Computer restarting on it's own.

[Guest]

Here's the problem as was described to me from my girlfriend as I haven't
witnessed the problem. Her computer has been restarting on it's own for a few
weeks. When it does it it will then ask what mode you wish to startup with,
ex. normal, safemode, safemode w/ bios, etc.

My roomate took a look at it and couldn't find a problem with it and he used
it for over 24 hours. When she got it back she tried it and it continued to
experience problems but not all the time. It will usually reboot twice and
then work fine on the third reboot.

The only changes on her pc that were made recently was a new power supply
installed as hers died. As my roomie didn't experience any of her problems he
suggested a new power strip. Not sure if it has rectified the problems or not
as it hasn't been used much since she got it back and has used the new strip.
My only other thought is that her electrical outlet in the wall is bad and
causing power surges.

Anybody have any other suggestions software, hardware, or electrical related
to suggest?

 

[Rich Barry]

Try rt clicking MyComputer>select Properties>Advanced>Startup and
Recovery-Settings>Uncheck Automatically Restart. See if you get a BSOD
with error message.

 

[S.Sengupta]

1]Open Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer.
Check here if you get any clue.

2]Right click [My Computer] click [Properties] and select [Advanced] tab.
Click the [Settings] button in the [Startup and Recovery] section.
Remove the checkmark from [Automatically Restart] in [System Failure]
section.

Pay particular attention to these messages as they may provide valuable
clues to shutdown issues.

regards,
ssg MS-MVP

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply. I will try this tomorrow when she gets home from work.
She also said that it does restart on it's own w/ the new power strip.

I'm starting to wonder if the new power supply is causing the problems cause
this issue didn't start till the new power supply was installed. But the only
thing about that is why does it restart at her place but not mine? I also
wondering if it may be her wall outlet and it's either shorting out or maybe
not grounded properly and causing either surges or the loss of power for a
millisecond and hence the restart. I will also have her try a different wall
outlet to see if it causes the same problems.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply. Will try this tomorrow.

1]Open Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer.
Check here if you get any clue.

2]Right click [My Computer] click [Properties] and select [Advanced] tab.
Click the [Settings] button in the [Startup and Recovery] section.
Remove the checkmark from [Automatically Restart] in [System Failure]
section.

Pay particular attention to these messages as they may provide valuable
clues to shutdown issues.

regards,
ssg MS-MVP

Here's the problem as was described to me from my girlfriend as I haven't
witnessed the problem. Her computer has been restarting on it's own for a few
weeks. When it does it it will then ask what mode you wish to startup with,
ex. normal, safemode, safemode w/ bios, etc.

My roomate took a look at it and couldn't find a problem with it and he used
it for over 24 hours. When she got it back she tried it and it continued to
experience problems but not all the time. It will usually reboot twice and
then work fine on the third reboot.

The only changes on her pc that were made recently was a new power supply
installed as hers died. As my roomie didn't experience any of her problems he
suggested a new power strip. Not sure if it has rectified the problems or not
as it hasn't been used much since she got it back and has used the new strip.
My only other thought is that her electrical outlet in the wall is bad and
causing power surges.

Anybody have any other suggestions software, hardware, or electrical related
to suggest?

 

[Guest]

Ok, she did this and nothing happened.

Try rt clicking MyComputer>select Properties>Advanced>Startup and
Recovery-Settings>Uncheck Automatically Restart. See if you get a BSOD
with error message.

 

[Guest]

For the first part she got an error messagage but I'm not there to see what
it says. She looked at everything she could and got the same error message
for everything. I will try and post later what the error message is.

As for the second part she got nothing.

1]Open Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer.
Check here if you get any clue.

2]Right click [My Computer] click [Properties] and select [Advanced] tab.
Click the [Settings] button in the [Startup and Recovery] section.
Remove the checkmark from [Automatically Restart] in [System Failure]
section.

Pay particular attention to these messages as they may provide valuable
clues to shutdown issues.

regards,
ssg MS-MVP

Here's the problem as was described to me from my girlfriend as I haven't
witnessed the problem. Her computer has been restarting on it's own for a few
weeks. When it does it it will then ask what mode you wish to startup with,
ex. normal, safemode, safemode w/ bios, etc.

My roomate took a look at it and couldn't find a problem with it and he used
it for over 24 hours. When she got it back she tried it and it continued to
experience problems but not all the time. It will usually reboot twice and
then work fine on the third reboot.

The only changes on her pc that were made recently was a new power supply
installed as hers died. As my roomie didn't experience any of her problems he
suggested a new power strip. Not sure if it has rectified the problems or not
as it hasn't been used much since she got it back and has used the new strip.
My only other thought is that her electrical outlet in the wall is bad and
causing power surges.

Anybody have any other suggestions software, hardware, or electrical related
to suggest?

 

[Kelly]

Hi,

In addition:

How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP
How to Use Clean Boot Troubleshooting for Windows XP
How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_conflicts.htm

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from
Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q307545

How to Disable a Service that Prevents Windows XP from Booting
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q244/9/05.asp

Use System Files to Create a Boot Disk to Guard Against Being Unable to
Start Win XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_setup.htm

~~~

Windows Boots without warning!

By default when WinXP encounters a system failure, it reboots without
warning. The setting that controls this can be changed:

Control Panel/System/Advanced/Settings (Startup & Recovery)/System
Failure/Uncheck-Automatically Restart.

You can use Event Viewer to view and manage the event logs, gather
information about hardware and software problems, and monitor Windows
security events.

To view the event log: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or
Start/Run/eventvwr.

To review Shutdown Event Tracker data, Open Event Viewer. Click System Log,
scroll to the Event column, and find entries with the number 1075.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q308427

And also:

Go to Start/Run/Msinfo32/Hardware Resources, Components/Problem Devices and
Software Environment/Windows Error Reporting.

Go to Help and Support/Pick a Task (left side)/Use Tools to view.../(left
pane)My Computer Information/(right pane)View the status of my system
hardware and software/Hardware/Update and Troubleshooters.

How to Troubleshoot Hardware and Software Driver Problems
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q322205

Try running the DirectX Tool: Start/Run/Dxdiag, Lower Hardware Acceleration
(Display/Settings/Advanced/Troubleshoot/Hardware Acceleration). Check
System Info for problematic issues: Start/Run/Msinfo32/Hardware Resources
and Components/Problem Devices and Software Environment/Windows Error
Reporting.


--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info. But I think the other two posters figured it out. After
unchecking auto restart it's not restarting on it's own anymore.

Once again thanks everybody for the help. It was appreciated.

 

[Kelly]

Glad you have it sorted. Thanks for the feedback.

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com