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Community Newsletter: Q&A: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes!
- 5/9/08 1:48 PM
Hope this helps
by Ana Christina - 4/26/08 10:20 PM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Your PC is an old one.. In truth, testing each the components can pinpoint the culprit, but with an older PC like yours itīs a bit harder to do.
As you have changed the memory, you can take it out the suspect list.
Removing each of the components till you have the most basic working combination - power suply, mobo, processor (with cooler), memory and video card (if it need one) and switch it on. If it does not reboot, itīs one of the other components to blame (hdd, cd writer)
One possible cause is overheating - can you access the BIOS setup and see the section called (usually) "PC Health"? if the processor temperature exceeds a certain point it can reboot or switch off the PC - that demands at least thermal paste change or in case the heat sink fan gone bad, a new heat sink.
A power supply gone bad also came to my mind; I had one that rebooted my PC everytime I inserted a media in the optical device.
Had the same problem
by Virginian - 4/26/08 10:41 PM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I had the same problem with the exact same system, (same CPU, memory, everything, although I had replaced the CD writer with a dual-layer DVD burner). Anyway, mine had begun to make a wailing sound, which would eventually stop, and which I erroneously assumed was the hard drive failing. Turned out, the noise was the CPU cooling fan, whose bearings had turned to gravel. The reboot problem was simply a matter of the CPU over-heating. I replaced the fan with a cheapo purchased locally, and problem solved! Hope this helps.
System Restarting
by couchpotato9976 - 4/26/08 11:55 PM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hello Santhsh,
You may need to update drivers for your system. You may need to uninstall software or hardware. I doubt that is the issue because when you reformat your hardrive and re-install Windows, you should at that time, get the updated drivers automatically.
The first possibility as that you may have damage to the circuitry in you computer such as burned out capacitors on the motherboard. When this happens, it can cause the computer to overheat. If the computer overheats it will shut down automatically in most cases, to prevent further damage to your system. If you can afford it, go get a new computer. You are ready to upgrade. If not, then this is the plan of action that I recommend....
1)Back up your data before it is too late.
2) Take your computer to a repair shop to see if you have any damaged ciruitry on the motherboard. It's usually easy for trained computer technicians to diagnose such problems. They will most likely charge you forty to fifty dollars, and then give you an estimate of what it will cost to repair. At that point you can decide if it worth it to fix those problems, or you can opt to just get a new system. you could drive yourself crazy trying to troubleshoot that issue, without professional technical help.
3) Check to see if there is a BIOS upgrade available for you particular system. A BIOS upgrade done successfully with enable the computer to manage the power coming into more efficiently, and will decrease the likelihood that the computer will overheat. A BIOS uprade should be thirty to forty dollars. The company that makes your BIOS will give you instructions how to install it properly.
4)Do a clean install of windows after upgrading the BIOS.
5) Check for any and all Updates from Microsoft.
6)Manually reinstall all of your programs.
7 Before loading your data back onto the system, scan it thouroughly, with three to four different anti-virus programs.
8) Clean the dust out of your system throughly with compressed dust remover.
9) Put a new ACPI fan inside the tower, or clean the existing fan thoroughly.
10) Increase the RAM to 1GB if possible.
Hopefully that helps but I would just go ahead and get a new tower.
As you can see the cost of fixing the problem may not be worth it.
Jason Hassett
6)
frequent re-booting of pc
by conrad diaz - 4/27/08 12:25 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
please try to check the fan motor of your processor, maybe it is stuck up, also try to add additional cooling fan inside your cpu/ or if not try to remove the side cover to cool them up. if your h.disk is ok and you already reformatted it and the bad sector is minimal the h.disk will still works properly. one of the best solution to your problem is to clean your cpu with blower from motherboard and memory.
Reboot
by Reaper351 - 4/27/08 12:44 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You did not say what operating system you have and you did not say if you are on the computer or not when it reboots. You also did not say if after the reboot the computer will reboot again after 20 minutes and keep on continuing to reboot every 10 to 20 minutes. Does the reboot happen if the computer is idle and you try to take it off hibernation/sleep or log on? Are you overclocking any of your components?
With the information that you gave, here is a good starting point:
If the computer reboots after 10 to 20 minutes while you are on it, it could be a heat problem. I would suggest you give your computer a really good cleaning. Pop off the side and use canned air on all of your heat sinks and fans. If you have air filters on your rig, replace them. If you are unsure or are afraid you are going break or fry something, take it to a friend that knows computers or to a computer repair place. They will usually clean a system for under $50. Besides dirt build up you may have a fan that is going out. Someone that is familiar with computer rebuilding and/or fixing will be able to hear this. You will sometimes get an electrical burnt smell when a component or fan is going out.
If the computer reboots while the system is just idle, this can also be a heat problem from excessive build up of dust or a fan that is going out.
If you are running Windows there is a little known problem they call "Windows rot". This is when the operating system partially erases itself. The fix is easy, all you have to do is reinstall (if you are running 95/98) or repair if you are running XP.
A virus/melware/spyware may also be infecting your computer. Make sure that you update all of your cleaning software and then do thorough scans with all of them.
To sum it up, give your rig a once over thorough cleaning. Clean the heatsinks, fans and run the your cleaning software.
Answer for Santhsh --Help! My PC keeps rebooting
by yourpctechguy - 4/27/08 1:52 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Download Motherboard Monitor 5.3.7.0, or a similar software program from the motherboard manufacturer. You must verify system temp. Your machine's CPU is probably overheating and the thermal protection or the processor itself is shutting off. I believe you need to have the processor reseated with good paste, the fan cleaned or upgraded, and possibly switch to a heat-pipe cooler if the first two efforts do not eliminate the problem. If these solutions do not work, the CPU itself is likely fried.
PSU and capasitor
by agustoni87 - 4/27/08 1:58 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
1.try to degrade speed ram and cpu via bios, please tried otherwise success follow step follows:
2.change capasitor at mainboard same, if that capacitor is seen to broken with characteristic expands at part on it. pass this step if normal capacitor condition all (but i am more likes to replaced all capacitors at ration points)
3. change psu
good success
agustoni87
Check your CPU's cooling setup
by larry_pint - 4/27/08 3:37 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi, It sounds like your CPU's being shutdown to protect itself. Check the heatsink is not full of dust or has cables too close to it. Check the cpu fan is running some motherboard manufacturers (intel) have temperature monitoring software you can download, also make sure your CPU's not being overclocked, again this can cause heat problems. Laurence
Answer to "PC keeps rebooting"
by geoffwaddell - 4/27/08 3:59 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
It could be simply that the power plug is a bit loose.
Over heating Problem
by novason1 - 4/27/08 4:12 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I would think it would be heat related. Either the processor heatsink is full of dust blocking the air flow, or possibly the fan on the processor is not running fast enough.
Another cause could be the fan in the power supply not turning making the power supply run hot and shutting down. One way to check is to visually look at the back of the pc when it is on and running, and see if the fan in the power supply is turning or if you can feel air blowing out the back, if you hold your hand up to the back of the power supply. If the fan does not turn I would replace the power supply
If the shutdown if abrupt, no shutdown screen, I would tend to think it was a hardware issue. If not, and there is a shutdown screen, I would tend to think it might be software, or program related.
Electrical "Spike", Faulty Reset Switch or Power Supply ?
by ev_spad - 4/27/08 5:09 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've experienced this problem three different times over the past 10 years and found that, each time, the problem was caused by three different issues, as follows:
1st Time - the computer shares an electrical circuit with the clothes dryer and a standard surge protector didn't prevent a reboot. A battery back-up power supply/surge protector solved the problem until I did some house re-wiring (I still wouldn't do without the battery back-up, ever!);
2nd Time - the reset switch on the case finally, somehow, gave out. Unplug the leads from the motherboard and see if the problem goes away. Rather than fool with trying to fix it, I needed a new case anyway;
3rd Time - the power supply was the culprit. We sometimes forget that it too can go bad without totally failing. Mine would overheat (due to age) and the internal breaker would trip.
Hope this helps.
it IS a hardware issue
by medialover - 4/27/08 5:34 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
This is somehow being caused by your hardware. If you reformatted your hard drive and still had this issue, that means the problem could not be in your software or OS (well, you could try running some version of linux like ubuntu or mandriva off of a live CD and seeing if you get the same problem).
Take it to some tech support place.
Rebooting without prompting
by reviewer 1 - 4/27/08 7:58 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I had a similar problem, and discovered it stemmed from my battery backup system. I disconnected the battery backup, and the problem went away. Before I went out and bought a new battery backup I uninstalled the software and then followed the directions to
reconnect & reinstall everything for the battery backup. The problem has not yet reappeared. Hope it is something this simple for you.
Mary Ann
heat
by motoxer913 - 4/27/08 8:17 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
it could be overheating
possible answer
by GSRich78 - 4/27/08 8:33 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I had the same problem with my PC. I changed everything with parts from my other PC and found that the mother board was the problem. If you built your computer, you can simply change out the old parts. But if you bought the computer that was pre built, you have to contact the manufactuer on getting the parts and having someone install the part for you.
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