SCSEric

I am experiencing a problem with my server (Windows Server 03 R2), and 4 connected workstations (Windows XP Pro SP2) all shutting down every night.

It began happening on 2/20/07 (after a windows update on the 18th). I rolled each system back (except the server) to the 17th and turned off auto update, thinking that may have been the issue.

The 4 workstation computers are connected to APC UPS (m/n: BB725BB) and the server to an APC Smart-UPS 1000 (m/n: SUA1000). I have tried removing the systems from these UPS's, I have tried testing if the UPS is losing power (by plugging in a standard alarm clock), however, the clock remains set, so there is no power lost.

2 of the workstations have stopped shutting down just as randomly as they started.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Paliente

Is Powerchute installed on each of these machines? The UPS may be reporting it's levels incorrectly and the Powerchute software is acting accordingly by shutting down the server and if the workstations have powerchute aswell then the server, after receiving the shutdown notice, is telling the PCs to shutdown also. I had an issue where the APC UPS (Smart-UPS 1000 aswell) we had was shutting down the server when i plugged it in and the battery was supposedly full. Powerchute would shut the server down and the UPS would power off even though it was plugged into the wall. That little experience made me almost have heart attacks when i plug a UPS in now as I don't want any horrible auto shutdown surprises.

Even though some of the PCs aren't on the UPS, the powerchute software may still be playing a part (if it's even installed. There was a bug I believe in the CD version of Powerchute release (It might have been the CD version that was shipped with the Smart-UPS 1000) where something expired and would start doing odd things)

Is the UPS plugged into a power board? I had an experience recently where the server would just shutdown due to the UPS turning itself off, the UPS was plugged into a 4 socket power board that doubled as a surge guard (We have now removed it from the power board and plugged it into a normal power outlet and no more issues have arisen).

SCSEric

Well Powerchute was not installed so I installed it for the Smart-UPS 1000 (on the server). When I tried to install it on the others it gave me an error that no UPS was detected so setup could not continue. After several attempts (including downloading the software from www.apc.com) I gave up on those. I will check this morning to see if installing it on the server stops it from shutting down. Then I will proceed to figure out how to get it installed on the other workstations.