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Scottish2008 · Jan 24, 2008, 10:02 AM

I had this posted and it could be in the wrong place so here I will try again.
I have a home made computer which a few of my friends helped me make. I have a black tower with a display screen which displays in blue and provides me the tempter of my hard drive and CPU. As well it has blue lights all around it. I paid allot for a top of the line mother board, CPU and heat sink and fan for the CPU. To skip the rest of the details about my Tower. I have a problem with the computer restarting all the time. It would just happing out of the blue. Some times it happens over and over again. I believe it has something to do with the tower or the power supply. Any suggestions would be a great help. I have purchased a new tower and a power supply. I have put all the interior components from the old tower to the new tower. I as of yet have any problems with it restarting. So the problem is ether the power supply or the tower itself. How can I test the power supply to see if it's the power supply or the tower? Thanks

Angel_Wings · Jan 24, 2008, 10:22 AM

I don't know diddly about computers, but it seems to me that if you put in the old power supply and you have the re-starting problem again, it was the power supply, if not then it must have been the tower.

Don't know if any of the above is possible..

Hope you figure it out, or a computer 'wiz' comes to your rescue!

Angel

Scottish2008 · Jan 24, 2008, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by Angel_Wings

I don't know diddly about computers, but it seems to me that if you put in the old power supply and you have the re-starting problem again, it was the power supply, if not then it must have been the tower.

Don't know if any of the above is possible...?

Hope you figure it out, or a computer 'wiz' comes to your rescue!

Angel

I would like to try this but if it is the power supply I would be expecting that it will do some damage to my mother board or other components. I was hoping some one with the ability to guide me through testing it with a volt a meter or something I could find out. Thanks for your insight though.

charliec · Jan 24, 2008, 10:40 AM

Spontaneous rebooting can be caused by a number of things.

1: The cpu overheating ; check that the cpu fan/heatsink is attached and working , you should hear or see the fan rotating.
Check that the case fan is working , this moves air through the case which also helps cooling.
So make sure the case is closed up properly with no slot covers missing.

2: Power: You need to have your PC plugged into a surge protector/line conditioner , bad AC power from the power company can cause reboots and damage your PC.
Also if your power supply can not provide enough power the system reboots , do you know what the watt rating of your power supply is?

3: bad ram , can cause reboots,

4: viruses , run a good updated antivirus program like AVG free edition

Check all your connections to Mobo so everything is fitting correctly.

If you could give me some more info about your system and what is happening just before the reboot (like what apps are running ) I'll try to help more.
Rgds
C.

Scottish2008 · Jan 24, 2008, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by charliec

Spontaneous rebooting can be caused by a number of things.

1: The cpu overheating ; check that the cpu fan/heatsink is attached and working , you should hear or see the fan rotating.
Check that the case fan is working , this moves air through the case which also helps cooling.
so make sure the case is closed up properly with no slot covers missing.

2: Power: You need to have your pc plugged into a surge protector/line conditioner , bad AC power from the power company can cause reboots and damage your pc.
Also if your power supply can not provide enough power the system reboots , do you know what the watt rating of your power supply is?

3: bad ram , can cause reboots,

4: viruses , run a good updated antivirus program like AVG free edition

check all your connections to Mobo so everything is fitting correctly.

If you could give me some more info about your system and what is happening just before the reboot (like what apps are running ) I'll try to help more.
rgds
C.

I tested the ram and it was not the case. I then thought it was the CPU or fan and again it was not the case. I tested the mother board and nothing. So I did get a new tower and power supply and did the switch. And it is working all fine. I do have a surge protector and it cost me $160.00 and it is new. How can I check the power supply to see if that's the problem? Thank you for the info though

charliec · Jan 24, 2008, 10:48 AM

Please be careful about the power supply , enen unplugged it stoew a very very high voltage that can be fatal if you go at it , don't open it up or stick anything in it . The easiest way to test if the problem is the power supply is to switch it for a known good one and see if the problem persists.
C.

charliec · Jan 24, 2008, 10:53 AM

If switching the powersupply stopped the rebooting you can be confident enough that the other one is to blame, Its hard to test a Power supply for an intermittent error , I think you just have to replace it.
C

Scottish2008 · Jan 24, 2008, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by charliec

If switching the powersupply stopped the rebooting you can be confident enough that the other one is to blame, Its hard to test a Power supply for an intermittent error , I think you just have to replace it.
c

So what your saying is it has something to do with the power supply. Not the tower?

charliec · Jan 24, 2008, 11:23 AM

It can't really be the tower as its basically just a box.

Scottish2008 · Jan 24, 2008, 11:32 AM

Originally Posted by charliec

It can't really be the tower as its basically just a box.

I got you. I will buy another power supply and I will install another mother board and all the components. I will get back to you on it. Thanks and it make allot of séance.

Scottish2008 · Jan 25, 2008, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by charliec

It can't really be the tower as its basically just a box.

It was the power supply. When I went to the computer store I asked about getting a new power supply. They mentioned to me that they will be able to test my old power supply for me free of charge. They tested it and they informed me it was "TOST". So I still ended up buying a new power supply from them. Thanks to all for your help on this matter.

lithium ignition · Jan 26, 2008, 03:08 AM

Well maybe you got the wrong power supply. If it keeps shutting dopwn then your computer is probably not getting enough power to run the computer. Try running something that takes up a lot of power or switch to energy saving mode and see how long to it crashes. If it doesn't crash or takes ages to crash in energy saving mode then your power supply is the problem.