My computer reboots every two hours.

[JAL]

I had Windows 7 RC1 on it, and when it expired, I put Windows Vista back on it. Problem is, it still restarts every two hours, as if I was still running the expired W7.

Any ideas?

 

[Joe Dirt]

Did you do a fresh install of Vista? Format the hard drive and all?

 

[JAL]

I'm not completely sure. Before I put 7 on it, I formated it completely, manually, but when I put Vista back on, I used the restore .DVD, which I have never done before. I just followed the next next next.

 

[Joe Dirt]

The best advice I can give you using what you have would be to back up anything you need to keep, Boot to the DVD and do a fresh install of Vista, format and all.

The real best advice I can give you is to buy a good copy of Windows 7 and skip Vista.

 

[behemoth]

The restore DVD may have reformatted the W7 partition, not sure if this is HD related. For the system to be rebooiting every two hours on two different OSs, sounds like some hardware may be going bad. Could be an overheating issue, which would cause a reboot.

Have there been any beeps from the system when rebooting? If so, post your motherboard type and beep formats (1 long, 1 short, etc.) If you have more than one stick of RAM, try running on one of them for a while and see if it happens. If it does, switch sticks and try again. If it reboots on the second stick, check the CPU temp. The heatsink may need blowing out with compressed air, it could be overheating.

If the above doesn't help, we've eliminated CPU and RAM (for the most part). This could point to a bad power supply or outlet or motherboard. Plug it in to a different wall outlet and see if it happens there. Or, if you have a spare power supply to switch out, give that a go. hth.

 

[SoulTerror]

I agree with behemoth, sounds like you have a hardware problem.

 

[rambo47]

+1 for Windows 7 instead of Vista.

You might also try re-seating your RAM modules just for kicks. Pull 'em out, shoot some compressed air into the slots they fit into, and then put 'em back. Firmly but carefully.

 

[JAL]

Thank you all for the replies. I will give your suggestions a shot.

 

[irishjoeyo]

I would also suggest checking the Event Log, specifically the Application and System logs (they might be listed differently in Vista). Look for errors/warnings that occurred around the time that your PC rebooted. This might give you a good indication of what's going wrong, even if it is hardware-related.

 

[saps]

Thank you all for the replies. I will give your suggestions a shot.

Any update?

 

[Deleted User]

Most likely fur balls in the cpu heatsink fins .....

 

[JAL]

Most likely fur balls in the cpu heatsink fins .....

Pretty sure it is this. We opened it up and vacuumed it out really good. There wasn't as much gunk in there as we thought there would be, but it hasn't rebooted since then.

 

[death2all110]

Then it was most likely overheating from dirt and crud. Anyway, Glad you got it fixed.

 

[JAL]

Thank you to everyone for the help.

 

[Mayhem]

I would highly suggest to anyone suspecting they have a virus to check out any of the free AV options and run a thorough scan. If you have RoadRunner, they offer a free license for CA Antivirus. It's not the greatest but it beats nothing and it's FREE.

If you suspect you may have some malware, download Spybot Search & Destroy. Immediately download the detection update, go to Immunize and run this. Once all are shown as protected THEN run a scan.

There are other useful tools as well that may be better, but I can't recall the names at the moment.

I've dealt with some nasty virusus in the past and have never had any problems removing them and have never had to reinstall.

If any of you run into virus issues, ping me and I'll see if I can help.

 

[irishjoeyo]

Malwarebytes is also a fantastic free tool. Download, install, update, scan. "Quick scan" usually does the trick.