I am having problems with my computer restarting out of nowhere. Sometimes when it restarts, it goes all the way through but sometimes it gets stuck and doesn't restart but the power light is still on. I just recently took it in to get repaired and they put in a new power supply. everything was working until that happened. Afterwards, it started with the random reboots/shutdown. Sometimes it would last for 5 minutes before it reboot and sometimes after about 4 hours, it would reboot so its random. could anyone possibly tell me what could cause this. I sent my computer back to the shop to check and they said it ran for them the whole time it was there. Keep in mind I only brought the box/harddrive part of the computer (the main thing). No other cables or parts.

Other info

i checked for dust and cleaned
i also switched outlets to see if it was the outlets
i ran my antivirus and nothing was there

AMD Athlon™ XP 3000+
2.16 ghz, 448 MB of RAM

Memory in use 53%
Total Memory 458096 KB
Available Memory 214116 KB

Mainboard Asustek computer A7N8X-LA
BIOS American megatrends (2/24/04)

Austin Power Supply
Model: DR-83203TX
(upgrade from DR-B300ATX)

I also checked system errors and I get these

Tcpip
Dcom
Service control manager

Just now I got the blue screen and it said something about checking disk space, and I done that. Alsoit said something about may need bios update.

Hi and welcome to WhatTheTech...

Because your problem sounds like it may be hardware related I would suggest that you read HERE under the section, "What to do if your problem might be hardware related..."

It will lead you through some maintenance and tests to see if any hardware troubles can be revealed.

Let us know what your results are.

You did not say why the power supply was changed on this computer? What problems were you having when you took it into the shop? What else did the shop do to your computer while it was there? There are a lot of details we need to piece together a complete picture and help you out the best.

Because the shop probably plugged it in on the bench and turned it on then did nothing more than click a few programs they probably were unable to reveal the problem. Its not likely they "thoroughly" tested anything.

Please read the document I linked above and try to provide as much extra detail as possible. I would also like to know if this machine is a name brand machine? If it is, what is the make and model number of the machine?

This post has been edited by appleoddity: Jul 4 2009, 11:50 PM

I will go through that thread and follow the directions. I have a compaq presario desktop computer. I think its 5 years old though. Not completely sure though. But the model is s4500NX

The reason I brought it in was because i had online armour on it and it wouldn't let me download or uninstall any programs. I could have caught this myself but it didn't cross my mind at the time. Anyway they removed the program and some spyware. they also said I had a bad power supply so they replaced it for me. then I get the reboots after about 3 weeks later. they installed malware bytes too. I don't understand what it could be. they said it ran great there but I honestly think they didn't give my computer a good overview.

Hi

It is very unusual in my experience, that when you hand in a PC because of software troubles, they automatically check for hardware also. It is not something one just can determine as such, and is fully unrelated to the problem it was brought in for. I could be wrong, and they just are nice people, but in these times, with economic crisis and all, one could wonder. In my inner ears, it sounds like those old car-mechanic stories, "Oh btw. you needed a new set of windscreen wipers as well" despite the fact you brought it in for a oil-check.

But if you are certain that the troubles began after they have replaced the PSU, it is they who have to correct it! Use your legal rights to claim this.


Anyways, if it is the PSU acting up, there is only so little we can do here. It requires physical tampering and such.


Regards

This post has been edited by Abydos: Jul 5 2009, 02:03 AM

I'm with Abydos on being more insistant that they fix a problem that most likely started after they were working on it. However, before you do that lets check some hardware components and gather some more information. Unfortunately, anybody can be a computer technician now a days and open up their own shop. I see it all around me and I clean up after them regularly. Its hard to know who has the knowledge and experience, and who grew up in a point and click world downloading test answers off the internet to get certifications. The latter seems to becoming more of a norm.

So, I'm going with the fact that whoever worked on your computer never resolved the original problem. I took a look at your computer on-line. It looks like a series of Compaq computers that I regularly see bad capacitors on the motherboard. When you have your computer case open, identify the CPU heatsink and then look in the immediate area around the heatsink for leaking capacitors. They will have orange crud on the top of them, or bubbled up tops rather than flat tops. Leaking capacitors can cause symptoms similar to a bad power supply. Did the shop ever tell you what was happening that caused them to replace the power supply? Did they give you back the old power supply? Symptoms like rebooting, no power up, no POST, and random shutdowns can all be attributed to bad capacitors. The act of replacing a power supply and disturbing the cables and motherboard could've "resolved" the issue just long enough to get it back out the door. An inexperienced tech would probably never even notice this type of thing nor even think about it.

After inspecting those capacitors carefully (look at all of them on the motherboard, any of them can leak, but usually they are around hot areas like the CPU), make sure all the fans are working and everything is clean. While running the memory diagnostic in those instructions carefully tap on components like the motherboard and add-on cards to make sure there are no bad connections anywhere. If you find any bad connections the memory diagnostic will lock up, reboot, or do other weird things. This will help you pinpoint the bad connection and allow you to fix it. After you tap on those components and verify there are no bad connections, let the memory test run for a good hour and see if your system experiences any reboots or shutdowns, etc. Then, run the complete surface scan on your hard drive to scan for bad sectors. If your system passes all these tests we can focus more on possible software issues.

You said your technician removed malware from your computer. Theres a good possibility that they didn't remove it properly or didn't remove it all. I find this is common too with many computer shops who don't know how to properly remove malware. I don't want to throw out names but there are some "big name" companies that tout their skills but are absolutely clueless about this stuff. They use company created tools and scripts while never really knowing anything about malware removal. So, you may need to visit our malware removal forum for a check up also.

But, with that being said, get those hardware tests done, then when you get your system booted back up, open My Computer and navigate to the C:\Windows\Minidump folder. You mentioned blue screens in your original post. I want you to identify the 5 most recent minidump files (sorted by date) if they exist. Hold the ctrl key and click each one to select them all. Right-click one of them, and click send to -> compressed zip folder. A new minidumpxxxx.zip file will be created and I want you to upload that file as an attachment to the forum. It may provide insight to possible causes of your reboots.

I know that some of these tests are time consuming and difficult to perform, but it is necessary to make sure your computer is in the utmost health which I'm sure you will appreciate.

This post has been edited by appleoddity: Jul 5 2009, 09:02 AM