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General discussion

computer randomly reboots

Jul 9, 2005 3:34AM PDT

my computer randomly reboots. it happens most often when i am playing a game, but can happen at anytime. sometimes it will reboot in 5 minutes or other times after a couple hours. i have read other posts on other sites about this and have tried many things. i switched video cards with another computer, but it still restarts. i reinstalled windows xp and it still does. i have read on another post to uncheck the automatically restart box under system failure. a bsod shows up but says nothing.it is just a blue screen. i don't know what else can be the problem. any advice would help.

Discussion is locked

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maybe heat
Jul 9, 2005 3:58AM PDT

check your cpu temp. and also do a virus and adware scan. mine did that to, then i reformatted the hdd and it fixed it.

konny

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Or a PSU problem...
Jul 9, 2005 5:56AM PDT

Look into buying a new psu. Yours may be underpowered or just at the end of its life.

Do you have a graphics card? I have no idea what graphics card you have and I'm going to assume you have a mobo with integrated graphics. If you have a graphics card take it out, and run it on integrated graphics. See if it still reboots randomly. This is a good indication whether your psu is underpowered and your gpu is sucking up juice. Then again you may not have a graphics card.

Or it could be a software problem! Who knows...

This is why we need more information!

I can ramble on about things that don't apply to you. And that isn't much help. So please give us some system specs.

General Advice:
Like Konny said, make sure your computer is clean of viruses, adware, spyware. Make sure it has good airflow and there is no dust inside your computer. That is all I have to give for now...

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reply
Jul 10, 2005 12:46PM PDT

sorry for so little info. i have scanned before and no viruses or spyware.at one time i thought it was heat, so i added another fan, my temperature stays around 53 when idle and it goes up to around 55-56 when playing games. i don't know think this is too high though, since i have had the same computer for a while and it didn't happen a long time ago. a couple months ago my psu died and i replaced it with a coolermaster 350 watt ps. i am going to put another psu in a couple of days and see what happens. here are my system specs:

athlon xp 2500+ barton
asus a7v8x-x mobo
512mb kingston value ram pc2700
1 western digital 80gb 7200 rpm hdd
1 quantum 40gb 5400 rpm hdd
ati radeon 9550 128mb video card
coolermaster 350 watt psu

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error
Jul 10, 2005 12:56PM PDT

in the last post i posted the wrong temperatures. when idle my computer is around 46 celsius. when playing games it is around 54-55. sometimes it hits 56 but rarely.

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Ok...
Jul 11, 2005 12:21AM PDT

Well your Coolermaster 350 watt psu is more than enough to power your computer, so you are not having voltage problems. And considering that it is relatively new, you shouldn't be having any problems with it.

The temperatures for my computer at idle are:
38 degrees C (100 F) for the Motherboard
41 degrees C (106 F) for my CPU
33 degrees C (91 F) for my Harddrive

The temps you gave me are your CPU temps? If they are I think they are OK at 46 idle. My CPU is an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ on the same core as yours, and its idling at around 41, in a relatively cool room. So it looks like you are not having heat problems.

My guess is now that you may have a virus. But you said you have scanned for viruses. What kind of software do you have on your computer? Did you install/download something and then this started happening? When it shuts down can you restart back up right away? Or do you get a BEEP-like sound?

This could be a similar Case

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reply
Jul 12, 2005 3:13AM PDT

yes, the temperatures were for my cpu. right now i don't know how to get the other temperatures for hard drive and motherboard, but after this post im gonna check my bios to see if there is anything or is it a program you are using. i don't have viruses or spyware, i use norton internet security (it is up to date). what specifically happens is while i am doing something the computer will restart by itself, not shut down. there is nothing out of the ordinary when it restarts. i am going to switch power supplies today to see what happens. i know the power supply is working, but maybe it might not have consistent power. the power may be changing once in a while. ill post again after i get more information about it. thanks for the help.

also, if you are using some program for your temperatures, could you please tell me what you are using.

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temps
Jul 12, 2005 3:25AM PDT

i found my temperatures when idle

cpu 45-46 C
mb 32 C
hd 42 C

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(NT) (NT) Those are fine :)
Jul 12, 2005 3:31AM PDT
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Everest...
Jul 12, 2005 3:29AM PDT

You can either use SpeedFan or Everest

I personally use Everest but I've heard SpeedFan is good also.

To read your temps in Everest:
In the menu on the left, My Computer> Sensor

Try swtiching powersupplies, see what happens. I'm fresh out of ideas as of right now. I'll post back if I think of anything else. I'm sure some other ppl in this forum may have some ideas! Good-luck

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(NT) (NT) Could be a Virus attack
Jul 12, 2005 5:50AM PDT
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fixed
Jul 16, 2005 1:02PM PDT

my computer is fixed!!! yay. i was going to change power supplies, but before i did i found out 2 things.
1 - my cpu clock speed was set at 1.1 ghz, even though it should be 1.83. and 2 - my computer restarted whenever i had an application using the internet. it could have been a game, listening to the radio, or using internet explorer.

one of these 2 things fixed my computer:
i reinstalled my internet drivers and turned off a feature that made my computer turn the device off when not in use to save power

i changed my clock speed back to 1.83 ghz. when i first bought my cpu the default was at 1.83, but i guess somebody else changed it, because i am certain i did not.

well, thanks for everybody's help. my computer is reboot free because of one of those 2 things.
thanks for everyone's advice.

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(NT) (NT) Awesome!
Jul 17, 2005 1:00AM PDT