PC reboots 2/3 times when cold

Computer Hardware
#1

Sorry if I’m not in the right place to post this question.

My PC suffers some problems I’ve seen in your posts, but I haven’t replaced nothing in these past months. Suddenly, when cold, it reboots 2/3 times bebore it stabilizes and then, it works absolutely normally, even if I shut it down for a few hours.

This morning, it was completely dead: I pressed the power button and …nothing. I had to take the electrical plug out, wait for a minute, then plug it in again and then it took off, but it only stabilized after the 4th ! reboot. Now, it’s normal.

Dear fellows: do you have an idea about what could be the problem? I’d be gratefull if you have experienced the same and have a solution before I start “doing things”. This is my configuration:

  Windows XP ServicePack    3.0
  Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.40GHz
  ASUSTeK P4C800
  Memory    1534MB
  HD Maxtor 300 GB
  NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900XT

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Tira

#2

Amperage draw on is greatest on startup with many types of electrical devices.
Once the computer is warm, the various components (drive motors, fans) probably request less power to get them going.
For that reason I would try a different power supply.

Also, make sure that you don’t have a sticking fan.
A sticking/stopped CPU (or Northbridge on some boards) fan will send a system shutdown signal.
Watch the fans during a cold start.
[B]Check the fans first before replacing the PS.[/B]

#3

So when was the last time you dusted out your insides of the computer itself? Sounds like overheating problem as well. But also make sure your PS can supply the needed amperage for the hardware installed. But I put my dollar that sounds like might be too much dust inside and you need to vacum the insides and clean out the heatsinks. To much dust can lead to restart cause the CPU isn’t able to cool down and so it will restart when there is a sudden draw of power from the PS. Also do you have your BIOS setup to warn you when there is to much heat built up?

#4

It is possible the power supply is going wrong…
Anyway [B]check for the dust first[/B] and clean it up. Have you ever opened your pc case to clean it???
If you have case coolers than you sure have a lot of dust.l After you finish the cleaning, let us know if you still have problems. Good luck!

#5

[QUOTE=tomycta;2164695]It is possible the power supply is going wrong…
Anyway [B]check for the dust first[/B] and clean it up. Have you ever opened your pc case to clean it???
If you have case coolers than you sure have a lot of dust.l After you finish the cleaning, let us know if you still have problems. Good luck![/QUOTE]

Dear Fellows! Thank you very much for your concern and for your replies.
Since this is the last, until now, I thank you all here!!!

In fact, a few weeks ago I did a cleaning to my PC. I dusted it as good as I could with a vacuum cleaner and the cooler was extremely dusty. I Thought the problem was there, but no. I bought and applied a new heat paste to the processor, watched the fans…

I think that, as it was noticed in the first reply, the problem with a bad PS is very racional, I mean, when cold, the sistem needs more power to heat and it fails. I borrowed a PS from a friend and this weekend I’ll try to see if this resolves the problem.

I’ll come back here to tell you the result (good, I hope :iagree:)

Thanks again . Tira

#6

I suspect the PSU, too :iagree:

I experienced similar boot symptoms on my old P4 with a crappy Q-Tec PSU I had. Swapped it out for a quality one, problem fixed.

BTW, welcome to the forum Tira :slight_smile:

#7

Since you were inside there recently:

Poor electrical contacts will improve when they get warm, so remove and re-seat all power connectors, especially the motherboard. Also do the same with the RAM sticks.

Something may have been loosened when you were cleaning.

#8

[QUOTE=Tira.linhas;2164718]Dear Fellows! Thank you very much for your concern and for your replies.
Since this is the last, until now, I thank you all here!!!

In fact, a few weeks ago I did a cleaning to my PC. I dusted it as good as I could with a vacuum cleaner and the cooler was extremely dusty. I Thought the problem was there, but no. I bought and applied a new heat paste to the processor, watched the fans…

I think that, as it was noticed in the first reply, the problem with a bad PS is very racional, I mean, when cold, the sistem needs more power to heat and it fails. I borrowed a PS from a friend and this weekend I’ll try to see if this resolves the problem.

I’ll come back here to tell you the result (good, I hope :iagree:)

Thanks again . Tira[/QUOTE]

Hello again!
As promised, here I am to tell you the news.
Unfortunately, the PSU I borrowed is not working. So, I tried another strategy: I installed XP in an old 80Gb HD I had in my system, I disabled the 300Gb HD and everything is fine, so far. This afternoon, I started my pc with the old instalation and it rebooted, as usual. So, I went to setup, disabled it, enabled the new instalation and… voilà ! Is functioning well. But only tomorrow, when starting form cold, I will see if this is really true.
But I’m convinced that the 300Gb HD is not very healthy,in fact!
I’ll com back to tell you the result.
Thanks

Tira.