Computer freezing/restarting on it's own

[Atma]

Since yesterday, my computer would either freeze or restart on it's own once every 1-4 hours, on the hour. Having experienced something like this before in the past and knowing that overheating was most likely the problem, I opened the computer (Yes, I grounded myself first) and cleaned out the film of dust that was covering all the vents and installed a temperature gauge program. Some googling told me that 50-70 Celsius is over heating, and 80-90 causes permanent damage. My computer never rises above a frosty 35-38, so I don't think overheating is the problem.

Some other basic trouble shooting answers I've dug up haven't helped me either; it isn't a virus (I did actually catch three trojans on my first scan, but I've dealt with those and haven't turned up anything else on subsequent scans), it isn't faulty newly installed hardware (Last thing I put in the computer was a graphics card + ram, which was only a couple months after I got it), I know my mouse/keyboard drivers are on the level (When the computer freezes, the keyboard/mouse doesn't simply stop responding, the computer clock and programs just freeze entirely), and trying to stop the auto restarting (My computer/Properties/Startup and Recovery Settings/Uncheck automatic restart) hasn't stopped the auto restarting (Windows XP, btw).

As it stands now the problem is only a nuisance, but I really don't want it developing into something worse. Any ideas would be welcome.

[Vandole]

i had a similar problem, check the vent on it.. see if its covered in dust...
my pc would shut itself off while i played games for the longest time, could never figure it out why til a friend suggested i replace my thermal paste on my processor.. so i got some paste from the local pc shop(the guy gave it to me for free, lol.) and when i went to take the side of the tower off, i noticed the vent on my fan was covered in dust.
it peeled right off, and now it works fine. i replaced the paste anyway though.

hope this helps

[Isiolia]

Once you've made sure that it's not dust or a component that isn't seated anymore or something....

Do a RAM check. You can find Memtest n' such CDs around. The Ultimate Boot CD includes several. Just reasonably small ISO images to download/burn and boot from. I had problems with RAM months after building my PC. Just randomly reset my computer when I clicked on a video file, and then wouldn't boot up right again. Hadn't had the thing open for quite some time either.

Run a disk check. You may have a corrupt file that the computer is crashing when it tries to access or something.

Look at any drivers you may have updated recently, or "extra" devices. I actually had a wireless card that would cause the computer to hard lock after a short time.

[mootsfox]

I'm amusing you don't overclock at all, so I'll rule that out.

What are the specs on your system? It sounds like a failing PSU or corrupt HDD section.

[Atma]

This morning I took off everything that was connected to the computer, vacuumed the spot where it stood (Which I haven't done in years, so there was a lot of stuff there), cleaned out all the dust around the area and inside the computer, and moved it to the left so it's elevated off the ground on my little entertainment stand thing. I guess it worked, because apparently my CPU is a good 8 degrees cooler. If it is a dust/overheating problem, I've done everything I can for it.

Do a RAM check. You can find Memtest n' such CDs around. The Ultimate Boot CD includes several. Just reasonably small ISO images to download/burn and boot from. I had problems with RAM months after building my PC. Just randomly reset my computer when I clicked on a video file, and then wouldn't boot up right again. Hadn't had the thing open for quite some time either.

Run a disk check. You may have a corrupt file that the computer is crashing when it tries to access or something.

Look at any drivers you may have updated recently, or "extra" devices. I actually had a wireless card that would cause the computer to hard lock after a short time.

The RAM I have I bought nearly a year ago -- I'd think if that was the cause of the problem, I would have seem something a lot sooner. I actually did do a disk check when I thought the problem went away, and it didn't find anything. I haven't updated any drivers or added anything like that recently; the problems just came totally unprovoked out of the blue.

As for my computers specs, I have one of these which I bought around last February. The only thing I added was the graphics card and ram, I can link those for you too if you think it'll help. I don't overclock, I'm not a tech junkie, the only computer game I play is XI. I've read that it might be a PSU problem, but unfortunately good PSU's are not cheap, and it would really suck to go out and spend $80 and have nothing change, so I'm trying to isolate the problem first.

[Rags]

Id still run memtest just to make sure. The program is free. All you have to do is open it with an ISO program and save it to a cd. Then just boot it up and let it scan for an hour. Computers are funny things. You can buy it and a day later it blows up, or it can run thru a nuclear strike and outlive the cock roaches. Also I would google your system specs and make sure all your hardware is capatable. It may have ran for awhile and you were lucky.

Since your virus free and your running cool system wise. The next thing it might be is the PSU. Since you don't feel like swapping out parts you can try a local computer shop. They sometimes will check the voltage for you for free.

[mootsfox]

This morning I took off everything that was connected to the computer, vacuumed the spot where it stood (Which I haven't done in years, so there was a lot of stuff there), cleaned out all the dust around the area and inside the computer, and moved it to the left so it's elevated off the ground on my little entertainment stand thing. I guess it worked, because apparently my CPU is a good 8 degrees cooler. If it is a dust/overheating problem, I've done everything I can for it.

Do a RAM check. You can find Memtest n' such CDs around. The Ultimate Boot CD includes several. Just reasonably small ISO images to download/burn and boot from. I had problems with RAM months after building my PC. Just randomly reset my computer when I clicked on a video file, and then wouldn't boot up right again. Hadn't had the thing open for quite some time either.

Run a disk check. You may have a corrupt file that the computer is crashing when it tries to access or something.

Look at any drivers you may have updated recently, or "extra" devices. I actually had a wireless card that would cause the computer to hard lock after a short time.

The RAM I have I bought nearly a year ago -- I'd think if that was the cause of the problem, I would have seem something a lot sooner. I actually did do a disk check when I thought the problem went away, and it didn't find anything. I haven't updated any drivers or added anything like that recently; the problems just came totally unprovoked out of the blue.

As for my computers specs, I have one of these which I bought around last February. The only thing I added was the graphics card and ram, I can link those for you too if you think it'll help. I don't overclock, I'm not a tech junkie, the only computer game I play is XI. I've read that it might be a PSU problem, but unfortunately good PSU's are not cheap, and it would really suck to go out and spend $80 and have nothing change, so I'm trying to isolate the problem first.

What graphics card is it? RAM adds about 5w load per stick, but the Graphics Card could add 30-130.

If can go buy a digital multimeter from Sears for like $10 these days, they are good to have around if you don't already have one. Checking the voltage output on a PSU is one simple way to see if it's operating correctly, but it's not 100% accurate, there could be another problem with it.

[Atma]

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6814130062

and

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820144151

It already froze up once today since I did all the cleaning, so I think it's a pretty safe bet to rule out overheating altogether.

[Osede]

hm... try to check every psu cable that had plugged into your hdd/mobo/drives and etc. My friend has an experience where the pc either keep restarting or barely to boot into windows. Until we found out the power supply into mobo was half burn.

or maybe try to check bad sector on your hdd?

[Mici]

I had a comp about 5 years old, did that alot, started swaping everything but the HD till i found what did it, come to find my MotherBorad was geting old and not sending enough power to everything

New MotherBoard and all is well

[mootsfox]

I had a comp about 5 years old, did that alot, started swaping everything but the HD till i found what did it, come to find my MotherBorad was geting old and not sending enough power to everything

New MotherBoard and all is well

Caps probably blew. Most OEM motherboards have a lifespan of about five years.

I would have suggested that, but his system is only a year old.

[Stromgarde]

Some caps when they bust give off a fishy smell. Any of that?