PC Reset problem

[Benchwayze]

While we are talking about PC's.
My PC resets itself without warning, sometimes four or five times an hour. Then it might go for hours without trouble.
I have de installed every program in turn to find the culprit as Windows says it's a driver problem. No success in tracing the problem cause.

When I took off AOL, and deinstalled the modem, the trouble went away.
AOL say they have no knowledge of any issues.

Anyone else with this problem please? And if so, have you solved it without changing ISP's.

Or maybe it's just AOL catering for Vista, and forgetting there are those of us still on 32 bit and using Windows XP.

Cheers and thanks in anticipation

John

 

[Fecn]

Sounds like a heat realated problem... If you take the side of the PC, you'll almost certainly find that one or more of the fans inside has stopped spinning...

Get the hoover on them and clean out the dust... and if that's not enough.. put a drip of oil on the fan bearings... I do this annually with all my PCs

 

[Benchwayze]

Thanks Fcn.

I will have a look, but I have only just updated this PC and No. 1 Son advised new fans, which he tested when we put it together. (Well I let him do most of the work!)

Naturally, we cleaned any dust from components that weren't replaced. (which was just the motherboard really.)

But I will get Son to come in and we'll check it out again. Windows error reporting sevice insist it's a driver related problem though.

Never had this problem before, and my PC's are on mostly all day every day! Unless I am in the workshop.
John

 

[RobertMP]

I'd agree with Fecn. Based on what you have said the heat sink is not fitted properly.

Driver errors and all sorts of random events occur with overheating.

take the side of the case off.... point a desk fan at the innards and don't do much with the computer. if it keeps working you have the problem identified.
Turn the deskfan off and run some programs and see if it crashes to prove it.

 

[Benchwayze]

Thanks Robert.
I am using No 2 PC until tomorrow, so when I put AOL on that, I will see if it is indeed AOL.
No. One Son can come and recheck the heatsink!
Thanks again both for prompt reply and heklp.
Appreciated.
John

 

[RobertMP]

Oh and also... go to control panel >system >advanced tab and click the settings button for 'startup and recovery'. untick the box for 'automatically restart'.

Now instead of just rebooting you will get the good old 'blue screen of death' and can note and later google the error messages should it really be a driver fault.

 

[Benchwayze]

Thanks again Robert. I have seen the dreaded blue scren once or twice.
Also, come to think of it, this morning the PC reset itself within two minutes of booting up. Would it likely get that hot in so short a time, if it was a heat problem?

Cheers
John.

 

[Slim]

There are several worm viruses that cause system reboots. Have you done a scan?

 

[Dave S]

When I took off AOL, and deinstalled the modem, the trouble went away.
AOL say they have no knowledge of any issues.

Funny that!! You wouldn't be the first to discover that all their problems go away and life becomes rosy again after ditching AOL . :?

I do agree, though, that the symptoms are typical of overheating type problems.

Dave

 

[RogerS]

Agree with all the recommendations. Certainly it sounds like heat related but then you did say that it went away when you ditched AOL (always a good poilcy). The proof will be if you put AOL back on the same machine and not on another PC since you are then adding another variable to the equation.

My recommendation is to put AOL back on the original PC and see how you get on. If it comes back then ditch AOL permanently and join up to someone like Zen.

Of course, you know what I really recommend you do to resolve the problem permanently :wink:

 

[Benchwayze]

Thanks again people.
I get your message re AOL, but it takes so flipping long to tell everyone about new addresses etc. Mind you it would stop the spam for a while!
Never heard of Zen. Is it cable I wonder. SWMIBO won't have cable. Too much disruption!


As for buying a new PC altogether, It's an idea, but just now I am spending money on a better workshop. Priorities y'know!


Thanks again folks and Stay Lucky.

John

 

[RogerS]

As for buying a new PC altogether, It's an idea, but just now I am spending money on a better workshop. Priorities y'know!

John, I was thinking more along the lines of a more fruitful computer :lol:

You can find many posts on the forum about Zen and it's not cable so you're OK there.

Whereabouts in the West Midlands are you?

 

[Benchwayze]

Hi Roger,

I am in North Birmingham and live inside Walsall boundary, but with a Brum addrress. Near Junct. 7 M5. (Got a mate in Malvern too as it happens!)

The phone line is BT, and I have been looking at their packages, which would save me £10.00 a month immediately!

As to a more fruitful PC, this one has the best spec that I can get with 32 bit. ..

Unless you are talking MAC? At the moment any new system would be unecessary expense as I am trying to build a separate home for the lathe and get rid of the junk my daughter left us with, when she found herself a rented place.

Sometimes hobbies conflict and I can earn money with the woodwork! Ahhhhhha! :tool: ccasion5:
I am going to let my Son have another look. I still don't understand that if this is a heat problem, why does it happen within minutes of switching on when the machine has been off all night?

Ah they call it progress!

Cheers and Stay Lucky

John

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks again people.
I get your message re AOL, but it takes so flipping long to tell everyone about new addresses etc. Mind you it would stop the spam for a while!
Never heard of Zen. Is it cable I wonder. SWMIBO won't have cable. Too much disruption!


As for buying a new PC altogether, It's an idea, but just now I am spending money on a better workshop. Priorities y'know!


Thanks again folks and Stay Lucky.

John

I always thought the same about cable and disruption but I got virgin media to route all cables around the outside of my property and come in to where needed through outside walls to a socket at the spot wanted.
So nothing is disturbed indoors apart from a socket like an electric socket/plug set with lead to appliance.

 

[RogerS]

Hi John

Yes..I was teasing you with my references to Macintosh's :wink:

Re heat....if, for example, it was related to the CPU/heat sink as suggested by others then it doesn't take long for the CPU to get hot.

 

[Benchwayze]

There you go you see.
The PC has been on and in use for about three to four hours now. No resets!

Wouldn't cables have to be routed under my new drive and new back yard paving? Wouldn't want that disturbed!

John :shock:

 

[dennyk]

re your email address changing, I used to have that problem.

I only use hotmail now so if I change ISP's, my email address stays the same,with regards to AOL, IMHO, and from past experience with it, I would not recommend AOL to anyone, I had loads of trouble on my PC, until I found out that AOL seems to have their own version of Internet Explorer. and then I got rid of AOL and most of my problems ceased.

 

[Benchwayze]

Thanks for that Denny,

Yes, I have a separate email address too, and I am busy collecting email adresses to let everyone know!

Though who I shall go for as an ISP I don't yet know.
Thanks for that.
Obliged and be lucky
John

 

[soapy]

Hi John, I too have had this problem. I'm with aol as well and have a netgear router and have traced the cause to the connection dropping which seems to make the computer restart. I ran the machine with the router turned off and had no problems. The service really seems to have gone down hill since carphone warehouse took over and it's expensive to boot.
Regards
Soapy

 

[chippy1970]

AOL are rubbish not much more you can say but if you speak to any PC proffesional they will say dont put anything AOL on your pc there stuff is as bad as a virus.