computer rebooting for no reason ?????????/

noticed a few times in the last week that my comp just reboots for no reason while im surfing...


any ideas??

ive done a virus check and nothing...

Faulty wiring within the PC? Maybe there is a dodgy connection and it loses power momentarily.

Some completely anecdotal advice, from someone with no technical knowlegde at all:


We had a problem with a computer at an old work that would constantly reboot - the problem turned out to be a broken CPU fan, so it kept overheating.....

Might not be the problem, but something quick and easy to check

Overheating can be a problem, maybe take the side off the case and check the fans are turning.

What OS are you running - some driver issues cause rebooting (possibly the antivirus software or ie)

Try downloading and running adaware from www.lavasoftusa.com (update it before running it)

Some of the malware/adware programs are poorly written and cause reboots.

What software have you installed lately or before it started happening?

Also a dodgy powersupply can cause it but ussually only in high end computers.

we've done a complete reinstall of Windows XP on Sam's computer and it kinda stopped it.. seems to be back huh Sam?


*cough* All that porno spam *cough*

If the install went ok and then it came back some time later its probably not a ram or psu problem. First stop adaware....

You have a nasty virus

it's called windows

Install Linux and you'll be fine

But seriously, what bob said

it doesnt count down before it restarts does it ?

[Edited by Bob: removed waffle - if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem, please keep expressions of sympathy to the lounge - thank you]

yea ive been having this problem the past few days, reboots occasionally for no reason while im surfing the net. i was wondering if it picked up a virus cause its really annoying

is it recently reinstalled or any new drivers/software installed?
Bob is pretty spot on with that there are alot of reasons with why it may be doing that, theres no error messages coming up saying it needs to shutdown? like an RPC error?

Generally no RPC errors, doesnt seem to be a driver thing because it gets progressively worse, swapped out ram to see if it was hitting a bad area when it was getting loaded up with lots of things... brand new case so I was leaning toward PSU as well...

look to see if the driver disk for the motherboard has monitoring software on it and open the voltage and heat graphs, load some things up and see if you can see any problems.

Also watch the memory that ie or explorer is using if you are opening lots of different windows.

The fact that its getting worse would point to either data corruption from hdd errors, ram errors or a virus.

Try taking away/ unplugging all the unecessary hardware like cd rom extra hard disks and soundcards etc and see if it makes a difference. The short cut to this might be to disable them in the devices part of computer management Tho youll have to disconnect them to be sure.

also make sure all the ie updates are installed.

download a memtest iso or floppy image (www.bootdisks.com has them i think otherwise giyf) and boot of that to test the ram or there are proggies that will run underwindows and test the free ram - personally i dont trust them but if its really bad it will tell you quickly.

what speed is the cpu

it reboots about once a week, sometimes sooner, so not like a major problem but is annoying that it happens especially when working on stuff without having the chance to save it.

only seems to happen when surfing though, (same as trance ra)...
so maybe thats a clue...

done a virus check and nothing?

http://www.symantec.com/cgi-bin/securitycheck.cgi

go there to do an online virus check - it might take a while on dial up.

the rest you might need someone else to help you with, dont start pulling stuff out unless you know what youre doing.

Itll be to do with your core CPU voltage .. and +5 and +12 volt rail in your Power Suppy Unit (PSU)

get a tech to check in bios what voltages you are running at ... and get them to check them against your manufactures recommended settings ... its a common cause .. especially if you added one more CD-rom drive to that 300 watt PSU

way to fix it .. buy a good qauilty PSU ...

that or the CPU fan is blocked as others have said ...the other thing is removing all components from the comp .. and re contructing it .. can also have something to do with build up on the contacts to RAM / GFX cards .. anything like that ...

Also .. do you keep you Box (CPU unit) on the carpet ... thats a big no no .. dust is also a prime cause ...

is it a newer motherboard with 'overheat' sensor?
those motherboards will shutdown teh computer when they get to hot, happens with my brothers computer with dust on the components it gets alot warmer and only has to go up a few degrees before it shuts down?

hmmm if the ram has been swapped and doesnt make a difference then that aint the problem.

nemesis is true about the core voltage, amd's should be getting around 85W and pentiums around 60 or sumthin by memory, and if u have a shitty power supply(like a hiena or icute) then the prob could be there

or it might just be time for the inevitable(sp?) reinstall? Could be a few files missing from windows.

could be anything.

i'd be checking fans then your RAM.

just get those things check I talked about dude ... then see how ya go ..

Its a new case nem, and not a bad quality PSU, could just be a dud tho..

I've pretty much ruled out Virus and Ram and its not dusty...





I blame Nanz....

have you tried adaware yet?

bob, kiss my ass... right there... thats it...




TO ALL WHO ARE READING THIS, IT RESTARTED AFTER A FRESH INSTALL OF WINDOWS WITH NO CONNECTION TO THE NET OR ANYTHING. IT IS NOT SOFTWARE OR DRIVERS.

joking.... but ok... ya got me

i think if its windows xp - it doesn't blue screen any more.

what it does is just reboots without the blue screen - and you sit there wondering what the fuck has happened.

to disable this and perhaps get more information - right clik my computer - goto propertities - click the advanced tab - go to startup and recovery - and un tick the "automatic restart"

with any luck it will tell you what driver or something is failing next time it would ahve restarted (i.e on that lovely blue screen)

Another possibility is a problem with the colling. It could be a badly connected fan on the cpu is not cooling it down enough and therefore it is overheating. We had this problem and solved it by taking off the fan and reseating it properly.

Bit late on that advice aren't we? It's already been suggested that could be a problem several times

It could be the heatsink not seated on the cpu properly...

run the monitoring software that ussually comes with the motherboard - easiest way to find out and you can run it in the background while you do the things that set it off.

No it hasn't actually harvey, others have just talked about the fan not working. Bob has repeated what I said though.

Looks like I should install the Intel CPU temp thing next time im over Sam...

i have been getting the same problem at work, linked it to the CPU over heating, it could also be the power supply, i would def check the CPU temp as soon as it restarts itself next time

man i need to install new drivers for my video card
it keeps rebooting with the blue screen of death

i reinstalled the other day and just running microsoft drivers that came in my winbeta sp1 cd

Sam... I just felt your pain


Unplugged my DVDR and DVD drive... no problems. Found that it died particularly whilst playing BF1942... when the graphics card and CPU would have been dragging harder than a 70 year old smoker from Arizona.