Random shutting off

[Omnipotent]

I recently purchased a new graphics card because my computer was giving me problems. About once a day - 2 days, my computer, no matter where I am.. in FFXI or searching the web. Will literally turn off, and restart itself. Almost like I am umplugging the power cord and then starting it back up. It did this with my old GC, and with my new. My comp will also sometimes freeze. Meaning not make a noise, but everyone on the screen will be still. And all my processes vent / skype will not work. All I see is basically a snap shot of what I was doing on my screen. Idk what it is... I have replaced my G card, and my PSU. Any idea? Forgot to mention I did install 2 more gigs of ram. I bought 4 1G chips and put them all in the same brand.

[Rockstaru]

I recently purchased a new graphics card because my computer was giving me problems. About once a day - 2 days, my computer, no matter where I am.. in FFXI or searching the web. Will literally turn off, and restart itself. Almost like I am umplugging the power cord and then starting it back up. It did this with my old GC, and with my new. My comp will also sometimes freeze. Meaning not make a noise, but everyone on the screen will be still. And all my processes vent / skype will not work. All I see is basically a snap shot of what I was doing on my screen. Idk what it is... I have replaced my G card, and my PSU. Any idea? Forgot to mention I did install 2 more gigs of ram. I bought 4 1G chips and put them all in the same brand.

A friend of mine was having a similar problem with a server he set up on an old XPS710. The server would be running fine, and would just randomly restart, with no apparent pattern. I let him borrow my computer briefly (also an XPS710, just a lot more robust) to swap the ram around. My four 1GB sticks worked fine in his XPS, but mine wouldn't boot with his sticks installed. Try testing out the RAM in another machine, or use a program like Memtest86 (Memtest86.com - Memory Diagnostic). (The RAM he was trying to use in the old XPS710 was brand new from Crucial, not just some old sticks he had laying around.)

[Mayareira]

Random reboot/restart is a very common RAM related problem. Try re-installing them, if it doesn't help use your computer without your new RAMs for a while and see if they are actually causing the reboots.

[Spekkio]

turn off automatic reboot on error. if your reboots are caused by bluescreens, you can nab the stop code and we can help you more.
right click my computer>properties>advanced>startup and recovery>settings>uncheck automatically restart. if it is bluescreening, it's more likely a driver or bad memory imo. if it's not, it could be hardware such as an underpowered power supply or a bad motherboard or something like that.

[Day]

Could also be overheating I think. I would make sure your fans/vents are all clean. There's a lot of free programs that can monitor temps as well.

[Rockstaru]

Could also be overheating I think. I would make sure your fans/vents are all clean. There's a lot of free programs that can monitor temps as well.

Try CoreTemps if you're looking for a CPU temperature monitor. If you're looking to monitor your GPU as well, GPU-Z will do that, but that doesn't sound like it's causing you grief at the moment.

[Okan]

Could also be overheating I think. I would make sure your fans/vents are all clean. There's a lot of free programs that can monitor temps as well.

I was thinking this also, but from my experience, overheating typically causes the PC to turn off and stay off to prevent damage and give it a few minutes to cool down a few degrees. Restarting wouldn't really allow that. Then again, I'm sure there have been cases where it has just restarted.

[Kurt Cobain]

unless it was a 1x4GB RAM kit that had a properly set EPP chip for running 4 separate sticks (timings, voltage) then over/undervoltage can cause restarting, plus I'm guessing a 32 bit OS and 4GB on a 32 bit OS can be a bit wonky (and only recognize 3.2xx? of it) get memtest, burn it and boot from it, its usually apparent if your RAM is fucked right away but you can let it run overnight to be sure

[Omnipotent]

Yea its 32 bit, and it reads something like 3500 ram in my PC. Purchased memtest. will be here in about 2bagillion years so it says. Will report back when it arrives

[Spekkio]

Yea its 32 bit, and it reads something like 3500 ram in my PC. Purchased memtest. will be here in about 2bagillion years so it says. Will report back when it arrives

purchased? i hope i'm getting wooshed here.

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
download. burn. run.

[Omnipotent]

Its 10 bucks and I dont have the drive to burn it.

[Omnipotent]

Update: Got Memtest, ran it everything passed.

Couple things I have noticed. I used to leave my comp on 24/7. I would turn FFXi off and all applications but MSN/AIM, and lock my computer. But now I turn my computer off at night, and ever since I have done that... starting 4 days ago... I have yet to have a random shut down. Really kind of annoying because I like to leave movies Dling and my guy zaaring shit.

[Omnipotent]

Getting me pissed off. Only does it whem Rainbow six vegas 2 / FFXI or L4D is running I noticed. I have a 600W PSU, and my old PSU was 300W. Got a new Gcard the 9800GT Nvidia which is why I got the 600W.

[Mandog]

If you have already ran a MEMTEST (make sure to run it overnight) and got no errors then you could have either

A: Heating issue, your PC will shutdown or reboot itself if it reaches an unsafe temp. As in playing games for half the day, you CPU bakes.

B: Make sure you have the latest Video Card Drivers for you system.

C: Make sure that you PSU can handle the equipment you have. Run something like Everest Ultimate Edition and check stats.

D: Make sure that the voltage for the new memory you installed is correct. check this under you bios settings, under load you might need to increase MEM VOLT or Southbridge VOLT. Check the MFGs site for what your settings should be.

Lastly a failing HDD can also cause random shutoffs run what ever software the MFG has for the HDD to check if its ok.

Good Luck.

[Omnipotent]

If you have already ran a MEMTEST (make sure to run it overnight) and got no errors then you could have either

A: Heating issue, your PC will shutdown or reboot itself if it reaches an unsafe temp. As in playing games for half the day, you CPU bakes.

B: Make sure you have the latest Video Card Drivers for you system.

C: Make sure that you PSU can handle the equipment you have. Run something like Everest Ultimate Edition and check stats.

D: Make sure that the voltage for the new memory you installed is correct. check this under you bios settings, under load you might need to increase MEM VOLT or Southbridge VOLT. Check the MFGs site for what your settings should be.

Lastly a failing HDD can also cause random shutoffs run what ever software the MFG has for the HDD to check if its ok.

Good Luck.

Thanx man, will try them all.

[Kurt Cobain]

take out 2 sticks of RAM and see if it still crashes, also, control panel -> system -> advanced -> startup/recovery settings -> uncheck auto restart on system failure, then tell us what the bluescreen says. 4 gigs is overkill and generally doesn't even work properly unless you got a 4 GB kit, from what it sounds like you have 4 separate 1GB sticks.

[Omnipotent]

take out 2 sticks of RAM and see if it still crashes, also, control panel -> system -> advanced -> startup/recovery settings -> uncheck auto restart on system failure, then tell us what the bluescreen says. 4 gigs is overkill and generally doesn't even work properly unless you got a 4 GB kit, from what it sounds like you have 4 separate 1GB sticks.

I cant find uncheck autostart to save my fucking life, lolvista. I am removing 2gb of ram, yea they are 4 1GB.

[Spekkio]

if you tap f8 on bootup, you can also temporarially disable restart on error (i think on vista. i know for a fact on xp.) and get the info that way. that's what i've really wanted to see thus far as a handfull of crash reports would make figuring out the problem far easier.