Re: Computer reboots spontaneously

As Detlev Dreyer noted, what does the system (event) log report?
IOW don't try to fix anything. First discover what is defective.
First collect facts. Also review the Device Manager. Use Windows
Help, if necessary, to find these useful reports.

If a computer manufacturer is more responsible, then comprehensive
diagnostics would be on disk and on manufacturer's web site. If not,
then you must download diagnostics for each component from the various
component manufacturers or third parties- much more work.

List of items that will crash an XP system is smaller. For example,
disk drive will not reboot a computer. A hardware created problem
means suspects are sound card, processor, memory, video controller and
power supply 'system'. Power supply is only one component of a power
supply 'system'.

Dust is clearly not in your list of suspects. However heat is a
diagnostic tool. Operate that computer in a 100 degree F room. It
should not change its operation. But marginal hardware tends to fail
more frequently (especially when running diagnostics) when heated. We
don't fix that failure with more cooling or removing dust. We replace
100% defective hardware that works normally in a 70 degree room but
fails intermittently in 100 degrees F. Don't cure this symptom with
more fans.

Another suggested a virus. That is but one on a long list of
possibilities. However we typically don't fix software when hardware
is unknown and suspect. First (usually) confirm hardware integrity.

Apparently BIOS has a voltage monitor. Those four voltage numbers
are questionable until first calibrated using a 3.5 digit multimeter.
Voltages that drop below 3.23, 4.87, or 11.7 suggests a problematic
power supply 'system'.

On Jul 16, 4:30 pm, "Walter R." <we...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I am running win xp sp2. Computer is about 5 years old. 40 GB WD and 512 MB
RAM. Everything was working fine.

Starting this morning, and at intervals of about one hour, my computer makes
a short buzzing sound, the screen goes dead, and the computer then reboots.

When it reboots, it does not show the blue screen, asking for a disk check.
Normally it asks for a disk check when the power is interrupted like this.

The status report on the hard drives shows OK when the computer boots.

I checked the temperature in the BIOS and it looks OK: CPU 40C/104F, System
34/93, fan speed holding steady with slight speed variations.

What diagnostics can I run? What can cause this problem.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: hardware Problem?
    ... don't fix anything until something is ... Power supply is a first hardware check; ... Heat is not a reason for failure. ... As Anna noted, get diagnostics. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Re: Computer reboots spontaneously
    ... IOW don't try to fix anything. ... diagnostics would be on disk and on manufacturer's web site. ... Dust is clearly not in your list of suspects. ... But marginal hardware tends to fail ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Computer failed
    ... Trying to fix something at this point ... diagnostics and test your hardware. ... without any complications from Windows. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Strange boot failure - HDD or Power Supply or both?
    ... Try this and try that to fix the problem is the wrong strategy. ... That means collecting basic facts. ... When hardware creates problems, Windows ... Better computer manufacturers provide comprehensive diagnostics on ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • Re: pthread_cond_signal wakes low priority thread
    ... do i have to do something to report it? ... fix on the fly? ... Accordingly to Ulrich Drepper, the problem we are seeing is the result ... When you get hardware, you make software. ...
    (comp.programming.threads)