rebooting problem

[mooo]

What are somethings that would cause a computer to randomly reboot?
In the computer lab i work in they just do it anytime, just turning on & pooof, in the middle of typing report or just idle with nothing open. I checked some of the boxes and their cpu fans had not worked in who knows how long but all the others that reboot the fans are working. The boxes are kinda cheap athlonxp 1.1 with 512 pc133. PCUSA or what ever mobo's so not the greatest but i wouldn't expect them just to reboot like they are.

 

[Enyo]

I normally find random rebooting is caused by drivers, i could name a few firewalls that install drivers that cause this.

Also of course investigate hardware, particularly the memory.

 

[mooo]

I was thinking it might the RAM but sitll not sure, was looking for random reasons

 

[rushm001]

Dodgy power supply perhaps? If the ok power signal to the motherboard from the power supply goes briefly it can cause the computer to reset or hang.

 

[mooo]

well we just changed the power supply today and that didn't work 🙁

 

[Xie]

random reboots eh? 1st few things that come to mind are power, power supply, and heat ... also drivers as Enyo said 🙂

if its none of those I would at least check system logs ... maybe something would have error'd before the reboot?

 

[dreamliner77]

Make sure system isn't set to automatically reboot on crash. (under Sys Properties>advanced)

 

[shox]

if you installed the motherboard into the case yourself, check to see you have no extra screws installed under the mobo. they may touch the board causing a short.

 

[GoNz0]

do what dreamliner says m8.

 

[mooo]

thanks for all the replies, will check some of the stuff tomorrow.. one last thing
is 300watt enough just for a athlonxp-52x cdrom-floppy-40gig hd ?

 

[dreamliner77]

sounds good, but what's your video card?

 

[mooo]

all onboard video/nic/sound

 

[GoNz0]

that's a yes then.

 

[Xie]

that's a yes then.

as long as its a descent psu 😉

 

[LeeJend]

Software
Old operating systems like 98/95 are not that stable
Application software with stability problems or that never deallocate memory

Hardware
Power quality - either the power supply or at the plug. UPS may be required.
Bad Expansion Card - video, audio, etc.
Bad Motherboard - features dying
Bad CPU - unlikely but it happens
Bad Ram - even less likely but it happens. Slow down the CL
Bad Cables - power mainly, maybe IDE
Corrosion on connectors
Overheating CPU or RAM

That's all I can think of right now.

To save money since you have a lab full of assets to play with start swapping parts between a good PC and frequent rebooter, one part at a time. If the problem jumps machines you have a bad part isolated.

 

[mooo]

right now the only thing i can think of is that the boxes are getting overheated andas a failsafe just rebooting. My old Tbird did it so i guess that is it. Going to pick up some casefans tonight and hope that will fix the problem.

thanks for all the help also 🙂

 

[breezie]

a virus would do it too~

 

[mooo]

I don't think heat is a concern, i was on one of the boxes just now and had the side pannel off and cpu cool running, all was about 70F so i put backon the side pannel and when it touched the case the box rebooted. could/would static electricity cause it to do it like that?

 

[GoNz0]

service the pc mate, strip it to bits, take the motherboard out and clean both sides, making sure your taking static precausions. ie leave the power cable in, but switched off, ground yourself to the case and you will discharge any static.
clean every part, use a pencil rubber to clean off all electric connections down all the pci cards in there etc. shift all dust and look for a stray loose screw, you never know.

 

[Xie]

I don't think heat is a concern, i was on one of the boxes just now and had the side pannel off and cpu cool running, all was about 70F so i put backon the side pannel and when it touched the case the box rebooted. could/would static electricity cause it to do it like that?

you got an athlon 1.1ghz running @ 70°F => 21.11°C ?