Computer Restarts Itself
"My PC running on Windows XP frequently restarts it self for no apparent reason. Any files or internet pages I have been working on are lost. The PC reboots to the desktop and I have to redo all my work. Any ideas please?"
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Baby, It's Hot in There
Sometimes this can be caused by an overheating situation. Itunes, RealPlayer, Windows Media player, etc. require a lot of processing power to decompress and decode music files, which can cause the processor or hard drive to get hot.
If your CPU is running at over 60 degrees (C) you might be at risk of burning it out. Some systems shut down automatically when the temperature reaches an unsafe level. Every few weeks I open my system unit and clean the fins on the heat sink that sits under the CPU. When they collect dust it restricts the airflow and prevents proper cooling. You can use a can of compressed air (look at your local office supply store) or an old toothbrush. I just did that on my system and the CPU temperature dropped by ten degrees!
Download the free Speedfan utility and it will tell you the temperature at which your CPU and hard drives are running.
Memory Fails Me...
If you determine that overheating is not the problem, the most likely suspect is bad memory. Trying to access a bad spot in your system memory (RAM) can cause the computer to freak out and restart. The best way to find the culprit is to pop open the system unit, remove (or replace) one RAM stick and see if the problem is solved. Run your system for a while and if the problem goes away, you win! If not... lather, rinse and repeat for each RAM stick until you find the one that's misbehaving.
Don't Do Me Any Favors
There's a setting buried in Windows XP that tells your computer to restart when a system error occurs. If you turn off that option, you may solve your automatic reboot problem.
Note that this may prevent the system from restarting, but it can also mask the true problem. As an alternative to this measure, consider what has recently changed on your system. If you have installed new hardware or software, remove it and see if the annoying restart persists. Sometimes downloading the latest driver software from the manufacturer's website will fix hardware incompatibility problems that cause restarts.
Computer Restarts After Download?
Some folks have written to me complaining that their computer automatically restarts itself after every download. And interestingly, most (if not all) mentioned they were using the Firefox browser. If you are using a download manager or download accelerator, this could be causing the problem. Check all the settings in the download manager and tweak if necessary. Or get rid of the download manager and see if the problem remains.
This can also be a virus or spyware problem. I suggest you go through your Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs list and remove any programs you don't need, then run thorough anti-virus and anti-spyware scans. It could even be your anti-virus program fighting with the browser or download manager. Switching to a new anti-virus might help also. See my recommendations for the best free anti-virus software for help with that.
Other Things to Consider
Failing or under-rated power supplies can also cause your computer to restart at seemingly random intervals. Switching out a power supply is really not too hard. Turn off the computer, open the case, disconnect the power cable from the power supply to the motherboard. Unscrew the power supply from the case, and reverse the process to install a new power supply. A 300-watt power supply will be fine in most computers.
And as one reader kindly pointed out, bad capacitors on the motherboard can also cause random reboots. But unless you're kinda geeky and handy with a soldering iron, it's tough to identify and fix this problem. You can find lots more helpful info on bad capacitors at badcaps.net. For most mere mortals, replacing the motherboard as a last resort will be easier than replacing a capacitor.
I also encourage you to read ALL of the comments below, before you rip your hair out, or rip your computer to shreds. It boils down to this... most restart problems are caused by overheating, bad ram, malware, or some other failing component. It can be difficult and time-consuming to identify WHICH of those things is the culprit. The only good solution is to test each one, in sequence (removing and replacing components if necessary), to identify the problem.
Posted by Bob Rankin on February 21, 2006 10:21 PM
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Most recent comments on "Computer Restarts Itself"
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myPC is continuously rebooting itself. WHAT CAN BE THE CAUSE OF THIS |
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dear it is the problem of ur pc's processor,s fan . open pc then clean and refit the fan . |
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Ok here goes... my computer started restarting every 5 minutes or so... It restarts fine windows loads up and goes to the desktop but i notice that the internet isn't connected and most programs won't work. No internet browsers or programs freeze up and go to that window where they ask if you wanna send the problem thinger. I can do some scans with spybot or CCleaner and avg, but avg can't finish because it restarts lol almost exactly every 5 minutes or so like it was timed. It just automatically turns black... sometimes a flashed blue screen. No log out restart screen or anything just off then restart. As if i hit the restart button. I have cleaned it out with air spray, reapplied thermo paste, and cleaned and dusted everything but it still does it. I can start in safe mode and i did all the scans again. It doesn't restart in safe mode. I'm running a avg scan in safe mode right now it caught one or two trojans and put them in virus vault and i deleted them but dunno if it will work after this. I hope this is just the problem lol i had this problem before and I bought a new hard drive. Transferred all my data onto that then i had to format my other hard drive. It was a pain in the ass lol and it worked fine again until about now, it is happening again... could it be something i downloaded... a program? power supply? heating? virus? i don't know... =( I have a amd athlon 65 and i have a 300 gig hard drive and now a 500 gig hard drive. Apart from the powersupply fan i have one for heat sink and one in front. I dunno about anything else since i have kinda computer hardware illiterate lol I also have a lot of movies on my computer and use bittorrents and download alot of mp3s. Anyways... i was thinking of also trying to run system restore because i have windows xp, in safe mode to the day or before this started happening... but only if i have too... any ideas? EDITOR'S NOTE: Defintely clean up the malware and do a System Restore. Have you run SpeedFan? |
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its a very weird situation. it usually happens after 20+ hours of being turned on. i never shut down my pc unless i have to. the components are somewhat old - around 5yrs old i think pentium4 3000, geforce3 (used for about 6-7 yrs), asus motherboard w. intel chipset, and 512 + 128 ddr1 (ram is really old, more like 8 yrs - im thinking that that might be the problem) theres also a leadtek tv card that caused me some problems before but new drivers fixed it, and soundblaster live! 5.1 (also used for about 6-7 years) the funny thing is - it never restarts itself unless im doing something on it (so for example i can go for a 7 days trip, leave the pc on and when i come back i see the applications are still running, stuff is still downloading and it hasnt restarted itself, but when i check out my mail or do something else - it restarts) thats it. i would appreciate your help very much. |
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I'm helping a friend with her resarting computer. It doesn't restart in safe mode, and it always does it right when desktop is loaded and other programs are loading. Tried system restore, ran avg in safe mode, cleaned it - but didn't take fan off yet OR test fan speed. Do you know a good way to do that? Guess I can check BIOS? Anyway I turned off Auto restart and it would then shut down and get blue screen. Blue screen always says..PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA EDITOR'S NOTE: Page Fault errors sometimes indicate bad RAM. Try swapping out the RAM. |
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Hi!!!! First time on this site, already like it... Weird problem of mine, first of all... my PC is a Core2due 2.4, 4 GB Ram (2GB 2 sticks), Windows XP, No Graphics card extra.... PC Restarts specifically when i play a game... Football Manager, and then it keep restarting every 2 mins until i shut it down for a hour or more... and then it started spreading to other games and now... it restarts even when i jus open Firefox... Its not over Heating : Checked with speed fan and couple of other ones... its not overheating for sure. Its Not Ram : took out each ram and tried... still restarts... Auto restart is un ticked, got Anti Virus and Firewall installed as well, I have tried everything... nothing has worked out till now, Can you please suggest me something? EDITOR'S NOTE: This can be very tricky to diagnose, as you are seeing. Have you ruled out the power supply, and looked into bad capacitors or motherboard problem? |
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system re-start caused by ram.. this is a nightmare im currently having but not sure if its the ram or caused by a fault with the motherboard cmos not re-setting properly. |
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hi i have installed a new RAM into my pc and from that time the pc restart from time to time.note that the RAM is new. EDITOR'S NOTE: A classic example of the Pain story... PATIENT: "Doctor, it hurts when I install RAM in my computer." DOCTOR: "Stop doing that." |
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My system is restarting itself ...if i insert os cd also its not accepting...it restarting and giving some option like safe mode,safe mode networking,good configuration etc...if i select safe mode or any other option means its not working...please help me from this ... EDITOR'S NOTE: Try changing the BIOS to specify boot from the CDROM. |
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I already reformat my PC after having a series of automatic shutdown.while I'm in the middle of reformat.my PC hang at around 99%!.i wonder why it happened.then after my 2nd attempt I heard the CPU making an error tone...is it the RAM that is making my PC worse?... |
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