mikeprice Posted March 8, 2017 Posted March 8, 2017 Hi all not sure if this is hardware or Windows 7 but anyway I've stuck it here One of the 'teacher PCs' here has been randomly restarting for a few weeks - it will go OK for a few days but then restart 2-4 times in one day - normally when not being activly used (e.g. powerpoint slide or WWW page on screen for info but teacher with kids - or overnight (yes - I know!)) I have looked at the obvious - no entries in event log I have swapped power to another socket (which seems to have maybe reduced frequency????) whole PC swapped with another similar unit - but with same hard drive Electricians are currently in PAT testing so they have said they will look at the sockets at the same time - but haven't got to that room yet Just after ideas at the moment I will try swapping the power cable just in case - but I have never seen a power cable cause this sort of thing any ideas welcome - I can't afford to be tearing my hair out over this one as I don't have enough as it is!!! TIA Mike
mikeprice Posted March 8, 2017 Author Posted March 8, 2017 In answer to the last 2 I have changed the complete units over - the original is now in the computer suite and hasn't gone wrong hence I don't think it can be the power supply as far as overheating goes - no r3ason to believe it - first thing I did was to give the whole unit a good clean with an air duster which made no difference all fans working properly and - as above - the whole unit (except hard drive) is different which is why I'm confused Update - power sockets and cables have now been tested by electricians and they say all is well I have however changed the power cable - just in case I might change the location of the unit next based on the earths gravitational field and it's orientation to the stars after that I might try feng sui (or whatever it is called) then maybe praying to the great spaghetti monster in the sky
Gurtlush Posted March 8, 2017 Posted March 8, 2017 Have you checked any capacitors on the motherboard for slight bulges? and made sure the cpu grease/compound hasn't gone rock hard?
HTCPCP Posted March 8, 2017 Posted March 8, 2017 (edited) Have to agree with difinity on this - it's usually the power supply for that. I would probably try swapping with a known working one to see, and put it back into location (probably with another machine in there for the tecaher to use. I have come across this before and it was the cheap power supply that was the cause of the problem, where normal fluctuations caused it to just shut down! Edited March 8, 2017 by HTCPCP
jertsy Posted March 8, 2017 Posted March 8, 2017 When it restarts is it saying the old 'start windows normaly' message? If it is then I would say its a power issue i.e. its cutting out. If its restarting gracefully I would say its something in windows.
mikeprice Posted March 8, 2017 Author Posted March 8, 2017 main problems is that no-one ever sees the message when it restarts The teacher says she did see it restart once - there was some 'writing on the screen - black background grey test but she was on the far side of the room so no real details other than that it is just seen to have restarted think of resorting to putting an old laptop in there with a webcam and record the damn thing still agree that overheating is likely - but why on a different unit (therefore different cpu motherboard, power supply fans and everything) when the original works fine in my room?????
difinity Posted March 8, 2017 Posted March 8, 2017 Faulty memory can also cause restarting. When you say you've changed the complete units over, do you mean you've swapped the power supply out for a different one ? What's the model of the motherbaord ?
bald_pig Posted March 8, 2017 Posted March 8, 2017 main problems is that no-one ever sees the message when it restarts The teacher says she did see it restart once - there was some 'writing on the screen - black background grey test but she was on the far side of the room so no real details other than that it is just seen to have restarted think of resorting to putting an old laptop in there with a webcam and record the damn thing still agree that overheating is likely - but why on a different unit (therefore different cpu motherboard, power supply fans and everything) when the original works fine in my room????? Because teachers like to do things like plug fan heaters in and put them next to the desktop. At this point, I'd put another pc in there, without swapping the hard drives, and run them both. If the replacement still restarts, there's a problem with power or heat in the room. If the one that came out of the room restarts, there's a problem with the hard drive itself or the windows installation on it. I'd install something like core temp and remotely monitor that just to be on the safe side too: How to Remotely Monitor CPU Temperature with Core Temp Monitor 1
Koldov Posted March 8, 2017 Posted March 8, 2017 Have you disabled the System failure 'Automatically restart', it might be an issue that could be solved if a BSOD stays up? 1
jertsy Posted March 8, 2017 Posted March 8, 2017 I had a teacher saying her Lenovo PC was restarting randomly last year, there was stuff in the event logs and when I had a bit of a google it seemed it could be BIOS related. I flashed the BIOS and its been good so far, might be worth a try if you havent done it already. 1
mikeprice Posted March 13, 2017 Author Posted March 13, 2017 OK - tried all of the above temperature is actually LOW when it restarts - which links in with the idea that the PC is actually not being used (i.e. just static displaying a web page or powerpoint slide) when it restarts - and has been for a while so basically it is like it decides to restart after a period of inactivity - is there anything that does this that I have missed Thanks for al the ideas so far Mike
difinity Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 If I've read correctly, you've swapped everything but the hard drive ?
Danp Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 I'd still say it's a memory issue. Download and run this MemTest86 - Download now! Old version 7.3 is free.
bald_pig Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 I'd still say it's a memory issue. Download and run this MemTest86 - Download now! Old version 7.3 is free. He replaced the pc minus HDD....
Norphy Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 If the only common factor is the hard drive, does this not suggest that the hard drive might be the issue?
bald_pig Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 If the only common factor is the hard drive, does this not suggest that the hard drive might be the issue? That's why I made my earlier suggestion to narrow it down to the HDD or power from the wall, no idea if he's tried it though.
TechMonkey Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 Checked scheduled tasks? We had a PC do this recently and found some random tasks from another user to do with RSS feeds. Cleared them out and we haven't had any reports since.
mikeprice Posted March 13, 2017 Author Posted March 13, 2017 If I've read correctly, you've swapped everything but the hard drive ? Yup - whole PC - including power cables and power socket I have tried memtest but that wqas on the original PC might give it another go on this one
mikeprice Posted March 13, 2017 Author Posted March 13, 2017 If I've read correctly, you've swapped everything but the hard drive ? Yup - whole PC - including power cables and power socket I have tried memtest but that wqas on the original PC might give it another go on this one
mikeprice Posted March 13, 2017 Author Posted March 13, 2017 That's why I made my earlier suggestion to narrow it down to the HDD or power from the wall, no idea if he's tried it though. HDD seems OK switched power socket and got electrician top test all power sockets involved can't see any scheduled tasks - but will check again as it was a while ago that I checked I can only think it is some kind of idle thing in Windows cos it doesn't seem to happen at predictable time I have just set it to never sleep - it was set to sleep after 1 hour of inactivity - but dunno why that would make it restart just thought - if the sleep task crashed or something then it could restart???
mikeprice Posted March 13, 2017 Author Posted March 13, 2017 That's why I made my earlier suggestion to narrow it down to the HDD or power from the wall, no idea if he's tried it though. HDD seems OK switched power socket and got electrician top test all power sockets involved can't see any scheduled tasks - but will check again as it was a while ago that I checked I can only think it is some kind of idle thing in Windows cos it doesn't seem to happen at predictable time I have just set it to never sleep - it was set to sleep after 1 hour of inactivity - but dunno why that would make it restart just thought - if the sleep task crashed or something then it could restart???
difinity Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 Have you run the diagnostic software for the hard drive and checked for bad sectors ? If you have the tool it might be worth taking off the PCB from the hard drive and checking the contacts for oxidisation.
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