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Computer restarts for no reason

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We have a user who’s Dell Dimension machine running Win98 keeps restarting for no reason. It is hooked up to an APC UPS. I ran Dell diagnostics and it showed the hardware components to be in working condition. I decided to disconnect it from the UPS and run it on a surge protector. THe past 5 days it has been fine with no restarts.

THis morning when the user came in the machine diplayed a blue screen error that stated the following: Warning! System memory is running very low. NAV auto-protect may not be able to function properly.

Any ideas? Is the processor, power supply, motherboard, or perhaps memory module? Any help is appreciated.

Topic

Site layout – possible resolution

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

This website is very informative in the sense of its layout. There is a Discussion forum where people discuss topics and share ideas relating to just about everything.

There is also a Questions and Answers forum where people with computer related errors or wierd things like flashing explorert screens can post a question and receive many answers erlated to their problem. These questions have a point value attahced to them and the person who is selected as offering the best answer is awardedthe points. (We’re still trying to figure out how to use the points).

1) Add RAM
2) if enough RAM in system, run spyware scan (http://www.lavasoft.nu) download ADAWARE
3) Run virus scan AVG Free edition (http://www.grisoft.com)

Also

In reply to Site layout – possible resolution

In a business where I ran in to the same problem we found that the business’s wireing was installed in an interesting manner and when the other offices and business’s went home at night the computers and lots of other stuff was left to run on batteries alone. Also when the factory across the road – its offices were downstairs in the basement started up the whole building had problems. Gee I’m not sure where to start on other war stories?

RIVER FREIGHT

What the hell?

In reply to Also

Sorry man , but what the hell are you talkig about.

You haven’t addressed or answered anything for the poster?!?

Could be bad RAM

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

A lot of times phantom re-starts are caused by too much heat in the case (open it up & clean it out – make sure fans are operable). Or it could be a bad stick of RAM. Try removing all but one stick of RAM, testing each one at a time (or do a wholesale swap of RAM if you’ve got extra.)

Power Suppy

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

I too have experienced this. You should try changing out the power supply and work from there. Your mobo could be shorting. Blow it out and if the changing of the power supply doesn’t work, try switching out the mobo.

Need to restart Win98

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

Well, you could be having trouble with your UPS, since it went 5 days without restarting after disconnecting the UPS, but your user should be restarting a Win98 system every day, or you can get exactly the same error message anywhere from 2-10 days after the most recent restart. Win98 is known to have memory leaks, and will absolutely fail in, I believe, 49.7 days. (Documented issue from Microsoft)

System heat, as I have seen in other messages, can cause the problem, so a good cleaning is probably in order. Bad RAM usually causes such things within the first hour or two, because it gets about as hot as it’s going to get in that amount of time.

However, the system can randomly restart sometimes when the Swap File is corrupted. If you restart in DOS and delete the win386.swp file, it may or may not help. I seldom worry about diagnosing an issue like this as a hardware issue without reinstalling Windows, however, because it is usually some corrupted file or other causing the problem, rather than hardware.

BIOS Up to Date

In reply to Need to restart Win98

Agree with Ryk, it sounds like faulty memory and/or heat (ck power supply and fan operation).

However, is the BIOS up to date?

I’ve also seen PCs restart because of faulty keyboards or mouse??

Did you

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

Did you here a buzzing or beepping sound when the computer restarted and then did you run the proper maintence when you unplug the ups like scandisk or defrag ….

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Reply To: Computer restarts for no reason

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

alot of problems come from the power supply… if its an AT board- scrap everything and toss out the board and PSU- keep ram and expansion cards…

… i have a natural hatred of at cases – and their razor edges… and the psu removal difficulty. Help Keep the AT Population to a minimal!

VIRUS

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

Obviously!

My Questons…..

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

Dose the fan on the back of the power supply spin?

Is the box full of dust?

Are all cables pulged in and secure?
Is there a really bad case of operator error?

If so, fix these easy problems first, as they need to be addressed anyway…

Computer restarts for no reason

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

i have worked on a number of dell’s and gateways that keep doing this. almost everytime, it turns out to be a flakey power supply. Replacing it normally fixes the prob.

Buy a MAC!

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

If you go out and buy a MAC you won’t have any problems. Since switching to a MAC a year ago my computing experience has improved 10 fold. I never need to reboot unless installing software, I haven’t seen a single error once and it just keeps running without any performance degradation.

Sounds like my Win2K laptop.

In reply to Buy a MAC!

I have seen more peolpe change from MAC to PC than from PC to MAC and have never regretted tha move.

Now, if you had said Linux, I would agree with your stability points.

What OS?

In reply to Computer restarts for no reason

That would be a start.

Think you missed a bit Les

In reply to What OS?

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