Topic: My dell desktop keeps restarting?

[Depechemode1993]

its not all the time but it keeps happening maybe once or twice a month. I'll be doing some work on my computer and all of a sudden everything freezes and then my computer screen goes black and then restarts? It pisses me off sometimes and am worried when it happens that I lose data. It would suck if this happens. The only things I have added to my computer is a 1TB Internal HD, M-Audio 24/96 Soundcard (Also an internal 1tb drive but I don't think that would matter). I have sucessfully installed both of their respective drivers and I don't know what else to think about this? Maybe you guys have had the same problems?

I have looked on google. I might give dell a call tomorrow. But I am guessing with the addition to other parts they might just point to one of the two things I have installed to the computer.

[Roving Sign]

Heat is my first guess...make sure your fans are clean...and any heat sink fins...

adding stuff may have changed the airflow slightly - perhaps another fan...?

[vanark]

Have you tried checking the logs in the Event Viewer to see if anything is being recorded when the system reboots itself?  Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer

[rastasean]

what is the model number of the desktop?

[Gordon]

could be anything but bad ram comes to mind from experiance.  or as someone else said it could be overheating.

[kfrinkle]

i would place my vote with overheating as well...

[Depechemode1993]

i would place my vote with overheating as well...

cool. So would there be any loss of data when it restarts? how can I add another fan to my desktop.

I run a Dell Inspiron 530. Not the best comp. but it gets the job done.

Seriously, thank you all for your input! I really really do appreciate it! + virtual T's!

[Brian Skalinder]

First things first:  check the event logs, as vanark suggests.  If there aren't any clear indicators as to the problem, you don't necessarily need to add a new fan.  First use compressed air to blow all the muck out of the inside of your case, the CPU fan and grate, and case fan and grate and see what happens.  Then, if the newish 1TB HDD isn't critical, unplug it for a while and see if the problem continues.  Finally, run memtest, and if it doesn't return obvious results try using a single RAM stick at a time to narrow down if there's a problem with one stick or another that memtest might be missing.  Only after exhausting those options (though RAM seems an unlikely culprit given the infrequency) should you consider a new fan, IMO.

[momule]

My guess is bad or not well seated memory or failing power supply.  I keep an extra power supply just for this reason.

Good luck with getting back in action.

[mattmiller]

I'm not familiar with Dell desktops, but on any of my system builds my motherboard always includes a utility to monitor temperature, fan speeds, etc.  Sometimes this information is available in the BIOS, along with a setting to specify at what temperature you want the system to shut itself down (for its own safety).  This isn't what's happening to you, if the system is restarting and not just shutting down.  But there might still be some indicators in there that your system is getting warmer than it likes, and some component (maybe the TB drive) is unable to handle it.

The memory is an easy thing to rule out with memtest.  The power supply is also a possible culprit.  I always have a spare for testing purposes, but if this is only happening once or twice a month it could be a long, pain-in-the-butt process to isolate the problem.

Adding a new fan is easy, if the OEM motherboard has a spare connector for it.  You should have a fan on your CPU and probably a case fan of some sort.  Look at the connectors on the motherboard that those fans are plugged into (they're probably labeled CPU FAN and SYS FAN, or something like that).  Then look for another on the motherboard labeled similarly (probably SYS FAN2, or the equivalent).  If you have another connector like this to power the fan, then you can mount a cheap $5 fan and improve your airflow/cooling.  This might not be the problem, but often is, and increasing airflow is NEVER a bad thing.

[Ziggz]

Untick Automatically Restart in the System Properties (Advanced -> Startup & Recovery), there's a good chance it's blue screening & restarting instantly. With restart disabled you'll be able to see the blue screen error codes and troubleshoot from there.

[George]

Also, if you've never cleaned out the dust from inside your PC, have a pile of q-tips handy to clean out all the dirt/dust that has accumulated on your heat sink(s) and fans. 

[kirk97132]

I have an Dell E510 not the E530 but should be similar.  While I had a different problem these machines are notorious for the power supply's going bad.  I found one for around $35 on line.  My puter had a problem with starting up not shutting down but I could imagine the power supply doing that.  A few of the capacitors go band on them.   Try poking around some Dell message boards.  They also recomend testing the coin battery or replacing it but that has nothing to do with it shutting down unexpectedly.  kirk

[mattmiller]

If you want to put the "overheating" hypothesis to the test before buying another (or bigger) fan, you could leave the side panel off of the computer.  That should get more air to the parts that need it (as long as you've blown all the dust out of the fans, the heatsink, and everywhere else).  Then if it STILL restarts on you you could probably eliminate the overheating from consideration.

[Scooter123]

Or it could be a sticky on off switch.  No kidding.  I just had a 2 month battle with my 4 year old Dell.  I thought it was the mother board, the power supply, the fans, a virus.  Got a replacement and THEN found out that it was nothing but a sticky switch.  Sigh.