Computer rebooted by itself; works now. What's going on?

[JacksonVFR]

I'll try to make this quick and to the point. Could any software problem cause the computer to reboot XP Pro without shutting down? About 30 minutes ago I got a black screen and what looked to me like a normal reboot. I did not hear any unusual beeps.

At the time I had about 4 firefox windows up in tab-browsing, some youtube stuff, and I was also trying to load a video file with WMP ver 10. I'm CERTAIN the video wasn't a virus, but I had trouble playing it in WMP earlier today. I had to play it in Divx instead, which it did play/work in. It needed a codec for WMP though and I'd forgotten and tried to load it that way again. Anyways, it may have been a coincidence, but that's when the computer rebooted abnormally.

Does this seem like a probable software problem? I really hope that none of my hardware is about to crap out. Thanks guys, I'll be back to check this in about 12 hrs.

 

[TheLad]

I would check the Event Viewer to see if there is anything reported in there about a critical error.

I would also run a virus scan just to be sure.

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"Insert funny comment in here!"
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[JacksonVFR]

Hi, TheLad. Thanks, I just checked event viewer. I had to look up a tutorial of how to find it, I did, but I'm not sure what to look for specifically. I see a few "error" tags, and one around the time it happened, but there were also some of the same earlier today.

I did run a virus scan and it came up clean. Do you think it still could software that did this? My machine has been running for over an hour now fine. In fact, besides not showing the shutting down/save screen before rebooting, it was a "normal" reboot.

 

[2ffat]

Its possible that you have your PC set up to reboot after a critical error. The error in the event viewer should give you a hint. It could be either software or hardware.

When my PC started doing this, it was only a short time before it died. :-( That doesn't mean your is on its last legs but backup often just to be safe.



James P. Cottingham
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[sup]I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229![/sup]

 

[JacksonVFR]

2ffat, I think I made a mistake there. The event viewer showed a few other errors earlier in the day and I don't think there is one for the time my reboot occured. I probably should've posted this in hardware instead.

Anyways, I'll back up to be safe. This probably does indicate I have a hardware problem on my hands, huh? I wish there was a way to tell ahead of time. Can I look for bulging capacitors in the power supply, motherboard or somewhere? My hard-drive is only 6 months old, so I would say it's not that. I have a CPU temp software running constantly, and it reads normal, so it's not that. My whole system is about 3-4 years old and was purchased new.

 

[linney]

To get further information about any error look in your Event viewer.

Look in the System or Application folder. You can get to the Event Viewer via right click My Computer icon and select Manage.

Any errors logged in the Event Viewer can be expanded by double clicking on the error line.

Take any event error I.D. number and search for it on these sites.

http://www.eventid.net/events.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/support/ee/search.aspx

Also check any "Information" line that mentions "savedump" and you should find reference to "recovered from a bug check". This is the Stop Error that caused your problem.

You can also turn off "automatically restart after an error" so it will just halt at the fault and display the full Stop Error and blue screen.

Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties .
On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery .
Click to clear the Automatically restart check box under System failure , and then click OK . The error message on a blue screen should remain on the screen so you can record the error information.

http://www.winxptutor.com/eventlog.htm

 

[firewolfrl]

Microsofts great idea of having the computer reboot after it updates (I am being sarcastic).
check your setting for automatic updates and see if that is what happened

 

[JacksonVFR]

***UPDATE***

Thanks for the replies everyone, I read them all but nothing came of finding out what exactly happened, so I shrugged it off. Today I disassembled my computer and gave it a quick dust-cleaning. When I turned it back on, I heard a funny "bzzzzzt" spinning noise. I quickly turned it off, then tried again. It was one of my cheap-o 80mm case fans. So my question now is, could this have been a hardware problem? Could my fan have been acting up last week, causing that reboot?

Anyhow, it's unplugged now and I'm running off of two instead of four fans. Stays cool. At least it's winter!

 

[2ffat]

If your computer got hot enough, yes, you would get an error and a reboot.



James P. Cottingham
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[sup]I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229![/sup]

 

[JacksonVFR]

Hi 2ffat. No, it wasn't heat, because I took both fans out now. In fact, I only had them in a few months (put them in during summer, and even then it didn't over heat, I just like to be safe and keep it cool). I use motherboard monitor and my processor temps were fine when it had rebooted too. So, I doubt it was heat.

Could my fan have had a bad wire/loose connection that caused the reboot?

 

[2ffat]

I can think of two odd-ball things (takes one to know a couple, right?) that might have happened. First, if the fan was going bad, it might have pulled more current that it was supposed to. This might have caused the reboot.

The other is if the fan was going bad, its motor might have contributed to a heating problem. I suspect the former and not the latter but I've seen some very strange things in my life (e.g. looking in the mirror every morning).


James P. Cottingham
-----------------------------------------
[sup]I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229![/sup]

 

[JacksonVFR]

Thanks 2ffat, that was helpful! You know, that fan that I thought was "bad" and caused all that noise the other day, I just decided to try it with a very old '98 Intel Celeron machine. The fan sounded fine, maybe a little "clicky" when started, but basically like a normal fan. I wonder if the power connector on that thing is whacked.

Before I started my computer the other day and heard that strange sound, like mentioned before, I had been inside of it cleaning dust. I unhooked all the fans (mainly to clean my side window/panel, easier if detached of course). I recall one of the fan plugs being a bit difficult to get back in. So that takes the mystery to a different level. Anyhow, for now I'll associate the reboot with the fan and hope nothing is wrong.

As an aside for all my worry, a couple summers ago this same machine shut down or rebooted by itself (I'd forgotten). A week or two later the processor died on me. So, exuse my worry-wart-ness!