Hi Andrewset
Having plenty of fans in the box is a really good move especially if you can get air flowing through your system front to back.

If you have upgraded or are running an Athlon processor they really can suck the power from your CPU (motor) especially if you are running multiple programs.

What normally seems to happen with an underpowered CPU is that your system is taken to the edge of stability and a tiny increase in anything can tip it over the edge, whereby the computer crashes and then re-boots.

If it just seems to happen now and again without a regular pattern my guess would be an underpowered CPU.

In to-days world of Computing I wouldn't consider anything less than 500watts the bigger the better as if you upgrade to a faster processor at some time in the future you will go back to square one and have wasted your money.

As far as the Technical side is Concerned, changing over a CPU is easier than falling off a greasy log. 4 screws and a plug.

It might be worth a look in the case to look at the CPU to see if you can find what wattage it is, if it's only 350 watts it doesn't sound big enough.

The only other thing it could be is the memory and what I am going to tell you is something very easily overlooked even by the outlet that sold you a memory stick (that's assuming you may have bought an extra memory stick)

It is absolutely vital that if you have more than one memory stick they are from the same manufacturer (not just the same capacity) or it could crash your system when you least expect it.

My first port of call would be to check the power of the CPU

Let me know how you get on.

The only way to find the wattage of the PSU is to open the case.

It will be clearly listed on the label.

I would doubt that a standard PC would have a 450 Watt PSU.

This might be your problem.

Hello,

Thanks for your responses. First off, I meant to post this yesterday about the Event Viewer, but it must have not posted due to my temporarily being unable to reach the site:

About the Event Viewer, I waited the past day or two for the computer to restart itself again, because it started to seem that the problem went away for some reason, until unfortunately the computer restarted itself again today. The time was about 5pm (EST) when it happened, so I checked the System tab of the Event Viewer for red X Errors. There were 7 of them between 5:01:30 and 5:01:54 PM today. I can’t be sure which ones ‘coincide’ with my problem, so here’s what they all read:

The UPS service could not access the specified Comm Port.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The DS1410D service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The Uninterruptible Power Supply service terminated with the following error:
The UPS service could not access the specified Comm Port.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The IPSEC Services service terminated with the following error:
The attempted operation is not supported for the type of object referenced.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The McAfee Task Scheduler service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the path specified.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The McAfee WSC Integration service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The Maya 6.5 Documentation Server service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the path specified.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

As for your latest responses, it definitely seems to me by now that it must be the PSU causing the restarts. I’ll tell the shop I need no less than 500 Watts. Looking at the PSU in my computer, the largest label says ‘Suntec 580 Switching Power Supply,’ then there are small numbers and such for AC Input, AC Output, and DC Output. I’m not sure any of this tells me how many Watts it is. Where should I look? As for the memory sticks, I did add more myself, but it was about 2 years ago from now, whereas the rebooting problem only started about 2-3 weeks ago, so I’m guessing it’s not the RAM.

I don't know if this matters, but everytime my computer does a restart, the Event Viewer shows this as a Warning:
TCP/IP has reached the security limit imposed on the number of concurrent TCP connect attempts.
I think it happens once the computer starts coming back up again as opposed to right before restarting, however.

Any further help would be great.
Thanks

Hi Andrewset
If you are running Windows XP Right Click on the Blue Bar at the bottom of the screen (that's the blue bar that runs to the right of where it says start) when you get the menu up, click on Task Manager, then click on Performance.

When you do this you can see a moving graph which shows how your CPU is performing when it's under load (ie. when you are opening programs or surfing etc) you can keep it open all the time if you want, so you can see how hard your CPU is working.

Ideally the graph should not peak too often but if it does it can indicate that your CPU is working too hard so you might like to buy a bigger one with more power as were discussing.

A bit like revving the guts out of a small 4cyl engine rather than a lazy V8 on tick over.

A word of warning! If you go to buy a CPU you can easily get stitched up, as a cheap 500 watt one might not have the quality windings you need.

So before you go and part with your cash make sure it feels heavy when you hold it in your hand as a lighter one may be cheaper but it just won't cut the mustard and give you problems later.

I get all my stuff from Computer Fairs which are much cheaper than shops and because they know you will have a walk round all the stalls at the fair, in my own experience they will be only too happy to help with impartial advice and if you ask nicely and take your Computer with you, they will probably fit it for free while you wait.

Top Tip here: If you're thinking of changing to Vista out at the end of Jan? no need to spend £200-£300 as they can sell you an OEM Version for about a third of the price.

With OEM you just get the disc with the activation code but without any box or instruction book which you don't really need.

Good luck hope it all works

The only error I find curious is the UPS error.

The rest are benign.

As to your PSU I see that Suntec indeed makes a 580 Watt PSU. If this is what you have then you have plenty of Watts.

The higher your CPU (Central Processing Unit) usage the more Watts that will be drawn from the PSU (Power Supply Unit) but a 580 Watt PSU should handle any PC.

Hello,

Thanks for your responses.
If it looks like the PSU is the cause of the reboots, then I’m definitely going to have the shop take care of replacing the PSU instead of buying or installing it myself, but if the one I have is really 580 Watts, then is it possible it’s just a cheap brand, like you were talking about?

I don’t know if this is a good idea, but after about 4 restarts in a row, I decided to unplug one of the 4 fans in order to see if that calms it down. I suppose this will prove the PSU is at fault, in the case that the reboots don’t happen for days.

As for that ‘UPS’ error, I don’t suppose ‘UPS’ has to do with ‘PSU’? Or else, is it something I should do something about?

Any further help would be great.
Thanks

Uninterruptible Power Supply service terminated.

Do you have your computer connected to a UPS device?

This would be a box that your computer plugs into then this box plugs into the mains. In case of a power failure it briefly powers your computer so that it will shut down properly.

A fan only uses a Watt or 2 of power.

You can also purchase a PSU tester from most any electronics store for a few dollars. Examples here:

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...8&q=psu+tester

Hello,

Thanks for your response.
No, I don't think I have a UPS device. My computer's plug plugs into a surgemaster, which plugs into the wall. It's been that way for over a year.
I plugged the fan I unplugged back in, as it seems the computer wasn't even restarting correctly when I unplugged it.

Any further help would be great.
Thanks

Your SurgeMaster would be an UPS device.

Just as a test I would try to run temporarily without it and see if you notice any difference.

Hello,

It’s been a while since I posted about this rebooting issue my computer had, but I thought I should return and let you know what it seems the problem and solution turned out to be, after I got it fixed at a computer shop, in case it helps people who end up experiencing the same issue or are helping others with the same issue.

It seems the fix to the rebooting issue was two things:
1) The computer has to be plugged directly into a wall outlet, not through one of those multiple-plug thingies. (just the main computer plug, not necessarily the monitor plug or anything else that needs plugging-in)
2) I’m guessing this was the more important one: Using an Aerosol can (from Wal-mart or something), which blows air, shut the computer down and then blow out the dust in the ‘heat sinks,’ which are the lines behind the fans that look like this: |||||||||| but remember that the dust will fly out everywhere. Blow out the dust anywhere else you can, but these ‘heat sinks’ are crucial, as well as any other areas that look like |||||||||, such as by the video card. Do not use a normal vacuum for cleaning dust, as you may mess something up, just the Aerosol can.

Hope this helps anyone, and thanks again to everyone who tried to help me.