Why my computer reboot suddenly!!!

[erickwan]

Deear All
My computer reboot suddenly.
What's wrong ?
Tks.

[Ioman]

How long has it been doing this? Check your computers memory. It could be the memory or a conflict with your internal peripherals/input cards.

[neuroking]

Obviously there's a VxD conflict with your USB server control hub. Better unplug your ethernet wires and reboot the firewire firmware.

Seriously. WTF. If you want help, at least TRY to tell us more.

Oh, and welcome!
Brandon

[Archon]

Originally posted by neuroking
Obviously there's a VxD conflict with your USB server control hub. Better unplug your ethernet wires and reboot the firewire firmware.
Could it also not just be a problem with the flux capacitor?

[neuroking]

Originally posted by Archon
Could it also not just be a problem with the flux capacitor?

Hmm... that's a good point. Maybe he needs to recharge his energon cubes.

[dang]

can you provide more details erickwan? Does it always happen when running a particular program? Do you have anti-virus installed? How often does it reboot? Does it give any type of error/warning before doing so? What type of OS? Did you install anything recently before it started rebooting (hardware or software)?

[IronSerif]

Don't feel alone....
My computer suddenly rebooted by itself for the first time this weekend. Not too sure what the problem was...I want to say it was my UPS, but it didnt give me any signals of shutting down what so ever.

[ECA]

ERICK,
we need info...
What hard ware you have, how OLD is the system, who made it(dell,Hp,...), RAM, # of HD....
Software installed, And whats running native(AV, Spud patol,...)

What is your computer knowledge like..plz...

[ruf1]

My computer has been rebooting on its own for the past couple of weeks now. It doesn't matter what program I'm running, it'll just reboot. Sometime it reboots after the reboot. I have a home built computer with a pentium II processor, 233 mghz, and 320 mg ram. I run WinXP professional. I've run virus scans on it with no luck. I also formatted my harddrive and reloaded most things (no virus protection yet - shame on me) and swapped power cords thinking that could be the problem. No luck! If anyone has an idea, please let me know. My dad hasn't a clue and he works with computers as a living. I'll check here and see if anyone has any ideas or if you need more info. Thanks!

[Ioman]

Originally posted by ruf1
My computer has been rebooting on its own for the past couple of weeks now. It doesn't matter what program I'm running, it'll just reboot. Sometime it reboots after the reboot. I have a home built computer with a pentium II processor, 233 mghz, and 320 mg ram. I run WinXP professional. I've run virus scans on it with no luck. I also formatted my harddrive and reloaded most things (no virus protection yet - shame on me) and swapped power cords thinking that could be the problem. No luck! If anyone has an idea, please let me know. My dad hasn't a clue and he works with computers as a living. I'll check here and see if anyone has any ideas or if you need more info. Thanks!

My first guess is to try new memory and see if that fixes the problem. Bad memory can do this.

[ECA]

How old is the case and PS.... How many HD do you have...
P2 power supply may not handle 4 HD well, and p2 is about 5 years old...

Put hand behine PS fan and feel temp... After its been on for awhile... If its warm... Get new one.

[dang]

Ya, it could be from an overheating issue. Memory is a possibility as well (see if you can find a memory check tool on line.)

[sinistar]

I would second dang's overheating idea. That's the most likely suspect in my opinion. Make sure your CPU fan is operating properly and the power supply seems to be in good working order. Also, get a can of compressed air and blow out the dust on everything inside, while the system is OFF.

p.s.
what's creepier is when your system doesn't mysteriously reboot, but mysteriously BOOTS!

[Archon]

Originally posted by ruf1
My computer has been rebooting on its own for the past couple of weeks now. It doesn't matter what program I'm running, it'll just reboot. Sometime it reboots after the reboot. I have a home built computer with a pentium II processor, 233 mghz, and 320 mg ram. I run WinXP professional. I've run virus scans on it with no luck. I also formatted my harddrive and reloaded most things (no virus protection yet - shame on me) and swapped power cords thinking that could be the problem. No luck! If anyone has an idea, please let me know. My dad hasn't a clue and he works with computers as a living. I'll check here and see if anyone has any ideas or if you need more info. Thanks!

dude, a 233mhz computer running XP?

[ECA]

TRUE.
98se, or win 2000, might be better. Eeen 200 is a bit of a hog, but is recovers itself. Im not sure he can add much more ram. And 2000 and XP work best with 512+ megs.

[ECA]

That CPU fan may be out....
Most only last 4-5 years, and dirt and dust really kill them.

[ruf1]

My WinXP runs just fine on a 233 mghz computer with no problems till now. The case and power supply are a couple of years old so that and the bad memory are good thoughts and I'll check that out. If anyone else has ideas, send them on. Thanks everyone!

[southmike]

a sudden reboot is most often a powersupply( psu)
or heat related problem

will always occur when you Overclock too far.

But I have seen many older computers do this, and owners never overclock, didn't even know what that was.

In one case the computer was filled with dust
you would have to have seen it..any way heat sink was covered and fan was not spinning at rated speed, so it heated up and rebooted.

but power surges and the like or just bad luck may have damaged your power supply. most new computers use atx power supplies, but some older ones and a few dell models used propriatary ones so check your manual.

an atx psu tester will cost about 15$ US

[ruf1]

I'm in the process of having a friend check out my power supply - he's an electrician and knows about these things. I do thank all of ya'll and will let you know what is determined about my problem.

[znaps]

Since you have 320 Meg of RAM I assume you're using 2 or more sticks. Try using only 1 stick for a while to see if that has any effect.

[SheilaMonique]

My computer reboots by its self without any warning, it doesn't keep time and I've started to notice that after visiting a page and the computer automatically reboots and I go back to that page it doesn't show that I've read any of the messages, it doesn't keep my passwords when I click for it to keep me logged in and so on. It takes forever to start up. We've replaced the internal battery, hubby has checked the memory and said it was ok. We replaced the power supply and CPU about a year ago...any suggestions would be great. Thanks

Sheila

[Ioman]

Hi Sheila, sorry to hear about your troubles. It sort of sounds like there are a couple things going on. First, it almost sounds like you have a virus or spyware on your system. Try downloading and running Spybot to get rid of the spyware and Norton antivirus to check for virus's. Your memory could also be bad which is why the system is restarting. Or there may not be enough cooling going on in the system which is causing it to overheat and turn off. I would recommend taking it to a shop to see what they think. If you want to check with us after you here their diagnosis, then we will let you know if we agree to them.

[SheilaMonique]

No virus, I run it weekly and spyware gets run every couple of days. We've cleaned the entire thing and started from scratch..I've got one more trick to try, a new power supply cord, I've got one around here somewhere and if that doesn't work I am going to ask santa for a new tower come christmas lol I can't live without my computer, I am a writer and need it. As for the cooling I have noticed that the cpu runs a little warmer than hubby's com the temp goes anywhere from 125-170 f and the fan is usually going at 5400 rmp's...ok that's enough mumbo jumbo for this girls brain at this hour. I am not a computer expert, hubby is. Thank you and I will let you know if we ever find out what's wrong :)


Sheila



Hi Sheila, sorry to hear about your troubles. It sort of sounds like there are a couple things going on. First, it almost sounds like you have a virus or spyware on your system. Try downloading and running Spybot to get rid of the spyware and Norton antivirus to check for virus's. Your memory could also be bad which is why the system is restarting. Or there may not be enough cooling going on in the system which is causing it to overheat and turn off. I would recommend taking it to a shop to see what they think. If you want to check with us after you here their diagnosis, then we will let you know if we agree to them.

[ECA]

125-170...WOW...

Theres 1 fan in most systems, in the PS... If DUST has blocked it, or its BURNED out...
The PS gets to hot, and the system gets to hot...
Place hand in back of comp, and FEEL THE BREEZE...

IF:
Everytime you turn on and the system is overheating, you are causeing damage. The MORE you do it, the worse it will be...

Also add a case fan....

Info needed..
System? What CPU, how much ram, video card RAM. OS?
Then..
Environment...How hot is it AROUND the comp, Air circulation around the comp.

Bot protection isnt as good as Virus protection YET...
dont matter what it says, there can STILL be bots.
Hijackthis gives a listing to show what we can find.

[spankers]

I'd say take a look at cpu cooling...

eherr@hermes:~$ units 170degF degC
* 94.444444
/ 0.010588235

170 degrees Fahrenheit is roughly equal to 94 degrees Celsius. 94 degrees Celsius is VERY close to the critical upper limit for Pentium 4-M (on my system) and may be over the limit for regular Pentium 4, depending on the exact model. In any case, no CPU should be getting anywhere near the temp yours is running.

In short, your computer is shutting down because the CPU is trying to cook itself and it is saving its life by shutting down. You may (more than likely) have a problem with your CPU cooler. The cooler MUST be in good contact with the CPU and MUST have a quality thermal paste (Arctic Silver or other) applied on the cooler and CPU.

I'd do the following:
1. Open up the computer and verify that the CPU cooling fan is running. Your software can lie to you.

2. If the fan is running then I'd recommend removing the CPU cooler, carefully cleaning both the CPU and cooler, applying thermal paste per manufacturers instructions, and reseating the cooler.

Additional info (rather technical...)
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/p4-throttling/
of interest in the article:
... A couple of seconds before the system's shutdown; the temperature is 94°C. In our case (ambient temperature 22°C, opened case), throttling couldn't save the CPU from overheating, which lead to a thermtrip and caused the CPU to shut down (though not to burn). We repeated the test 10 times in a row with the same result. In the case of Pentium 4 3.2GHz Northwood the "last breath" temperature was around 94 to 98°C, according to Motherboard Monitor.

[ECA]

YEP,
CHECK ALL fans...
CPU and CASE.

Odds say its the CPU fan, otherwise the whole case would be that hot.
HATE CHEAP fans.... You can get a REASONABLE price fan, $5-20 that will last ALONG time. But for some reason, ppl keep using CRAP fans...

[SheilaMonique]

Thank you. I will let the hubby know. The fan works but we live in a small town where dirt roads are prominent and dust is a huge factor. I had him clean out the entire tower a few weeks ago because I figured that was part of the problem. I don't leave the computer run for more than a couple of hours due to I am at work most of the day and hate to leave it run while no one is home. As for the fan working, yes it's working, I checked. I'd rather just replace the fan then have to replace the entire thing. Thank you once again, you guys have been a big help to a internal computer dummy :)

Sheila

[SheilaMonique]

It seems my PSU was going bad. We replaced it yesterday and no more unexpected reboots and the clock is keeping time. Thank you all for your input and help. I'm back to surfing happily :)


Sheila