PC Doctor September 21, 2018

Have your computer questions answered here! Search the PC Doctor archive or submit a question of your own at info@athollibrary.org

Dear Pc Dr:


My macbook pro recently started randomly shutting itself down while I’m in the middle of working. It’s plugged in, so it’s not that the battery is too low. Fortunately, I usually write using google docs and I have a back up hard drive, so I’m not losing my work. It’s just super frustrating and wastes a lot of my time. Have you heard of this happening? Is there a way to stop it?


Thanks,

Hannah



Dear Hannah:


If your mac sleeps or shuts itself down unexpectedly, it could be that you need to reset the system management controller (SMC). There are some things you can do to check if this might be the problem.


Try each of these steps in this order before you reset the SMC. Test the issue after each step to see if the issue still occurs.


If your Mac isn't responding, press and hold the power button until it shuts down. (You'll lose unsaved work in any open applications.) Then press the power button again to turn on your Mac.


Press Command-Option-Escape to force quit any application that's not responding.

Put your Mac to sleep by choosing Apple menu >Sleep. Wake the computer after it's gone to sleep.


Restart your Mac by choosing Apple menu >Restart.


Shut down your Mac by choosing Apple menu > Shut Down, then press the power button again to turn on your Mac.


Unplug the power adapter from your Mac and the electrical outlet for several seconds, then plug it back in. Choose Apple menu > Shut Down. After your Mac shuts down, remove and re-insert the battery if it's removable. Press the power button again to turn on your Mac.


If the issue still isn't resolved, you might need to reset the SMC. Apple has detailed instructions for doing this for various models of the macbook pro on the following website:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295


I hope this helps!

Until next time,

Happy Computing!

PC Doctor