Michael Smith Posted May 8, 2008 at 06:32 PM Posted May 8, 2008 at 06:32 PM hello guys my computer has stated restarting itself for no reason. I'll be playing a game or working on homework and with no warning it will just restart. I installed Norton and this started to happen but i have no cause to believe that Norton is the reason behind this. does anyone know what might be happening. I have windows XP with SP2 thank you Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Navara 985663 Posted May 8, 2008 at 07:00 PM Posted May 8, 2008 at 07:00 PM It is probably full of dust and is overheating. I would suggest opening the side cover and cleaning it out. Go to a local Best Buy or Staples and get a can of compressed air. Or if you have air compressor in the garage, use that. Also, make sure any fans, etc. are clean as well. John John Navara A mile of highway can take you a mile, a mile of runway can take you anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Naughton 938770 Posted May 8, 2008 at 07:21 PM Posted May 8, 2008 at 07:21 PM and if that doesnt work.... it might be that your power supply needs replacing. put your hand on the mainframe, how warm does it feel? Respectfully, Dave Naughton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Casey Posted May 8, 2008 at 08:13 PM Posted May 8, 2008 at 08:13 PM If it has only recently started happening then my guess would be overheating as well. Apart from just cleaning it out also check any detachable dust filters for cleanliness and turn the machine on with the cover off so that you can see if all the fans are actually running, especially the one on the CPU! Bill Casey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Phyrio 988306 Posted May 8, 2008 at 08:32 PM Posted May 8, 2008 at 08:32 PM I dunno man, some really weird has been known to happen with anti-virus (and the like) programs. There are some really strange settings in those things that can do some very bizarre stuff. But it sure wouldn't hurt to blast the barnacles out of it either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Smith Posted May 8, 2008 at 10:18 PM Author Posted May 8, 2008 at 10:18 PM thanks guys for the help. I cleaned the computer (there was a ton of dust). Its starting to get outside so overheating might be the cause. Ill let you guys know if it happens again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Morris 920567 Posted May 8, 2008 at 10:46 PM Posted May 8, 2008 at 10:46 PM Good first step. If it keeps happening, I'd start looking at the power supply. http://www.execjetva.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Smith Posted May 8, 2008 at 11:51 PM Author Posted May 8, 2008 at 11:51 PM It appears that a fan is not working in the computer and that might play a part in this. I'm going to put a new fan in from another computer and see if that helps. if it still happens ill look into the power supply. Thank you guys for all the help. VATSIM really does have the best people! Thank you Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Morris 920567 Posted May 9, 2008 at 01:07 PM Posted May 9, 2008 at 01:07 PM Ahh, that could be a cause. Which fan? http://www.execjetva.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Hicks 989808 Posted May 9, 2008 at 01:56 PM Posted May 9, 2008 at 01:56 PM EEK! Fans not working can have a bad ending. Even when your computer is dust free and the fans work properly the computer can lock up and restart. While the chances of it doing so are cut down...there are still some errors in Windows that will cause it to do so. For all of those interested... I use a simple program called "Speedfan" to keep an eye on some of the temps in my computer. It is a free program that uses the internal temp sensors on your devices to tell you their temperatures. If you keep having the problem and are not sure if it is temperature caused...get that program or one similar to it (other people may know of others that work better). Also, have you had any performance problems...especially right before it restarts? When your hard drive or processor (or both!) get to higher temperature their performance goes down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Groot 1044304 Posted May 9, 2008 at 04:24 PM Posted May 9, 2008 at 04:24 PM Windows XP is configured to automatically restart if it crashes. Go to Control Panel, System, Advanced tab, under Startup and Recovery click the Settings button, and uncheck the "automatically restart" checkbox. This way you will be able to see the blue screen (or STOP error, as it's actually called) if one occurs. If the computer still just spontaneously reboots a hardware issue is likely. If you do get a blue screen, it's probably a driver, and Norton is definitely capable of causing blue screens as well so I would at least try to disable it to see if that helps. Creator of VATSIM Monitor, a sidebar gadget for Windows Vista. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Smith Posted May 9, 2008 at 11:05 PM Author Posted May 9, 2008 at 11:05 PM so I downloaded speedfan and it shows a temp of 95F. i [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume that really high? Im going to buy a new fan this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Groot 1044304 Posted May 10, 2008 at 03:35 AM Posted May 10, 2008 at 03:35 AM No, that's a normal temperature for a CPU. Creator of VATSIM Monitor, a sidebar gadget for Windows Vista. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Atkielski 985811 Posted May 10, 2008 at 08:17 AM Posted May 10, 2008 at 08:17 AM On the other hand, if by chance it's actually 95° C (usually temperatures are displayed in Celsius), that's quite warm for a processor. A failed fan and mysterious restarts together generally spell an overheated CPU. If the CPU does not have built-in temperature protection, it may be damaged by the overheating, in which case you might still get restarts even after replacing the fan. AMD processors have been notorious for this in the past (I lost to machines to their lack of temperature protection); I don't know if they've fixed that, since I got tired of the losses and switched back to Intel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnathon Neilsen 955672 Posted May 10, 2008 at 11:30 AM Posted May 10, 2008 at 11:30 AM On the other hand, if by chance it's actually 95° C (usually temperatures are displayed in Celsius), that's quite warm for a processor. He has stated its in fairnheit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Atkielski 985811 Posted May 10, 2008 at 05:02 PM Posted May 10, 2008 at 05:02 PM He has stated its in fairnheit. Ah, that must be what the "F" after the number meant, eh? Motherboards and other software increasingly state temperatures in Celsius, so if he read a Celsius temperature as Fahrenheit, the processor could be cooking. Conversely, if it was truly a Fahrenheit temperature, that's only 35° C, which is remarkably (suspiciously) cool for a processor under load in a typical PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Smith Posted May 10, 2008 at 08:38 PM Author Posted May 10, 2008 at 08:38 PM well guys, I reinstalled windows again this time without Norton and guess what.... it stopped happening! its been only a few hours, but no one restart in that time (i was getting restarts every hour before) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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