Resolved Computer is randomly rebooting

I have to admit I'm a penny pincer and buy refurbs. Ten years and this is the first one I've ever had a problem with.

So I'm wondering what might be the issue with this thing occasionally acting out?

Specs below courtesy of Speccy.

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 4770 @ 3.40GHz 38 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
32.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
LENOVO SHARKBAY (SOCKET 0) 43 °C
Graphics
2269W (1920x1080@60Hz)
2269W (1920x1080@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 4600 (Lenovo)
Storage
476GB SAMSUNG MZ7LN512HCHP-000H1 (SATA (SSD)) 28 °C
2794GB Western Digital WD My Book 1230 USB Device (USB (SATA) ) 37 °C
Optical Drives
No optical disk drives detected
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

Thanks in advance,
Rick

PS: I see I need to update my signature...

 

Dust bunnies. Bad RAM. Weak power supply.

 

Roger that. Thanks. Where is my best place to start - say, power supply?

 

Dust bunnies as MrBill suggested. I would definitely carefully clean the dust out first.
Remove a couple of your RAM to see if it runs OK. (remember they will be in dual channel if you have 4 sticks).
Remove 1 stick if you only have 2 installed.
Remove peripheral drives to see if that is the cause.

 

The way I listed them.

 

I agree to start with making sure the interior is clean of heat-trapping dust first. That said, the temps shown are good. Then one stick of RAM at a time.

Because everything else inside the computer case depends on good, clean stable power, I would swap in a known good PSU to see what happens before buying any replacements parts. Having said that, I don't trust the big factory brands when it comes to proprietary parts - and that includes power supplies. So if me, I would connect your PSU to a PSU Tester. Understand these will NOT conclusively verify a PSU is good because they don't provide a variety of realistic loads, and they don't test for ripple and other anomalies that affect computer stability. But since your PSU appears to be working intermittently, one of these testers should tell you if your PSU is wired in compliance with the ATX Form Factor standard, or if proprietary.

If the tester shows all the voltages are present (when the PSU is working), it is a standard ATX PSU. If it constantly shows one or more of the voltages are missing, it is probably proprietary and you will have to make sure you swap in a likewise, Lenovo proprietary PSU.

Alternatively, if you just bought this refurbished PC and it came with a warranty, I would consider sending it back before risking doing something that voids the warranty.

BTW, I say "intermittently" because your computer is not "randomly" rebooting. Something is causing it to reboot, we just have not determined the pattern or cause.

 

Thanks again for the feedback and the steerage. Weekends are about my only spare time to unhook stuff and open cases, so I'll report back after I get a chance to dig into it.

Best to all,
Rick

 

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo...upply-Unit-Upgrade/m-p/2274052?page=1#2274052
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/616832/upgrading-my-family-pc/
It looks as though others find a need to increase the PSU output as one quoted a 270W unit!!!

 

Okay. My apologies for being so long getting back to this, but work and the upheaval of Covid-19 has demanded all my time and drained my energies for peripheral activities - such as computer tinkering.

I'm thinking it was the RAM. To wit: I opened the case and check the seating on the four sticks, and on one of them the latch was not clicked shut. My thought is that the particular stick was not properly seated.

So what I did was remove them all, and then reinsert them in the same slots, making sure they seated properly and the latch-clips snapped properly.As an aside, the thing as spotlessly clean. Not a speck of dust anywhere inside.

She has noticed that it acts up when she is logged remotely into her workplace, and she has a lot of stuff running. She will open "just one more document" and WHAM! It shuts down. I would not go so far as to say outright that it might be an operator personality trait, but I do recall several occasions over the last 42 years of marriage when the washing machine was overloaded... I'm just saying.

At any rate, I'll give it a few days and see if it's cured. If it is, I'll close the thread. And if it's not, I'll move on to the PS angle. Thanks again.