Computer Restarts Randomly

[peomp]

my Sony PCV RX-850 is dieing..i think

my computer automatically and randomly restarts. for example: while surfing the internet, or open a program, or even clicking the start button the computer will reboot itself at anytime.

it doesnt even say "Windows is shutting down" "saving your setting". it just shuts down then turns back on. it's like someone unplugs the computer and plug it back in, a better example would be like turning on and off a light. ON (while using the computer) then OFF then back ON

my friend say that the power supply is dieing

also when open a 3d program such CD4 or PS or any other program. a message pops up "out of video memory, the program will exit" i even uninstall it and reinstalled it, cleaned my registry, still the message pops up

someone pls help out............thanks in advance

[wingnut2003]

It could be a number of issues, software or a driver causing a fatal error and the machine reboots to "protect" itself. A over heating issue on the processor. I myself recently had the same problem, and it did turn out to be the power supply. I replaced it, the problem went away.

[peomp]

read the first review by caroleanne7

http://reviews.pricegrabber.com/desktop/m/651515/

"It's un-upgradeable because Sony has proprietary power supplies (and a lot of other parts), and any power supply I buy will not fit into the power supply cage."

[dcsos]

try this, right click the MY COMPUTER icon
go to manage, expand out EVENT VIEWER and review system events listed there.
In this log you will see everything that happened sequentially to the computer over time.
I'm hoping some event got logged
timewise
you can read that you can figgure out it caused the reboot.

heres a working power supply for 100 bucks (racket)
http://cgi.ebay.com/SONY-VAIO-POWER-SUPPLY-FOR-PCV-RX500-SERIES-DESKTOP_W0QQitemZ17010...QQcmdZViewItem

[peomp]

thanks the event viewer shows everything that was crashed.

a lots of it was system errors
Error code 10000050, parameter1 e3f8c5c4, parameter2 00000001, parameter3 8054b034, parameter4 00000001.

i click on the link which takes me to M$ help and support, but no luck

[John]

THis happened to me before, and in my case it was the power supply. changed it just in time before it damaged anything.

[Faustus]

Do this.

1. Go to Start -> Control Panel -> System
2. Go to Advanced
3. Under the Startup and Recovery section, click Settings...
4. Under System Failure un-check "Automatically restart"

This will disable the auto restart and let us know if its a hardware restart or software restart.

If its software you will get a blue screen with an error that will help a lot and if its not then it will just restart and then you should likely erase and start over in order to find out if its a bad hardware issue.

[friendlyzookeeper]

Sounds like your fan may need a little cleaning. I had to clean a power supply and replace the fan. Dust bunnies ate it so bad after I cleaned it, it would not spin freely. The heat just keep on tripping the source. After that, I clean them more often. Changing a fan maybe easier than replacing the power supply.

[friendlyzookeeper]

Thats the fan of the power supply, sorry, but thats what I meant to say.

[peomp]

Faustus i did what u said, and friendlyzookeeper i did cleaned the fan

i will let u guys know if anything happens.

i am getting so frustrated with this computer, i had since 2002, never had a problem like this, i am debating if i should get a new computer. my other problem is:

"when i open a 3d program such CD4 or PS or any other program. a message pops up "out of video memory, the program will exit" i even uninstall it and reinstalled it, cleaned my registry, still the message pops up"

i might buy a new computer with a good graphics ram/card since i am doing a lots of 3d imaging and video editing

[friendlyzookeeper]

Do you have any utilities that monitors your hard drives, fan speed, cpu temp, ram performance, pci performance, and file system. Check your fan speed and cpu temp for heat problems. This time of year may create extra heat problems. Dust problems are a concern in my area, with heaters and bad filters. Hope you have some luck, you're going to spend alot of time on this. Stop, if you loose too much hair.

[peomp]

Do you have any utilities that monitors your hard drives, fan speed, cpu temp, ram performance, pci performance, and file system. Check your fan speed and cpu temp for heat problems.

nope........the only way i know how to check that is under BIOS

[friendlyzookeeper]

Sometimes when you buy a motherboard utilities come on a cd.

[lacywest]

Good info

[Bjs]

"proprietary" is not an issue when the internals will fit any midi tower ... you then avoid the psu issue .

Sure , you loose the sony case ... but you can get something much flashier , with lights and all the bells , like , temp / fan controls panel .

http://www.cpuid.org/download/pcw2007_v173.exe

Has some abilities to show temps and more .

[EddyH]

mmmmm Sony...

Sounds like a PSU or CPU fan issue sure enough. Grab a straw and give it a good blow (yes, you can buy compressed air in a can, but for the CPU at least a new fan is cheaper!)

The chip fan and heatsink are generally salvagable if they're dirty, but if the bearings are shot it'll have to be replaced. (I doubt it's totally bust - if the PC even booted at all rather than just smoking, it would run impossibly slow in "limp" mode to prevent it being destroyed from lack of cooling).

If the PSU fan can't be properly restored, it's probably for the best to just replace the whole unit as you could kill yourself messing inside of it.. if the size/shape is indeed customised, then for a 2002 vintage PC, just get any old 9.95 generic case to plug everything else into...

[Constant Gardener]

Hmmm. I had identical symptoms on a Thunderbird. After some sleuthing, I discovered that the CPU heatsink wasn't properly secured. Removed, replaced, been running 24x7 three years now.

There are many causes of random reboots. Overheating, bad power supply, maybe a trojan trying to install itself. Good luck.

[lacywest]

Five days ago ... June 28 ... my PC started rebooting ... It would get to the WIN XP logo beginning and before I see the Welcome Screen ... it would reboot and start again ... reboot and start again ... reboot and start again.

I disconnected all the harddrives except the C Drive and it still does it.

I really dont want to swap PSU ... video card not that much of a pain in the Arse.

I thought about popping in a 40 Gig harddrive and see if it will take a Win XP install.

Just B4 all this starting happening ... I had a BIOS message saying my Primary Slave was failing ... I rebooted ... it then said both the Primary and the Slave were failing and failure was imemient.

Reboot again .... and now it reboots just before the Welcome Screen comes on.

Any ideas ... my tech profile is real ... I've been using these mother Boards since late 2004 ... this mobo was installed last year ... but all three were bought back in early 2005 or late 2004.

Right now ... I using a Dell GX280 P4 3.6 ghz ... nice and fast ... [I took out the PSU and replaced it with a 500watt design] I have it connected to my Samsung 19" monitor using a 2 Input VGA switch ... didn't know I was going to be losing my main PC ... two weeks later.

[handyguy]

". it would reboot and start again ... reboot and start again ... reboot and start again. "

Reboot worm?

[safertr]

Something in your local area draining power at that time? Pretty much a long shot, but if it does tend to reboot at the same time every day, you never know. Does mum put the kettle on about then?

Start the computer in safe mode and let sit.. If it does not reset it may point to software issues. If it does reset then it may be a problem with hardware or windows.
Also do you have external devices attached? Printers, Digital Cameras, Scanners, etc.

Safe mode : Usually f8 durring boot or similar key listed during startup.

http://www.click2finding.com/click2.aspx?pr=Computers/Hardware/Technical_Support_and_Services/

[lacywest]

Something in your local area draining power at that time? Pretty much a long shot, but if it does tend to reboot at the same time every day, you never know. Does mum put the kettle on about then?

Start the computer in safe mode and let sit.. If it does not reset it may point to software issues. If it does reset then it may be a problem with hardware or windows.
Also do you have external devices attached? Printers, Digital Cameras, Scanners, etc.

Safe mode : Usually f8 durring boot or similar key listed during startup.

http://www.click2finding.com/click2.aspx?pr=Computers/Hardware/Technical_Support_and_Services/

Does not reboot at a certain time each day ... reboots everytime windows is loading ... never makes it to the Desktop or the logon welcome screen ... reboots before they are shown.

[TBoneit]

Have you tried booting off of the install CD and run chkdsk from the recovery console?

Before doing that download and run the Hard Drive Diagnostics from the drive maker.

Run a memory test, MS has one for download.

It seems that MS has found tha Vista has problems with memory that worked with XP. So making a memory test available is one to check for that.

[Robert Simandl]

Last time I had that happening, it turned out to be the CPU fan had stopped spinning. Replaced the CPU and all was well with the world again. If standard power supplies won't fit, check eBay for Sony power supplies.

[Bjs]

lacywest

Start with stripping back to a minimum system .

Only keyboard and mouse connected .

Remove power lead from pc , then remove all internal pci cards , and disconnect cd/dvdrom .

Check keyboard for sticking keys .
Check pc front power button is not jamming
Check reset switch from inside case ... some used to melt on older systems .
Give it a good clean out to remove dust build up , esspecially cpu heatsink fins and fan .
Take power lead from cd/dvdrom , and swap it with the one used on the hard drive .

Replace pc's power lead if possible (Leads can develope faults , and drive user insane searching for problem)

Boot into safe mode only .

Leave it in safe mode , preferably till it reboots .
Otherwise leave it in safemode for 2 hours .

----

If it reboots as it has been , then you need to look at driver conflict vs hardware .

Download hijackthis , and leave it on desktop .

In safe mode , login to admin account that now shows .
Go to control panel , system , hardware tab , device manager .
Uninstall all devices nolonger connected to pc ... do not reboot at any stage .
Start , run , type msconfig .
Disable all non-essential startup items such as messenger , quicktime , printer / camera utilities .
Now run hijackthis .
Disable again , any non-essential programs , and hit "fix checked"

As mention , and a few others

messenger , quicktime , printer / camera utilities , scanner , apple itunes , nero incd ... everything that is not essential to system operation .

I just reload xp + sp2 , and hijackthis only lists one item for ie .

Repeat a second scan , and save log this time ... you may want to post it for checking it's clean from problems .
Reboot system to check

You should also download the utitlities from you hard drives manufacturer , and run some tests on the hard drive .

You may have an issue with the drive which is not being reported by the system , for what ever reason ... it happens .

Still ... barring a complete os reinstall , its time to look at hardware .

Psu fault
Cpu heatsink compound faulty
Issue with motherboard .

This third one requires you to visually look very close to at capacitors .
what I am talking about : http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/capacitor.htm

Them things .

Check for discoloration when compared to matching units (indication of overheating) , although most pcs will still run well beyond this point .

Looking mostly for what appears as cracks on top , or a tar like substance ... need to be replaced .
I have had to pull motherboards out , only to find the bottoms had blown out ... can not be seen from above .

Thats a worse case scenario

The other two a pretty well straight forward , but

Should heatsink compound be at fault , you should only replace it with artic silver 5 ... do not use ordinary heat sink grease as sold by tandy , dick smith , radio shack ... you will most definitely stuff the pc completely .

The ordinary crap will vaporize leaving a clear oil substance on , and through the socket , and between the cpu pins ... a right mess which will short out the cpu's internals ... even if its cleaned and able to run , it will be very unstable system .

Before heading in this direction , it might be easier to backup your email account folder (its hidden under user account) , zip up your ie favourites , and collect all other data , and back it up .

Then perform a clean reinstall , basic , install only updated drivers required for connected devices , remembering you are currently running a stripped down system for trouble shooting purposes , and see how it runs for a while ... sometimes it the most brutal method of fixing ms's crap .

----

My current xp background tasks here are :

[TooLFooL]

what about memory? have you tried removing/replacing them? a bad memory stick will cause random restarts..

[friendlyzookeeper]

Just to add, a hard drive fan may help. A case fan or two. May sound like a b52 bomber. Hope you have enough power to run all that. I had problems with current from wall sockets. Alway around harvest time. The dryers would be on all night and day long, to dry the corn. With the power lines so old it would give a great drain. Small town problems! I have seen a drop down to 67 volts from a 110. That would be at start-up, I could hear them from my home.

[lacywest]

SMART ... was telling me my C Drive was failing ... I replaced it with a Western Digital 80GB ... that I took out of a Polaroid 2001G DVD Recorder and replaced with a 300 GB Seagate.

My main computer is up and running again.

I took the C-Drive [Seagate 120 GB] HD and connected it to a USB 2.0 adapter and it would not read ... I had to use Easy Recovery 6.04 to retrieve my lost data.

So ... yep ... it croaked big time ... I also ... supposely ... got my Outlook PST file without any errors too !! ....... dont know yet for sure I haven't tried to read the PST file ... ha ha ha ... it's close to 400 megs in size.