PC Woes

[Dorkandproudofit]

I have a problem with mine, and besides, we need a thread for people having PC problems.

Here's mine: My PC keeps restarting on its own without any warning whatsoever. Sometimes, it simply shuts down completely. It's gotten to the point where I can't be on for more than 2 minutes (and that's stretching it) before it does it and I have to start it again and wait for it to power up.

What's going on? I've checked the "system" thing in the Control panel, and everything seems okay.

[Raen]

Do you get a shut down message? If not it's almost certainly a hardware issue. Possibly a faulty power supply that keeps tripping, or heat issues could cause it I think (although assuming you have something okish it'd probably warn you first).

[Typical Michael]

Me:Yeah I am gonna go with power supply or overheating. Could be motherboard too though. We'll need to take it in for a diagnostic.
Jerk: How much does that cost?
Me: $70
Jerk: ::bellyaching::
Me: Yeah yeah yeah pay up
Jerk: OK!

[AgtFox]

I'm with the others...bad power supply or heat (maybe a fan is not working).

[hunterx280]

Before I even opened the thread I was thinking bad power supply.

Have you made any hardware upgrades recently? Like a new video card? I'm just wondering as you made no mention of it either way in the post.

[biosc1]

Virii? I remember encountering on on my XP machine (stupid router maneuver on my part leaving it exposed) that would allow it to boot up, then log in, then instantly reboot.

Or, if it's a hardware issue...could be something as little as a failing fan?

Can you crack open the side of the case and run it and see if anything seems amiss? Fans starting then stopping, weird noises? Smell of burning plastic/metal? (mmmm...I love that smell).

[Shadowstorm]

I had this happen to me several times. I adjusted the voltage of the RAM and it hasn't happened since.

[PathMaster]

Me:Yeah I am gonna go with power supply or overheating. Could be motherboard too though. We'll need to take it in for a diagnostic.
Jerk: How much does that cost?
Me: $70
Jerk: ::bellyaching::
Me: Yeah yeah yeah pay up
Jerk: OK!

I have been apart of this conversation before. Many times they decide their machine is not worth it.

[muddi900]

It happened to me when my RAM screwed up. Later, it happened to me because the my mobo was shot to hell.

[vodkajello]

Intermittent reboots sounds like heat or RAM.

Trying running with your case cover off. If everything works with the cover off you had a heat problem.

[KingGorilla]

Shut downs can be caused by many things. If it is heat or a hardware failure, you will generally get notifications of what went wrong, BSOD or a recovery screen on start up.
If there is some power faulure like a bad power toggle, bad wire, shot PSU, generally you will not.

It is easy to diagnose the first group, as there are messages and codes to look up, and easy to use tools.

If it it the latter,. you need to swap stuff around.

The first thing I want you to do is to get ahold of a copy of Ubuntu, and run the computer off of that, see how long it stays powered on. If it shuts off, you obviously have a hardware failure. If you can run off of that Ubuntu disc, then there is a software problem.

I doubt that you have a spare case, MoBo, PSU just lying around, maybe borrow a friend's to see if you can eliminate the variables.

[Generation ABXY]

Okay, I need some help here.

I have a Dell XPS running Windows Vista, and earlier it showed I had some updates to install, so I shut down the computer just as it normally asks and everything seemed fine. However, when the computer restarted, the screen wouldn't show anything. The backlight is on, but the screen isn't showing the login, colored background, etc. I've tried shutting off the computer and restarting it, but then it says "Resuming Windows" and goes right back to the empty, backlit screen.

I'm not sure what to do, any thoughts?

EDIT: N/M, I managed to start the computer through the media player, and that gave me a chance to run it is Safe Mode. Whatever the kink was, it seems to have been worked out now.

[Generation ABXY]

Okay, now there seems to be another problem: Windows Security Center is telling me I have no virus protection...but I do - the damn icon is located not more than two away from this warning's own. I know the program is supported, because they have a link to the company on their "Find a program" page, and I know it hasn't expired yet, because I hadn't even ordered the computer by this time last year and I got at least a one year subscription.

Bah!

[AgtFox]

The anti-virus program could have been affected by the downloaded update. Best thing I can suggest is re-installing the anti-virus program.

[PathMaster]

Make sure it is the real security center and not a malware created one.

[Generation ABXY]

Oh, no!

I signed on today and got this: "Interactive logon process initialization has failed."

Someone tell me there's an easy solution for this - I HAVE NOT BACKED UP IN MONTHS!!!

[Khrymsyn]

http://www.drbillbailey.net/images/startrek-bluescreen.gif

[Generation ABXY]

You have no idea how long it is taking my old computer to load that silly picture... -_-

Somewhere else, someone suggested "repairing" Vista with the install disk. Anyone here know if that'll work, or if it will let me keep my old files?

[PathMaster]

Chkdsk or a Repair install takes care of a lot of issues, and there should be no data loss.

[Generation ABXY]

Chkdsk or a Repair install takes care of a lot of issues, and there should be no data loss.

Yep, we did that. Still didn't fix it. Now I have no idea what was wrong, since we've restored the factory settings (and started a new account) and the start-up works fine. The screen is still screwed up - I have to take out the battery and unplug the laptop in order to get the screen to turn on when I restart it.

[PathMaster]

Sounds like some hardware is malfunctioning. If you do not use the battery at all, does that affect the situation at all?

It almost sounds like something is holding a charge or is shorting. CMOS battery could be the culprit, but that is doubtful. If problems continue might I suggest a call to Dell and ask for a replacement?

[Generation ABXY]

Sounds like some hardware is malfunctioning. If you do not use the battery at all, does that affect the situation at all?

Well, yes and no. It will turn on fine the first time without the battery (if it's been unplugged, as I said), but if I shut it down and restart it without unplugging it first, then the screen will remain off.

It almost sounds like something is holding a charge or is shorting. CMOS battery could be the culprit, but that is doubtful. If problems continue might I suggest a call to Dell and ask for a replacement?

I'm hopeful what they're replacing this time - again, that's the screen and graphics card - will fix the problem. If not, well, that'll suck since I'm piss broke and my warranty is about to go. :p