Computer randomly rebooting itself

[The6000LE]

Over the past month, my computer has begun to have problems. It all started on the 1st of April when I booted the PC up for the day. Basically, as WindowsXP was booting, the PC stopped, and then just reset itself back to the BIOS screen. It went to load XP a second time, and it just reset itself again. This loop would occur several times before it would actually enter into Windows.

Thinking that something with my software was corrupt, I went ahead and did a clean install of WinXP. However, the following day, the symptoms returned. (the reboot loop is guaranteed to happen during the 1st boot of each day – rather, when the PC has been powered off for a considerable time)

Since I have Windows 98 on the system (dual booting), I booted into it for a day, and had the same issue come about. It should also be noted that sometimes, after making it into either 98 or XP, that the PC can randomly reset at any given time…sometimes 5 minutes…sometimes 5 hours (unknown as to what is triggering it still.)

With software not being the problem, I narrowed it down to being something with hardware. I thought that this may be consistent with a bad power supply or faulty memory, so I purchased a new memory chip and installed a new power supply unit. However, it was as though my PC laughed at me, because with that new hardware, the reboot loop immediately kicked in.

I removed all unnecessary hardware (sound card, network card, floppy drive, cd-rom drive.) With those items missing, the reboot loop still was present. I plugged in spare hard drives, installed WinXP on them, and the reboot loop was still present (so it’s not my drive that WinXP resided on)…I also used different IDE cables when doing this. A friend of mine was kind enough to let me try out his video card. With that in the system, the reboot loop still happened.

That same friend had a spare motherboard, so I tossed that in. I have not had the reboot loop with it. Instead, the system will boot into XP, and then come to a dead freeze immediately. After one reset, I can go into XP fine (but will have random freezes later on, for instance, from playing a large video file.) Could it be that the same problem is in place, but the different motherboards are responding to it in a different way (rebooting is what one board does…system halt is what the other does)?

The only hardware that I have not tried to swap out would be my monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Could any of those cause this? Dying for ideas/suggestions/past experiences…thanks for any input guys!

 

[CDFREEK]

Try changing the battery on the motherboard it sounds to me that is the cause. Also what processor are you using becuase a Pentium 4 takes up alot of battery. Try this they are not much. But anything else I'm stumpped.

 

[The6000LE]

Well, first off, this is using a slot-1 Pentium III 550E processor.

I do not suspect this is a battery issue, as the problem is happening with two different motherboards (each having its own battery.)

Thanks for the suggestion, however.

 

[craigey]

I had a similar problem, but can't quite remember how I fixed it! However you could try Going to system properties, advanced tab, startup and recovery options and remove the check mark in the box telling your computer to automatically reboot.

Next time this happens, you see a BSOD and an error message, if you write down the error and post it. We may be able to solve the offending issue. My guess would be hardware, probably graphics card. But you have said that you tried a different one. So I don't know!

BTW which graphics cards did you try?

Also try running a virus scan. And remove all but one memory module. if problem still continues try 1 memory stick at a time.

Good Luck!

 

[The6000LE]

My video card in use is a Voodoo3 3500TV card. I cannot recall what my friend's card was. It should be noted that I never made it into WinXP with his; so I didn't get a thorough test with a different video card (such as setting up XP from scratch with it in the system.)

 

[mistanapesis]

I have been having this problem too, It would appear for me that it is a problem with my old PCI voodoo 4500 video drivers, at least thats what the blue screen says when you turn off auto reboot. I suspect with you using a Voodoo card too this may be the issue. If your unsure....Dont do it!

 

[DavidDCSA]

Three causes I have seen for random reboots have been excessive CPU heat, defective memory modules and AGP cards which "back out of" their slot.

In the case of heat, you may wish to confirm that the CPU and case fans are running and that there is no excessive dust buildup in the case.

In the case of memory, if you have more than one module, you may wish to try running with just one of your modules as a test (repeat the test for each of your modules).

In the case of AGP card, if you have one of the newer cards with the extra "tail piece", this is probably not your problem, but if your card does not have the extra "tail" to keep the card seated, you may wish to try removing and reinserting the card.

I hope this helps.

 

[The6000LE]

Problem resolved. After swapping out each hardware item, piece by piece, it turned out that my motherboard has gone bad. I'm now running all original hardware with a new motherboard (and a new install of WinXP as well) and everything's flawless. Thanks for the input everyone!