restart.. repeat

[fulton_ck]

Hi All

I'm having some problems with my computer restarting unexpectedly
about once an hour or so. I've disabled the autorestart in the system
failure section but I'm still getting restart with no blue screen of
death etc. I'm also getting the occasional system hang e.g. a couple
of seconds of music repeating until shutdown or just a general screen
freeze - although this is much less frequent. I've tried updating
video and soundcard drivers etc. but can't seem to get it fixed.
Could a software error cause these problems or would it be more likely
to be hardware? I did replace the CPU fan since the problem's been
occuring and the temperatures all seem fine. I also recently
disconnected the restart switch on my case/motherboard and since I've
done this the restart is also 'waking up' my printer.
Any suggestions?

Thanks

Craig

 

[Malke]

Hi All

I'm having some problems with my computer restarting unexpectedly
about once an hour or so. I've disabled the autorestart in the system
failure section but I'm still getting restart with no blue screen of
death etc. I'm also getting the occasional system hang e.g. a couple
of seconds of music repeating until shutdown or just a general screen
freeze - although this is much less frequent. I've tried updating
video and soundcard drivers etc. but can't seem to get it fixed.
Could a software error cause these problems or would it be more likely
to be hardware? I did replace the CPU fan since the problem's been
occuring and the temperatures all seem fine. I also recently
disconnected the restart switch on my case/motherboard and since I've
done this the restart is also 'waking up' my printer.
Any suggestions?

Symptoms such as you describe are usually because of hardware failures.
You've already done some troubleshooting, but here are general hardware
t-shooting steps to try a bit more methodically:

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org - let the test
run for an extended (like overnight) period of time - unless errors are
seen immediately.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system - this isn't applicable to a laptop, of course.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a good local
computer repair shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy type of store).

Malke