Posted on 08/17/2004 4:00:25 PM PDT by sushiman
I'm running Windows XP . I've been having this problem for about three months now and I'm REALLY fed up... Basically my computer restarts itself... RANDOMLY , sometimes 2-3 times a week . I don't believe it is overheating as it can happen just minutes after I turn the computer on in the morning . My wife checked the computer system a month or so ago and it was clean with no worms/viruses . Does anyone have a clue why my computer automatically re-boots itself ?
>>No warning or countdown ...just REBOOT ! <<
I'll just add that It sounds like hardware. If it looks like you just hit the reset button, that's most likely hardware. If it says "system shutting down" and thereafter reboots, it could be a number of things.
When I've seen this in the past, it's either faulty memory or bad memory timings. Depending on your Bios, you may have various default settings. You might just go into the bios and use one that says optimal and save. If the problem persists, try a "fail safe" option if available. If none of those exist, you should have an option that says, reset to factory defaults. Try it and save. It may just be that simple. Heat can also cause it though. Check for dust bunnies in the power supply and cpu heat sink.
I have a Mac desktop and a Win laptop. The Win laptop gets all of the viruses. No matter what I do. I buy a new "used" laptop just about every year, because the viruses make the last one unusable. I've never had a problem with the Mac.
Maybe this year I will decide that an Apple laptop is a better investment than a Win one that will go south within months.
The anti-virus software only prevents you from getting ones that are already known. If you are one of the first to get it, too bad.
My used laptops never come with the ability to re-load Win. If you can't do that, just chuck the computer and start over.
Several people had told me it was probably a virus, but I keep my virus definitions up to date and run frequent scans. And, I didn't get any of the warnings of shutdown I had heard about - no warning, just blinked off and rebooted. I sent the tower to my nephew, who checked it out, and replaced the mother board. Problem solved.
It's Alive!!!
" Do you have up-to-date virus software on your computer and have you run a virus scan lately? "
Did a virus scan this morning - all AOK .
" If the computer stays up long enough, go into Control Panels, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer and The the System Tab, look for any Red/White X's and Tell us what it says "
Found a couple of red/white X's . Says " system error " .
The Blaster Worm did this, only it caused rebooting every 2-3 minutes. You didn't have to open any email or .exe stuff to get it, either. Just go to the wrong site...
Also found a couple that say " disc " .
I was adding memory .. after I put the chip in it wouldn't even turn on. I fiddled with it .. because my son kept saying my computer probably wouldn't recognize it. I changed the configurations several times (old motherboard). I never could get it to work. Finally, took the new memory out, computer came on and proceeded to continue to restart. It was almost funny. I knew it wasn't good for the computer so I shut it down.
Fortunately, my son has his own business upgrading computers and all I had to do was order the parts and he put it together. As a result, I upgraded everything, but I suppose in a couple of years I'll have to do this all over again ... LOL!!
Or it's haunted.
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