New Member - Random Reboots

I am having the dreaded random reboot problem. I am an IT guy, so I am not a complete noob when it comes to computers, just partial noob. We were in a pinch at my restaurant and needed a computer, fast and cheap. I went to ebay and found what I thought was a good one. I know, I am a jackass for going to ebay for a computer, it won't happen again. The computer is an older dell dimension 4600. Pretty standard setup, nothing fancy, it has an older nvidia card, 512 system mem, one hard drive, two opticals, and one floppy. I would be best served to just get another computer, but I have to fix it. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I quit.

The reboots happen very randomly. Sometimes its days without one, other times it happens over and over. Example, I was transfering files from an external hard drive to the computers hard drive, and I had two reboots in a short time span. I get no BSOD and nothing in the logs.

Now I will explain what I have done to try and fix this problem (no particular order).
1. Reinstalled windows xp pro sp2
2. Ran all virus, adware, etc. scans
3. Ran memtest over night - No errors
4. Used some program to check hard drive temp. Not sure if it was any good, but the temps it showed were fine.
5. Got a new PSU
6. Downloaded and installed new drivers
7. Checked all plugs and reseated all cards, modules, etc.
8. I made sure "automatically restart" in the startup and recovery was not checked
9. Reduced the agp memory in bios
10. Disabled hyperthreading in bios
11. Made sure the cpu fan is running
I am sure I have done more, but I can't recall at this time. I am out of ideas. Is it possible that I need more memory. It doesn't make sense that 512 isn't enough, but I can't think of anything else. Correction, the only other thing I can think of is overheating. My next step will be to remove the cpu/heatsink and apply some arctic silver I have laying around. Is there any programs that will test temps on an older Dell. Every program I have tried says it is not compatible with the mobo. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks PeteC. I will try that program, but I have a bad feeling it won't work on the Dell. For your second suggestion, very very good idea. However, I know it's not that. I have the computer setup at home for now. I have a little test area (dedicated monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc.) for troubleshooting and new builds. I just dont get how it could be overheating. Its not like one of my high-speed boxes that I built myself. I would expect one of those to overheat, well, if I didn't incist on putting a thousand fans on each. Tomorrow I will try the following...put in more ram(just incase), apply some arctic silver, run that program you suggested. If that doesn't work I think I will try tequila and throwing the **** thing against the wall.

 

Like I said before, I bought this on ebay, and again, I am an idiot for that. As a matter afact, I should be forced to use a Commadore 64 for the rest of my life for that. Now let me ask you a question. What are the odds that the computer was fine before I received it, and all of a sudden, it stopped working the moment I plugged it in? It was packaged well. Eventhough I must fix this myself, I believe I will be going through the proper channels to get it replaced/money back. Tomorrow I will give your suggestions a shot. Thanks again man.

 

It was from a dealer, and it was used. It wasn't dropped from what I can tell. I can only hope the heatsink was jared somehow in transit, and it is now not firmly seated. I will find out in a few hours after I apply some thermal grease. I'll be back in a few hours with hopefully a smile on my face.

 

Another part that does not like rough treatment is the harddrive. Run Error Checking (chkdsk) set to Thorough. You could run the HDD manufaturer's diagnostics, but if there are any bad sectors they will need to be marked as bad by chkdsk anyway.

Dell supply a set of diagnostics for download. I have not used them before.

Matt

 

I will try chkdsk later tonight along with everest. I tried speedfan, but it only reported my hd temp, which was fine. I also was told that memtest doesn't catch certain errors. Just to rule that out I replaced the ram with ram from another system. So far so good, but like I said before, the reboots are very random. Thanks for the input.

 

A quick update. I installed everest, and I really like it. The problem is my mobo apparently only has a sensor for the hard drive. It doesn't make sense, but I only get temps for the hd.

 

The new ram made no difference, like I expected. This time it rebooted during an install of quickbooks. There was one difference. I actually got a message about the reboot. It said the usuall...do you want to boot into safe mode, last known good, windows as usuall, etc. I clicked windows as usual (or whatever it actually said), but it sent me back to the same message. So I clicked "last known good.." and I was back up and running. I wonder why I am now getting this message. Also, why are my logs still not showing anything. I will admit, I have been living in a linux world for awhile, and I might not be looking in the right area. I believe chkdsk will be my last shot, and then I will be looking for a replacement pc.

 

There should(?) be temperature readouts in the BIOS. These will be idle temps. Another test would be to leave the cover off and direct a desk fan into it.

I take it that you got the drivers from Dell, if not, I would use those.

If it is bypassing Windows "blue screen" system it is probably some of the hardware failing. You might want to look through the BIOS and disable any hardware that is not required for operation (soundcard, ethernet, COM ports, etc) you can replace those with add-in cards (if you think it is justified). If they are similar to other branded computers it will have a limited BIOS so I don't know how far you will get.

Look for a BIOS upgrade.

Check the FAQs (general and for that model) at Dell. I have seen some very strange "this does not work with that" before.

Don't focus on it to closely. Have a break, consider your options and every now and again review what the problem may be. (Are there any other areas to be investigated?)

I would probably have done the same as you. If it turns out to be futile, it then becomes a "fabulous" learning experience

Matt
Oh, not many of us here are Dell users. You may want to check around at the Dell Community Forums.

 

I ran chkdsk on all partitions except c: . Before I left the office I ran chkdsk on c:, which of course required a reboot. After thr reboot, the screen remained black. The disk was spinning, but I didn't get the blue windows screen letting me know the progress of chkdsk. I don't know if that means anything. I left it as is and will check on it tomorrow.

 

We posted at the same time. You might have missed my last post (maybe one or two other possible avenues).

Chkdsk will take some time if it is checking the disk surface.

If the HDD has sustained damage you may be able to keep it in check by using chkdsk regularly. I would back up any data though.

Matt

 

Mattman
I just read your post, I must have missed it. I did pretty much everything you said already. Its getting close to the time I call it quits. I just hate giving up though. This will be the first computer problem I couldn't solve. I do agree about this being a good learning experience; however, I am not quite sure what I learned. Nevermind, I learned not to buy a used computer, but I think I already knew that.

This is the type of **** that makes me build my own computers/servers. Besides the fact that I enjoy doing that. I should have done the same here. With all the wasted time, it wouldn't have cost me much more. I think I will scrap this Dell and use the good parts for a future project that I have wanted to try...pegboard computer.

 

I am running chkdsk now, and I will know the results tomorrow when I get back to the office. Thanks for all the help man.