I dont know much about pcs but i know theres something wrong with mine. It will just reboot by itself. It used to only happen when running certain programs but has gradually got worse and now it will rarely lasts longer than getting to windows and will happen even if there are no programs running. i have read past threads on this problem and given diagnosis' seem to be either that something is overheating or the motherboard is faulty. I hope i can fix this without opening up my tower because i dont have a clue about anything. what should i try first to fix my problem? wiping the disk and reinstalling everything? i would prefer not to have to do that if there are better ways. please help, and in laymens terms if possible.

many thanks

It may be that you have a virus try running a complete scan of your system.

Do you know what temp your system is running at?

I had the same problem on my system, the heatsink was not seated correctly and the automatic shut off would kick in and shut the pc down.
It could be overheating try refitting the heat sink on the processor. first remove the heatsink and fan and give it a good clean with alcohol solution (can be bought from a chemist) and reapply a thin layer of thermal paste (you can get Arctic Silver from ebay for about a fiver).

Thanks for the help doobie. i dont think it will be a virus as i have never had the pc connected to the internet and never had any dodgy software or anything like that, so the heatsink thing sounds like a good possible diagnosis. i'll try it out at some point and post up what happens.

Anybody else got opinions on my problem?

thanks again.

Sounds like -

Originally Posted by doobie

The heatsink was not seated correctly and the automatic shut off would kick in and shut the pc down.
It could be overheating try refitting the heat sink on the processor. first remove the heatsink and fan and give it a good clean with alcohol solution (can be bought from a chemist) and reapply a thin layer of thermal paste (you can get Arctic Silver from ebay for about a fiver).

Otherwise your RAM is failing, as it may have delevoped a fault (but this is usually indicated by the blue screen of death***)

If you can boot ur PC, go into the BIOS settings (hit DEL or an F-key, it usually promps) and got through the options looking for the CPU temperature. Should be in the sencond set of options, then leave NOT saving any changes. If the CPU temp is getting to 30*c then there's a real problem, the ideal temp is about 25*c.

Hope this helps


Regards
_________
Meckanix

(p.s. *** BSoD [Blue Screen of Death] as the name says is a blue screen with aload of computer jargon and code, basically means that your RAM has been overloaded or is potenitally faulty. If this occurs when running a intensive program / application {i.e. Adboe Photoshop when ur trying to do some rendering} then its just been over loaded. If its failing to boot the OS {i.e. Windows} then there is a failiure within ur RAM and the power may not be allocated properly or one of the memory banks has failed and become corrupted)

Thanks. i'll look into this and hopefully get it sorted, and when i do, if i ever do, ill post it up.

My CPU temp is running at about 41 degrees C. What can i do to sort this out? i tried putting the fan speed up in BIOS and have kept the cover off the tower but this seems to make no difference. anybody got any suggestions??
thanks

Basically 41*c is very, very dangerous for the system, 30*c is psuhing it. The best thing to do is -

Originally Posted by doobie

The heatsink was not seated correctly and the automatic shut off would kick in and shut the pc down.
It could be overheating try refitting the heat sink on the processor. first remove the heatsink and fan and give it a good clean with alcohol solution (can be bought from a chemist) and reapply a thin layer of thermal paste (you can get Arctic Silver from ebay for about a fiver).

Check the heat sink is seated properly and make sure there is a good covering of thermal paste (note - DO NOT INGEST!!!! the result will be DEATH!!) and / or a new CPU fan, either from www.ebuyer.co.uk or from www.pcnextday.co.uk or www.aria.co.uk. I always by a heatsink and fan that are disgned for a higher spec CPU is 2Ghz fan on a 800mhz CPU, lol

Running your tower with the side off will only slight cool the system unless you do this -

All the best

Regards
_________
Meckanix

If its only running at 40 degrees it should be ok the power cutoff doesnt usually come in till about 60. the running temp varies depending on the power of the processor, the more powerful the more heat it churns out. It is unlikley you would get a temperature of 25 degrees as that would be cooler than the ambient temperature of the room!

Standard Room temperature is 25*c, as I lean't very well in my A-Level chemistry. The normal actual room temperature of a room varies between 15 - 25*c, as your body temp is about 36 - 38*c, therefore a CPU need to be about 20 - 30*c and even lower for overclocking (but that's another story).

Basically the cooler the better and if you can get your little mitts on a liquid Nitrogen cooling system, then you'll be well sorted (also you'll probably be loaded, as they cost a pretty penny )