, and needs to be rebooted to respond.

I can't log in via Remote Desktop to see whats failed, (because it's failed). so is there some info in the system viewer log that might tell me why it keeps failing?
I looked at the log but I saw nothing that grabbed me.

It did mention that it had run out of connections. Could that be it?
If so, why does a machine run out of connections, or should I be looking elsewhere?
 
Last edited:

RebateMonger

Elite Member
Dec 24, 2005
11,586
0
0
Common causes of failures without Event Log warnings include:

a) Hard drive controller, cabling or disks
b) Memory
c) Power
d) Drivers

Have you disabled "Auto Restart" in the System Properties control panel? When disabled, you may get a memory dump, which might help identify a driver or memory problem.

And, yeah, System Event and Application Event Logs can sometimes help identify a problem.
 

theevilsharpie

Platinum Member
Nov 2, 2009
2,322
14
81
There's many reasons, both hardware and software, why a remote computer would fail to respond. You'll have to provide more detailed information regarding the error message before anyone can realistically help you.

Have you disabled "Auto Restart" in the System Properties control panel? When disabled, you may get a memory dump, which might help identify a driver or memory problem.

Disabling automatic restart would not be wise on a headless machine with no local console. Disabling it for a memory dump isn't necessary, as Windows will perform a memory dump prior to restarting.