Why would a computer be restarting itself over and over?

Answer 1

While some of the entries below may work, most are simply too complicated for the average user and many are overkill. If it is spontaneously rebooting at relatively regular intervals it is MORE than likely a cooling problem. If no hardware has been changed inside the case since before it started doing it then that is most likely not the problem. Assuming all of the above, probably all you really need to do is check for a faulty fan (if the fan is the problem USUALLY it will be making noise different from what it was before the problem started.) If faulty, simply replace it. If the fan appears to be good then check for dust build up in the heat sink (sits on top of the processor and generally has a fan on top of it or a plastic conduit of sorts so it can utilize the case fan) or vents in the case housing itself. If, and only if, that doesn't fix your problem THEN you can consider doing some of the other stuff listed below. IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT, DON'T DO ANYTHING EXCEPT TAKE IT TO A COMPUTER TECH AND LET THEM TROUBLESHOOT IT FOR YOU. Simply replacing parts, unless you happen to have identical spares laying around, can drive the cost of repair very quickly to the point where you would have been much better off to have simply taken it to a professional to begin with.

Answer:

If your computer is about 5 years old, it could be capacitors on the motherboard.

Answer:

The problem could be a software conflict. You should probably uninstall any newly installed software and clean out the registry of any corrupt entries and remove all .tmp files from the hard drive. Also, check that your services start normally and there are no conflicts there either.

Answer:

It could be your CPU getting hot. Check the heat sink to see if it is hot. It could also be your RAM (get memtest and run it for a few hours) and it could be your power supply.

Answer:

You might have the w32.sasser worm (a backdoor Trojan). Norton AV has info and fixes for this for free.

Answer:

You could have the shut down temperature too low. You change this in the BIOS.

Answer:

The other side of the above answer, instead of your computers shut down temperature being too low, maybe your computer is just generating a lot of heat. You can check your running CPU temp at the BIOS screen.

If it's running to hot you can either add more cooling, or knock down how much heat is being produced.

To lower the temp you might do the exact opposite of overclocking (underclocking?), slow down your CPU and BUS speeds.

If you want better cooling add more fans, or if you really want it cool, install a water cooling system. It's more expensive (at least a hundred dollars) but it's worth it. Try the Aquaries Aquatake gear if your CPU temp is the problem.

Other products to consider: A digital temperature gauge that loads into an empty bay, so that you can just look at your computer and judge the heat.

More fans, maybe with some cool LED action.

A multi-speed fan controller, which will act like the gears on your ten speed bike. Multiple gears means multiple different fan speeds, and many will allow you to control many fans.

Answer:

Check APM settings in Control Panel

Answer:

The power settings probably have it do that. To keep it from doing that go to start > settings > control panel> power options> and make sure everything is on never. That might fix it.

Answer:

Make sure that your computer gets plenty of ventilation. Don't put it inside of a cabinet, or some other place where it doesn't get adequate air circulation. Move things like books and boxes from around it. Clean out the dust. Are the heat sinks plugged with dust?

Overheating can cause the capacitors on the motherboard to leak or explode, rendering your motherboard useless. If in doubt, ventilate.

Answer:

In addition to the above problems, you could also have bad RAM. To find out of your RAM is bad, swap it out with a set of good RAM (from another machine that is working, or if you don't have another computer perhaps you could borrow some from a friend). If the problem ceases, replace your RAM. If you swap it out and still have the same problem, then your problem lies elsewhere.

Answer:

Everything On the Page is a Possibility

If you are using Windows XP it could be faulty software or some sort of missing file in the Windows XP OS. Windows XP comes with a nifty little feature that detects software errors that can potentially fry some piece of hardware in your computer. If you are getting thrown face first into a blue screen with white text, it should tell you that it terminated Windows for the sake of your investment in the computer hardware (that's in a nutshell pretty much). If you do get the blue screen just reinstall Windows, but im guessing its just totally shutting down when you say "reboot". Its not common for Windows to hit a software malfunction and instantly reboot (should go to the the blue screen of death) but it still happens more frequently than it should. But for the most part it is probably not bad RAM seeing that if the RAM was bad it would not get past the motherboard diagnostic screens (the ones that tell you the Masters, slaves, and total RAM in KB) seeing the computer has no Random Access Memory to temporarily store and swap files for the tasks needed to run when you boot Windows. Obviously the RAM does work enough and everything is probably just fine as it is functioning enough to get to Windows and is a sign that it is overheating.

As stated above, overheating is probably the major concern here. Try leaving the side of the case off and letting it vent. Get some canned air computer duster and clean out the Fan and heatsink on the processor just incase that's what is overheating it. It is usually the CPU or Graphics Card that is overheating. If you think RAM is overheating, tape a stack of 2 or 3 pennies to each chip on the stick, copper makes for a good heat conductor. If the power supply is getting old it could be creating spikes in the computer's power. Don't count out the fact that it could be a problem with your home's power. Your power could cause a brownout. If you think that might be the start of all of this, get a UPS[Uninterrupted Power Supply] to fix the flux problem then a new PSU plus what ever you think is faulty(of course).

Do not plug in any good pieces of hardware into your computer until you know for certain that its just that piece, whatever it may be, that is toasted out only. Otherwise a messed up motherboard could just fry whatever you just bought or tried to use in about a nanosecond.

If none of the Answers here work for you and don't help by reading this, start from the top and work your way down. Determine your house's power stability (please, always use a Power Strip with the 3rd prong unless you want to watch your PC go *ZUMP* in the middle of a thunderstorm).

Simple guidelines to follow when figuring out the stability. Does my screen seem to flicker/shake when something turns on? Does the light on the power strip flick on an off or dim in and out? If possible buy a UPS and a large wattage capacity PSU from a trusted manufacturer (those generic ones are a great way to end a PC too).

Move onto the RAM and determine their status, usually by swapping as stated in an above Answer. If you have 2 sticks of RAM and more ports than you have ram, try taking one out, then swapping it and using the same port with the stick you took out first then just repeat the process down the line of RAM slots one at a time. If there is still no go, find someone gullible enough to test a potentially hazardous piece of hardware in their computer.

Next move onto the CPU, check the CPU Fan RPMs then figure out what the standard RPMs for that Fan is (you can figure this one out by probably looking around on the box to the fan or the fan itself most of the time). If you figure the CPU is overheating, which happens 75% of the time, get a water coolant system if possible or buy a High RPM fan with a tall copper (not copper plated) heatsink and find a good brand of Thermal Paste. Extensions you can buy for the standard heatsinks and fan setups are almost useless. Buy a Fan tube instead so it will direct the heat out of the case instead of just dispersing it inside the case.

Testing a CPU can get annoying considering finding someone willing and has the same socket as you do is extremely tough to find. If you cant find anywhere to test it, just leave it there and move along to the next step.

Check the Graphics card any way possible, not exactly hard to find a someone with a AGP or PCIe anymore. Next comes the hard and disc drives. If they boot up when you turn it on you should be good to go. If you are not satisfied with listening for some whirling and humming, it is even easier to find someone willing to test a HD or a CD/DVD. If you can't find someone to do that, just unplug the CD/DVD drives and go into your motherboard BIOS (assuming it at least gets to that point) and change boot device to a HDD.

Answer:

The issue could be the age of the computer or that there is a system failure

• Check the motherboard capacitors. If they seem bulged from top and bottom with fluid popped out (if gone worse), the caps should be replaced.

Note that replace-capacitors should balance voltage. (New caps should be of the same voltage.)

There won't be the exact original cap available in store. But you could replace with same capacitance and a different voltage (larger).

Answer 2

The specifics would depend on the computer and operating system (Windows, Linux, Mac OS, PalmOS, etc.), but in general this usually means the startup disk has problems. Reboot from another disk, such as a bootable CD/DVD, floppy, or whatever you have, and try running a disk repair utility on the startup disk. You may have to restore it from your last full backup, or reinstall the OS, applications, and so forth. For a PalmOS PDA, something in memory has gotten corrupted. You'll need to hold down the power button during one of the restarts and hard reset it (directions will appear on the screen after you release the power button). Then it's a matter of HotSyncing to restore your PDA from the last backup. Your computer may be infected by viruses,you should update your antivirus. But, sometimes when your computer isn't use it will come to normal again.

Answer 3

Your computer could be overheating. To fix this just remove the dust that's in your computer.