Community Newsletter: Q&A: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes!
- 5/9/08 1:48 PM
i think its not a hardware problem
by asimahmedk - 4/28/08 6:46 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
you must check your bios setup for solution some times your bios setings
change automatically
Answer for Santhsh --Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10-20
by asimahmedk - 4/28/08 6:51 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I think its not hardware problem you should check your bios setup for resolution some times your bios setings changes by mistake or automatically
potential reboot causes
by pjcamp - 4/28/08 10:08 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You've addressed the prime suspect -- bad RAM. There are a couple of other things to pay attention to as well.
1. Power supply going bad. You do not say whether you have a laptop or a desktop. Changing the power supply in a desktop is fairly easy. You can get a quality power supply (e.g PC Power and Cooling, Antec, etc.) for $50 and up. It is best if you have ample headroom in your power requirements. For example, a 200 watt supply will provide a maximum of 200 watts, but if it has to do that all the time it will be running hot and that will shorten its life. My general rule of thumb is to buy a power supply that is double what I need. If I think my computer needs 200 watts, I'll buy a 400 watt supply. That gives ample headroom. You can check your power supply with a multimeter and a resistive load (a power supply needs some sort of load to operate properly). Loads are about $5-10 online. If you're not comfortable with electric measurements, don't use this as an opportunity to learn, however. Improperly handled power supplies can be dangerous. The cost of buying a multimeter is about the same as the cost of a new power supply, so it would be just as cost effective to go ahead and change it. If you have a laptop, however, don't bother. The power supply is too hard to get at, and is probably a custom job anyway so you'll never find a replacement.
2. Bad disk. I know you said you formatted it, but that won't always be affected by an incipient disk failure. 256 MB of RAM is pretty skimpy for running any recent version of Windows. Your computer will be swapping the contents of memory to disk all the time. Probably sounds like a coffee pot. This will give the disk a pretty stiff workout so if it is just becoming flaky, that can push it over the edge. Most disk manufacturers provide free tools to test your hard drive for problems. Seagate, for example, has SeaTools, downloadable from their web site.
3. Bad RAM. I know, you said you swapped it out, but there is memory in your display adapter also. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to test it, and it probably can't be removed. Leave that for the last ditch possibility. Also, though you swapped out the memory module, it is possible that the socket has become dirty or oxidized, and is not making good electrical contact with any RAM module. There are a few ways to clean the socket, but probably the easiest is to get a spray can of contact cleaner from the hardware store. You'll find it in the electrical department. Be sure to let it totally dry before turning the computer back on.
It is probably worth your time to run a memory diagnostic, just in case. I use Memtest86+ but there is also the Windows Memory Diagnostic from Microsoft. Both are free. You have to create a bootable CD to use either of them since it is not possible to directly test memory that is currently in use by Windows (or any other OS for that matter). They both take a long time to run. I usually just let them go overnight and check back in the morning.
Hope this helps. These kinds of errors are a pain to track down.
Why does my system reboot every 10-20 minutes?
by Lisztman - 4/28/08 10:22 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There are all kind of possible reasons for periodic reboot -- but the most likely by far is that the system power supply is riding "on the edge" -- straining to put out enough to keep your system running. All it takes is the right combination of power requirements or overtemperature for a particular operation to kick it over the edge -- which issues a system reset.
The easy fix is a new power supply -- but the inherent danger is that you just bought a power supply and it's really something else. But if you can afford $50-80 for what I'd consider the odds-on favorite, buy a NAME BRAND power supply in the 500-600W range. If you can't swap it yourself, the twelve-year-old next door can do it for you. A good one will cost in that price range. If you buy a $25 power supply it won't last.
If that's not the problem -- and there's no guarantee -- then you have to start looking for the means of ID'ing what's running when it happens. That's a heckuva lot harder. Depending upon configuration there may be a system log that will tell you what service started (timestamped with the crash time). Or you can boot into Safe Mode and see if it's a background program that's doing it (Safe Mode will keep most of your "normal stuff" from starting up at boot. See if it runs properly in Safe Mode.)
MAINBOARD
by hlpler - 5/2/08 10:44 PM In reply to: Why does my system reboot every 10-20 minutes? by LisztmanI HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH AN E-MACHINE. CHEAP MOTHERBOARD. CHANGE OUT THE MOTHERBOARD AND IT WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
MR. PEELER
It might be getting too hot
by LarryH - 4/28/08 10:47 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First things first. Try to scan for viruses/spyware.
After that, check to make sure that all your system fans are operating correctly. Chips usually will shut down when they get overheated. My parents PC was doing something similar to yours and when I looked around inside the PC I found that the power connection to the CPU fan had come undone. I reconnected the fan power and when we powered it back up they noted that there was extra noise that they hadn't heard in a while. That extra noise was the CPU fan. They haven't had this problem since.
Power Supply
by joshman5 - 4/28/08 11:53 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
From your initial discription it souds like it is probably a power or heat issue. I would first make sure all of your fans; CPU, case, power supply, GPU (if applicable), etc. are all spinning properly. I would use compressed air to be sure all the dust is blown out of the computer case, heat sinks, and power supply. You may also want to move your computer to a better ventilated area, and maybe leave the case open to see if it makes a difference. If your mother board comes with temperature sensors I would monitor those. If everything seems clean and your fans are all moving air properly, then I would guess your power supply is getting weak and needs to be replaced. 9 times out of 10 it will be a heat or power supply issue. Some other less common issues could be a failing mother board or faulty power in your house.
Uh Oh - it's On Now (or is it Off)
by HomelessClarence - 4/28/08 12:30 PM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Well Santhsh, you're in it now!
We've found that 4 of the 5 most frequent causes of your situation to be somewhat hardware related.
Believe it or not, the most frequently encounted is power supply, as simple as a faulty wall power outlet, sporadic power bar (especially the el cheapos you get for less than $5), bad UPS backup batteries, loose fitting or faulty power cords (especially the prongs going into the outlet or the molded end which plugs into the PC Supply), faulty cooling fan in the PC Power Supply (especially those with a lot of debris in them), and occassionally, the over-expansion of devices for the existing internal supply (originally you might have a 250W supply but your new 1G Video Card, Blu-Ray Drive, Lightscribe Drive, etc. would require at least 400W).
Next is software related, both Good and Bad. Usually (at least for us)it turns out that one of our users has been 'visiting' sites which compromise the security of our network (if you get my drift). Because of our firewalls, etc., we can stop a lot of these things, BUT NOT ALL! I don't know how you are restoring you drives, but if you are using a mirror immage, your problem will not stop by reformatting and restoring. You should try to restore (even the Bios IO) from original material. Even using downloads from company Internet sites can be a problem.
Three and Four are back to hardware. It seems you have attempted these two scenarios. Unfortunately, the RAM problem may be more involved, like mismatching types and/or bus speeds. The sockets for the RAM and Processors can be a problem with age and dust. The Processor cooling fans should be tested (most times you can read the RPM and Temperature in the Setup menu) to see if they are working properly. Testing RAM for accuracy is not a home project. Sometimes (but not often) some of the non-cooling sink RAM distorts enough to change the accuracy. By changing RAM you may have addressed this problem. With 256M running Vista, you are going to be short. If Win98, WinNT, Win2000 you should be OK. If WinXP is your OS, you can use 256M, but it better be well suited for your board. If your problem started AFTER a Driver Upgrade or Change, then a problem with Incompatibility may be your problem. We consider this to be more of a Hardware issue here, since the Hardware might be deficient for the software which is being run. The Driver Upgrade might be a correction for 'Hardware Issues'.
Number 5 is a problem with Logic (sorry, not yours but the motherboard, peripherals, cards, USB and other ports, etc). Your Athlon 1700+ is a little dated, and that's OK, but we usually use a PC like that with a Linux (Unbuntu) OS. Smaaller Kernel, Smaller Problems. However, if the USB card is V2 and your motherboard can only recognize it as a V1, there are conflicts which can cycle your computer by eating up your resources (the famous Windows Protection and BSOD) when you plug in your Color Multi-Function Network device (sometimes bigger isn't better). So you may have to look at your recent adds and see if one of those may be the culprit. One of our problems occurs when we tell everyone NOT to download and install iTunes-Quicktime. Because iPods are so ubiquitous, someone always does...usually bringing it in on a flash drive since we block a lot of things. Some of the registry keys and edits we use actively fight iTunes and then the PC starts to "Act Funny"...their term, not ours.
So your see, you are actually on the right track. It might be one of these. I might not be any of these. But don't panic, because your important data is backed up, right? I won't go into that. These things can be handled, just don't give up.
Upgrade?
by teclogik - 4/28/08 1:52 PM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Not to sound harsh but, maybe it's time to upgrade? I know computers have an actual life span. They "die" after a few years sometimes. My comp died after 5 years, so I had to upgrade. These day building a decent rig can cost maybe 500-600 bucks. A pretty strong PC can cost you 1500 bucks to build while the top-of-the-line rigs can cost ya upwards of 3gs. pwrhavoc@gmail.com talk to me
Santhsh-- help my pc keeps rebooting every 10-20 minutes
by judithst - 4/28/08 9:26 PM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I had the same problem, after many many trips to the computer experts, they at last found there was a crack in one of the components and as the machine warmed up it separated and that was the cause. no more problems.
Judith
hy
by Spike O. - 4/28/08 11:41 PM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Try to reinstall ure windows,maybe u have some kind of error...i think thats the problem.
After installing ure windows,see if the same problem appers.
Please tell the rest of us
by TreknologyNet - 4/29/08 4:17 AM In reply to: hy by Spike O.I'm truly intrigued as to how anyone expects to get a re-intallation of Windows to happen inside the maximum time frame of 20 minutes?
hardware problem
by SKC339 - 4/29/08 3:22 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
its ur hardware problem, change ur motherboard.
Answer for Santhsh --Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10-20
by rob.badm - 4/29/08 7:02 AM In reply to: Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10 to 20 minutes! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
It could be just a build up of dust. I had a similar problem, tried fixing it with hardware and software, but a good vacuum to remove the dust was all it needed
RJ
CLean the dust & change hardrive~
by Aznmask - 5/3/08 12:25 AM In reply to: Answer for Santhsh --Help! My PC keeps rebooting every 10-20 by rob.badmHava you clean the dust inside the PC?
I think it could be the harddrive issue since your pc is old, so as the harddrive(their life are short & fragile)
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