random rebooting

[campersand]

I have a bx6 with an Intel 450 cpu. I'm having trouble with my computer randomly rebooting. It seems to only do it once it's been on for a while, which leads me to believe that it's a heat problem, but I have a cpu fan plus two more fans (one in front, one in back) and my average case temp is
about 30 C, which I think is normal. Should I just try getting a bigger, better cpu fan or is there something else I should check first? Thanks in advance.

-Cameron

 

[osuman]

Does it produce an error message or blue screen? Or does it just reboot without any messages? This would be important to diagnosing the problem. If it doesn't, then I would check to make sure it's not on the same circuit as an appliance with an induction motor. When these types of appliances start it loads the circuit and the puter doesn't have enough power and reboots. Just one of many possible solutions though. You said the case temp is 30 degrees but what about the chip itself? If there air flow isn't getting around the chip it could be much hotter than a spot in the case where you are measuring the 30. Justin
Feel free to email me at:
beckham@mailbox.orst.edu

 

[swayda]

Have you moved the computer recently? I had exactly the same problem. I moved and set up my network in my new apartment. At the time I was running 95 on my work machine, a Netware 5 file and print server and Linux on another machine. All are home built machines but the 95 was a rebuilt OEM machine which I bought in 1991. It started rebooting spontaneously but never under any certain set of circumstances I could identify. Over the next years I replaced the power supple, upgraded the motherboard, CPU etc. That wasn't to solve the problem but I rather thought it would have. I also replaced the surge suppressor, still kept rebooting. One day after installling a new modem I had the most spectacular show shooting out the back of my ps, a long cylindrical cone of sparks. A coil wire had detached in the power suplly and was vibrating on the other part of the wire. That had nothing to do with the problem though.. I detached the machine, took out the hard drives and put the boot drive in the Linux computer. I moved the previously 100% reliable computer into the place of the blown machine. I also talked to a lot of techs about the rebooting problem, but none could over any reason except to suggest there was something wrong with the electricity in the apt. I never noticed any anomalies like light flicker, reset clocks etc. so I didn't think any more alonf those lines. The 95 machine started spontaeously rebooting. One day after coming home from a bad day at work I popped a beer and for some reason the thought that these two computers all had one thing in common. The surge suppressor was plugged into the same wall outlet. I reached around behind my computer desk and the plug almost fell into my hand at the slightest tug. I plugged it into the other socket and the problem stopped. It might be something that insignificant.

 

[campersand]

I wish it was, but I had the same problem in my last house so I kind of doubt it. It's worth trying though I suppose because if it was, it'd definitely be the cheapest and easiest solution. Thanks.

 

[Guest_imported]

Hi,

I have had the following problem.
One of my PC's would randomly show like a GPF (General Protection Fault) or other system error.

One by one I turned off every "feature" I could think off.
It turned out that my system could not restart the Hard Disk. W98 would turn the HD off after an hour of non-use.
Then when needed, it tried to start the HD and failed.
It showed I had a problem with HD restart.

The same could be the case with other functions like Screen savers, monitors, Power saving features etc.

Hope you find it, Good luck!

 

[gunthnp]

if the power to the computer is ok check for a short in the machinei have seen one that had a bad ide cable and if you moved or looked at it the wrong way it would reset and check the power supply if it a 200w and you have AGP card and 2 hard drives and a CDrom and a burn etc it will pull it down if you have the all going So long and thanks for all the fish.

 

[swayda]

Assuming the power is ok, I'm wondering if a connector, any connector, drive power, data cable etc. could be loose. It could possibly(?) be the vibration of the computer or perhaps heat buildup. I know one guy who taught UNIX at UniSys who, along with a couple other guys opened up some guys case and wound a rubber band around one of the memory sockets. Every time a big truck drove by his computer rebooted. I also know there's a way to feed a certain byte code to a register that tells the machine to reboot, but I doubt that in the abscense of any virus. Don Swayser

 

[RayBus]

Hi, I have almost the same problem you are having and a similar setup with my case fans but have an AMD 800Mhz cpu. I tested all my connections in the case and then I tried checking Microsoft's Knowledge Base tech. support for the OS I have, which is ME. I check for "Cumputer shuts down" and got several matches. As it worked out I found one match which referred to my sound card, SB Live-Value, which has been found to cause this problem due to the DOS Emulation driver it installs. Microsoft recommended that this driver be disabled in the System "Device Manager". I did this and haven't experienced the problem since. I don't know if you have this card or Windows ME but they said there is no need for any DOS emulation drivers due to the fact that there is no DOS in ME. This does not affect games that run under Dos Mode, either. Hope this will be of some help to you. - Ray B.