Computer Problems

[boon racoon]

my computer is driving me round the bend. it restarts of its own accord! just restarts. could be connected to when it's using a lot of memory..but i'm not so sure it is that. (sorry little vague) it seems mostly random! but it DOES restart whenever you burn a cd

sometimes when it restarts itself...it's taking so long to get back to windows again. it will get to the windows "loading" screen then restart..EVERY time for like 15 times. then it will get to the login screen then restart for a few times. then it will restart as windows is loading for a few times!! then eventually it will let you on. so it takes like 20 or 25 tries to get into windows.

it's a 3ghz processor and over 2gb of ram. 1 dvd writer, 1 300gb serial ata hard drive and one 80gb IDE with windows on. it's got a fan on the front and one on the psu.

i don't think it's overheating. because i had the problem last night (after the pc had been on for aaages) then turned it off all nigh. stone cold this morning and it's doing the same thing.

anyone have any bright ideas or what to test? what to do? what to buy? could it be a faulty PSU? i NEED my pc badly...i can't afford to have it broken on me!

i'm baffled.

HELP!

[poopipe]

If it's random it's fairly likely to be PSU related or possibly bad memory.

if you 've got more than one stick of memory try each stick on it's own in a different slot

if it craps out with each of them individually in each slot then it's probably not the memory - unless your mobos comletely shafted.

How big is your PSU and how big is your graphics card - graphics cards can eat a shit load of power (50-100watts sometimes)?

PSUs can just die after a long time being thrashed at above their capabilities - i've had one that lasted 9 months having to push out about 100watts more than it was rated at.

I'd suggest trying to borrow a big facking PSU (600Watt ish) off someone for a few days to see if the problem goes away.

[Sam Nichols]

Sounds like your processor could be over heating... Have you checked that the fans are actually working correctly and that the airflow runs nicely through your box? Try downloading a demo version of some kind of system monitor that will check all your temperatures.

Also it could be some dodgey RAM so DL and run Memtest to check all that out.

Finally, actually you should probably do this first.. Have you checked that all your power supply cables are in good working order.. try poking one gently and seeing if your PC restarts.. If one is dodgy any movement could easily make your computer switch off and then reboot.. ? I think.

[boon racoon]

power cables are fine..i've already tried that

i've disabled automatic restart upon a windows system error upon reading this so if it's windows related I can bag an error message and even just reinstall windows.

i can't run memtest because...i don't have a floppy drive! and if i make a bootable cd then my pc will probably restart! grrr

[Sam Nichols]

Bollocks!

Also, one other thought - to make sure it isn't to do with system resources being stretched hit Ctrl+Alt+Del and keep that minimised then keep an eye on your CPU usage in the system tray.. [the little square ]

If it goes into the red and your computer restarts you can pinpoint the problem a little easier.

[boon racoon]

ok will do

btw the power supply is 350w max. and the graphics card is an nVidia geforce. i'm running dual monitors if that could be anything to do with it!?

i'm pretty sure the processor fan (massive thing ontop of it) has 2 speeds. and most of the time (like now) it runs at it's slower speed but sometimes it pipes up and goes faster/makes a massive whirring...not sure when that is thought.

[poopipe]

Bollocks!

Also, one other thought - to make sure it isn't to do with system resources being stretched hit Ctrl+Alt+Del and keep that minimised then keep an eye on your CPU usage in the system tray.. [the little square ]

If it goes into the red and your computer restarts you can pinpoint the problem a little easier.

I've never known a machine shat itself because resources were being stretched (unless it got too hot) - I run them for literally days at a time rendering 3d stuff so you're talking 100% usage on 2 processors the whole time.

Shite software could cause it but because the impression I got from the original post is that it's random and is therefore likely to be hardware (most likely the PSU )

ok will do

btw the power supply is 350w max. and the graphics card is an nVidia geforce. i'm running dual monitors if that could be anything to do with it!?

i'm pretty sure the processor fan (massive thing ontop of it) has 2 speeds. and most of the time (like now) it runs at it's slower speed but sometimes it pipes up and goes faster/makes a massive whirring...not sure when that is thought.

ooh.

just a thought.

try disabling the power saving setting on the fan in your BIOS - there's a known problem with athlon64 mobos where the power saving gets confused and thinks you don't need the fan running which causes the machine's safety shut off to kick in because the fan's stopped

worth a go

350w doesn't sound like enough to me - particularly if you've got a big fast new cpu. it could just be giving up the ghost

Edited October 6, 2006 by poopipe