[more recent update] this piece is way out of date and a piece of crap, if you have a rebooting computer its either a reboot virus (so do all the free online scans you can http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=free+online+scan&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a and prey to god the companies know about all the viruses), or faulty RAM (do the memtest described down there \/ to test for that), or youve got a bad power supply and need to buy a new and more powerful one
I had the viruses, and bad ram and a bad power supply AND a bad motherboard as it turned out
hackers, or should I call them crackers, are so so far down in the evolution of the mind it is amazing
I find going to the local computer store and paying a fat man lots of money is the best way, otherwise its a very stressful experience that Im sure someones proud of
but why?
honestly??
rediculous, its pathetic. You need to switch to Linux.[end of new update]
REBOOTING COMPUTER
I am writing this, without saving the document continuously, in the faint hope that I have finally fixed my intermittently rebooting computer problem
Ive had lots of problems with my flaming computer rebooting and if theyre fixed finally, then I am writing this to share the knowledge I have learned in the hope it will save others without the wholre rigmarole and the stress of an ill computer
So youve got a rebooting computer? the first thing to do is a virus scan, if you get warning messages such as a 60 second countdown before the computer reboots then it is most likely you have a reboot virus. Do a free online scan at http://www.command2.co.uk , make sure you click 'Automatically disinfect' before you start, and to save time in case a reboot happens, dont select C:\Program Files to be scanned (its least likely its there but possible still), but scan the rest of drive C: and make sure the directories you select have all their sub directories ticked when you tick them
Didnt find a virus? Or found a reboot unrelated one? Lets just hope its not an unrecognised virus and hasnt made it to the anti virus company yet!
The next step is to test your RAM your Random Access Memory. Particularly if you are used to the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH appearing. You can do this with the free utility at http://www.memtest86.com you need to make a bootable disk with it, i.e. if you leave a floppy disk in the drive and turn your computer on and it says theres a non bootable floppy in the drive then that is what your computer boots from. You need to restart your computer if this is the case, and when its jsut starting up keep hitting the delete key until your bios options come up, look around DONT CHANGE ANYTHING apart from the bootable disk to the cd rom. Save and exit and now if you put a bootable cd rom in and restart the computer (such as MEPIS live CD linux where you can test linux without having to install it) then it will load up the program.
So download the latest .ISO which is an image file, go to your cd burner program such as Nero and click burn image to disk and it will burn it as files not as an image. Then leave the cd in and reboot your computer. The Random Access Memory test will start instead of windows, jsut leave it running, it takes ages! and it will report errors and on which ram stick they are on. E.g. if you (counting from the processor side to the front of pc side) have a 500mb ram stick then a 256mb and another 256mb and it reports errors on 603.2 for example, then you need to replace your second ram stick. And if you touch your RAM, make sure to touch the pc case first to short the static electricity in your body or else youll make the poor chips worse. Even better if you tie some stripped wire around your wrist and connect the other stripped end to the pc case!
So yore still rebooting, you poor thing you. It is time to buy a new power supply. You can get them at a good price these days. Did the rebooting start when you put in a massive new graphics card? Or is it faulty and full of dust? Take off the cover of your pc and look at the model of the power supply on the power supply's label and do a search on the internet to find out how many watts it is.
If its something like 250watt then buy yourself a new one with more power. And FIT IT YOURSELF! Its a doddle to fit a new power supply. I asked the local computer shop guy how much it would cost for him to fit it (being scared to do it myself) and he quoted £35! I did it myself, it was a 5 minute job. Just put the pc on its side (after unplugging it of course) and unscrew the old one, slide it out and rest it on the cd rom bay, then slide the new one in and screw it in, then just put the new plugs where the old ones went taking each out as you go. Its really easy!
I have had all three problems with my rebooting pc, so count yourself lucky!
: )
[UPDATE] turned out my motherboard had broken, but had some of the other problems too as implimenting the fix caused many less reboots. Pray you do not need a new motherboard although this one is much better : D.[END OF UPDATE]
nick.eliot at cannotfindserver.net
please email me if you can think of anything else to add that would help