restarting computer

[pAiNtHeAsS]

my friend's computer keeps restarting by itself.

it just happens randomly. it happens very suddenly. the computer is about 2 months old. i dont think its the power supply, its 450 W. could it be overheating?

his specs are

Win XP Pro Service Pack 1
Pentium 4 3.00 GHz
512 RAM
ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128 MB

 

[Hazar]

Could be overheating or bad ram. (amoung other things)

get motherboard monitor to check for temp.s and memtest to see about the memory.

 

[pAiNtHeAsS]

how do you check temp and do a memory test?

 

[staddydaddy]

might he have that virus that makes windows restart?

 

[pAiNtHeAsS]

virus?

and can i really get a free ipod from that link in your sig?

 

[UnholyDemon]

He said suddenly.

 

[Cyanide]

Could be a number of things.

First of all, right click on "my computer" and click "properties". Then click the advanced tab and then the "settings" button under startup and recovery. Uncheck all the boxes in the "system failure" section and set the "write debugging information" to none.

Windows will restart your computer if you get a blue screen of death unless you have all those check boxes unchecked.

Install the latest drivers for all your hardware (video card, sound, network card, motherboard, etc).

Reinstall DirectX.

Go into the bios at startup and find the temperature monitoring section. If the CPU is above 65c you might have an over heating problem.


That's about all I can tell you to do with the info you provided.

 

[staddydaddy]

virus?

and can i really get a free ipod from that link in your sig?

I'll write you an IM and explain, rather than spam message boards

 

[Homie]

Probably not enough wattage did you add anything to computer?

 

[Dead-Inside]

Probably not enough wattage did you add anything to computer?

He just said it wasn't a lack of power, he has a 450W netag, which is well more then enough.

 

[pAiNtHeAsS]

the cpu temp was at 55c/130f

and how to do memeory test

 

[Gunsnroses]

Well plop the case open, hear any weird noises before it shuts down? Sometimes powersupplies will make a noise, or if the HDD is failing it will start to click weird, and if it makes any noises, it might not be getting power from powersupply.

You might want to check the powersupply fan? if its over heating it will auto shut down.
Usually anyway.

I'd also suggest putting the HDD in another computer, and running a virus scan on it.


EDIT
I'd also suggest You boot in safe mode, and see if it keeps restarting.

That would give us a better idea if its hardware or software related.

 

[marty905]

can i really get a free ipod from that link in your sig???

explain to me too send pm

 

[pAiNtHeAsS]

ok, he tried starting it up on safe mode, and it still restarted
he did it three times, and all three times, it restarted

 

[Gunsnroses]

Probaly hardware then, but still could be software.

Scan it with a virus scanner, and check temps/voltages in bios. Make sure power supply is putting out the right power.

 

[Dead-Inside]

Probaly hardware then, but still could be software.

Scan it with a virus scanner, and check temps/voltages in bios. Make sure power supply is putting out the right power.

I seriously doubt it's Software. You should check all of the hardware thrually, including temps, mem and PSU.

 

[Gunsnroses]

I seriously doubt it's Software. You should check all of the hardware thrually, including temps, mem and PSU.

As if your opinion matters, you thin nvidia puts out bad drives.



You cant rule out software though, Run virus scanner ASAP.

 

[Gunsnroses]

I'll laugh if you have msblaster

 

[Link]

Gunsnroses - I happen to agree with Dead-Inside. I had an NVidea and it was fine with no drivers. Install the drivers and it died every 15-20 mins. And whose opinion do you think matters least? Someone who seems to know what they are talking about (Dead-inside) but that happens not to like the sort of GFX card you no doubt use, or someone who just posts insults and claims other people getting the blaster virus is funny.

pAiNtHeAsS - Has he got all the latest windows updates? Beyond that, I would advice replacing 1 bit at a time from a machine you know is good (GFX card, ram, HDD and so on). Either it will stop restarting after a certain bit (Then you know whats duff) or it will continue to restart after all of that, in which case either your restart button is short circuiting, or you have a phantom inside the PC.
Good luck mate

 

[Maxi]

I'll put 50$ on overheating.

Go to google, and search for motherboard monitor. Then read the readme, and install it and then put the correct sensors in it. If the temps are over 55 celcius then your friend needs a new heatsink.

 

[Gunsnroses]

Link, I would laugh, because its more then a year old, and when it came out i had a blast, trying to blast, blaster.

As for nvidia, they make the best drives on the market, and he wasnt reffering to the cards, he said drivers in general, including nforce chip sets.

Thats ignorant, anyone who knows anything, knows nvidia makes the best drivers on the market.

 

[psyno]

http://www.memtest86.com/

Go there and get the latest Memtest86 ISO image, unzip it, and burn the image to a CD (making a bootable CD). Boot from the CD and run the tests.

If it's not bad RAM, it may be something overheating, but checking the temperatures in the BIOS won't give you any sort of reliable idea about what the temperatures are normally.

Also, you definitely can't rule out the PSU just because it's rated as 450 W. There could be a number of different problems stemming from the PSU, like a voltage dip on one of the lines (which could be caused by overheating of the PSU).

Since it behaves like this even in safe mode, it's probably not any of your drivers. I wouldn't mess with those yet. Deal with one thing at a time. You need to isolate the problem at this point, not create more uncertainty.

It would be helpful if you gave more details about the computer. Most importantly, what is the make/model of that PSU? Also, how many hard drives? Optical drives? Sound card? Other PCI devices? Etc.

Good luck. :cheers: