PC keeps crashing
Discussion
I've got a PC at home, I built it myself.
Its worked fine for the last year or so.
Recently, it has started randomly rebooting itself. (no bsod, just reboot).
Sometimes when starting up, it will start to open windows, then reboot. It will then keep doing that for a few cycles, then boot OK.
Then it will work for 30 mins or so, then reboot again.
Any ideas?
Its worked fine for the last year or so.
Recently, it has started randomly rebooting itself. (no bsod, just reboot).
Sometimes when starting up, it will start to open windows, then reboot. It will then keep doing that for a few cycles, then boot OK.
Then it will work for 30 mins or so, then reboot again.
Any ideas?
Nightmare when this happens 
Have you tried booting Windows in safe mode, to see if there's any driver issues? (If it boots OK in safe mode, it may be a software prob)
If its a hardware prob, I would first check that all the fans are working correctly and not too clogged up, as overheating can cause random reboots. If that oesnt help, I would swap the PSU, as that may be faulty.
After that, it's a long process of elimination, taking each part out one at a time to see if any of the hardware is the cause, starting with memory.
Have you tried booting Windows in safe mode, to see if there's any driver issues? (If it boots OK in safe mode, it may be a software prob)
If its a hardware prob, I would first check that all the fans are working correctly and not too clogged up, as overheating can cause random reboots. If that oesnt help, I would swap the PSU, as that may be faulty.
After that, it's a long process of elimination, taking each part out one at a time to see if any of the hardware is the cause, starting with memory.
padgett said:
I've got a PC at home, I built it myself.
Its worked fine for the last year or so.
Recently, it has started randomly rebooting itself. (no bsod, just reboot).
Sometimes when starting up, it will start to open windows, then reboot. It will then keep doing that for a few cycles, then boot OK.
Then it will work for 30 mins or so, then reboot again.
Any ideas?
Its worked fine for the last year or so.
Recently, it has started randomly rebooting itself. (no bsod, just reboot).
Sometimes when starting up, it will start to open windows, then reboot. It will then keep doing that for a few cycles, then boot OK.
Then it will work for 30 mins or so, then reboot again.
Any ideas?
I had those symptoms when my Motherboard died (somtimes it would reboot sometimes I would get the bsod) and it's not uncommon for a bad power supply to ruin the Motherboard.
Edited by Trooper2 on Wednesday 11th April 13:38
FYI: if it's Windows XP you're using then by default if it BSOD's it'll reboot... often quicker than you realise what's happening.
Erm... top of head I think the option is buried in My Computer (right click) > Properties > Advanced > Startup & Recovery... (am I right, near... or sqillion miles away? Not touched XP in months). And turn off the auto-reboot. I'd also pull up the system logs (Control Panel > Admin Tools) and see if anything happens right before a reboot.
This *might* give you a chance to see what's causing the problem (i.e. nv4_disp.dll, IRQ_NOT_LESS_EQUAL_TOO when you have ATi drivers floating around and so on).
However, if you've degunged the fans, checked all the cables are solid and nothing appears odd with Windows; it would be wise to backup NOW. At the very best you're looking at a reinstall (it's worth trying... it's free) of the OS at worst well snag an upgrade kit from somewhere like novatech (mobo+ram+cpu).
Erm... top of head I think the option is buried in My Computer (right click) > Properties > Advanced > Startup & Recovery... (am I right, near... or sqillion miles away? Not touched XP in months). And turn off the auto-reboot. I'd also pull up the system logs (Control Panel > Admin Tools) and see if anything happens right before a reboot.
This *might* give you a chance to see what's causing the problem (i.e. nv4_disp.dll, IRQ_NOT_LESS_EQUAL_TOO when you have ATi drivers floating around and so on).
However, if you've degunged the fans, checked all the cables are solid and nothing appears odd with Windows; it would be wise to backup NOW. At the very best you're looking at a reinstall (it's worth trying... it's free) of the OS at worst well snag an upgrade kit from somewhere like novatech (mobo+ram+cpu).
Trooper2 said:
padgett said:
I've got a PC at home, I built it myself.
Its worked fine for the last year or so.
Recently, it has started randomly rebooting itself. (no bsod, just reboot).
Sometimes when starting up, it will start to open windows, then reboot. It will then keep doing that for a few cycles, then boot OK.
Then it will work for 30 mins or so, then reboot again.
Any ideas?
Its worked fine for the last year or so.
Recently, it has started randomly rebooting itself. (no bsod, just reboot).
Sometimes when starting up, it will start to open windows, then reboot. It will then keep doing that for a few cycles, then boot OK.
Then it will work for 30 mins or so, then reboot again.
Any ideas?
I had those symptoms when my Motherboard died (somtimes it would reboot sometimes I would get the bsod) and it's not uncommon for a bad power supply to ruin the Motherboard.
I agree with this. When the cheapy psu's go bad they can take out the mobo, ram and have been known to have a pop at the graphics card.
I would defo check the ram in another machine and also check and see if there is a newer bios too, as I have experienced bios crashing after the psu goes through meltdown.
SS HSV said:
I agree with this. When the cheapy psu's go bad they can take out the mobo, ram and have been known to have a pop at the graphics card.
Just to add, that I had a cheapy PSU blow the whole friggin' lot up (mobo, ram, HDD's, etc). They really aren't worth cutting corners on.
ThePassenger said:
SS HSV said:
I agree with this. When the cheapy psu's go bad they can take out the mobo, ram and have been known to have a pop at the graphics card.
Just to add, that I had a cheapy PSU blow the whole friggin' lot up (mobo, ram, HDD's, etc). They really aren't worth cutting corners on.
That's the prob, if the PSU has been faulty, there's no telling what damage to the rest of the componants, especially motherboard, has taken place.
I do know that some cheaper (sub £50) PSU's that state 550W are very hit and miss, tried one once and it even failed to boot at all, just enough power to turn the fans!
Personally my server system has a Zalman 350w PSU in it. Driving an AMD64-3400, DVD-ROM, 3 HDD's and a Nvidia 5950 U card amongst other stuff.
PSU cost me £90ish several years ago and is well within it's tollerances... a lot quieter than the cheaper units as well.
I do keep meaning to look at putting a 400 in there just for headroom; probably look at Enermax or see what Zalman are going.
PSU cost me £90ish several years ago and is well within it's tollerances... a lot quieter than the cheaper units as well.
I do keep meaning to look at putting a 400 in there just for headroom; probably look at Enermax or see what Zalman are going.
Finally sorted this problem out.
I tried different memory, re-seating all the cards.
I was just about to order a new mother board (which i wasn't convinced would solve it anyway) when i decided to pull the CPU and reinstall it.
I then reset the BIOS, and it's all fine now.
Left it running overnight and its fine.
I tried different memory, re-seating all the cards.
I was just about to order a new mother board (which i wasn't convinced would solve it anyway) when i decided to pull the CPU and reinstall it.
I then reset the BIOS, and it's all fine now.
Left it running overnight and its fine.
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