# Computer restarts/shuts down suddenly and monitor doesn't turn-on with reboot...



## HenryH (Feb 16, 2009)

For the last week or so, my computer has been restarting suddenly multiple times throughout the day. As far as I know, the computer performs these "unprovoked restarts" only when I'm engaging the computer in web-browsing, word processing, etc. Sometimes the computer just shuts down without restarting.

Also, when the computer restarted suddenly earlier today, the monitor (LCD), though already turned on, did not display the typical start-up screen; the power on/off button just kept blinking as if it was in stand-by mode. To finally enable the monitor to "recognize" the computer being turned on, I had to plug and unplug the computer several times (the computer didn't respond to the pressing of its on/off button). Finally, on one lucky occasion, the monitor turned on as the computer booted up. 

Before the computer began suddenly restarting, I have been experiencing isolated incidents such as the one described above where the monitor would fail to initiate/display the boot-up sequence maybe once or twice a month for the past 6 months.

The computer is an unaugmented Gateway 506GR bought in January of 2005:

http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/3724/4367sp3.shtml


Do these sound like power supply-related issues?

Any advice would be appreciated...


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Yes it Does, check in your bois to see if there is a pc health page which lists the voltages and temps(not all OEM PC's have this) if you have them post the readings for the 12v, 5v, 3.3v rails and the CPU temp.


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## HenryH (Feb 16, 2009)

I accessed System Information via the Start Menu, but there isn't any information present that seems to be representative of the voltage and temperature values you specified. 

Am I looking in the wrong area? 

And I forgot to mention in my original post that about a week ago, after the computer re-started on one particular occasion, the screen was black displaying only the message:

"CMOS Checksum Error."


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

You enter the Bios by pressing and holding the F1 key on boot.


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## HenryH (Feb 16, 2009)

I restarted the PC and accessed the BIOS, but I didn't find figures for any of the values you specified under any of the sub-menus. Also, the first time I entered the BIOS, the computer locked-up after a few minutes of me browsing through each sub-menu and I had to restart. The computer locked up several times while I browsed the BIOS, and each time I restarted, it seemed to lock-up "sooner" after each successive reboot.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Yea I was figuring that, sounds like it may be heat related, I would check the CPU cooler fan to make sure it is spinning, if it is redo the thermal paste between the heat sink and the CPU.> http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm


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## HenryH (Feb 16, 2009)

When I booted up the computer today, it restarted a few seconds after I logged into Windows, but then it restarted again after displaying the "Gateway" start-up screen. After that, I had to un-plug the computer because it would just keep restarting after that same start-up screen or after displaying the Windows XP load screen. 

After a few times of this occurring, the computer restarted and displayed the message "Invalid BOOT.INI file" and mentioned something about "C:/windows." 

So it doesn't sound like the problem is related to the power source anymore? The fans appear to be operating fine (the side panel of the computer has actually been removed for the past year).

Could all these problems be caused by excessive heat and not the power source?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

At this point without being able to get any readings from the bois it could be heat or power, But the file issues could be from under powering the drive.
If you have access to a Digital Volt meter you could check the voltages that way, or try the cheapest thing first which is redoing the Thermal Paste.
http://www.techsupportforum.com/f210/test-your-power-supply-with-a-multi-meter-151526.html


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## HenryH (Feb 16, 2009)

For the heck of it, I talked to a Gateway technical support representative during an online chat session, and he thinks a virus is manifesting the aforementioned malfunctions. However, when I told him that the monitor sometimes will not start-up with the computer (even though turned on), he said that the "problem might be hardware-related, too."

He instructed me to perform a System Restore and then run scannow via the "Run" tool. 

Do you really think the problem could be virus-related? I haven't downloaded anything in weeks aside from the newest version of FireFox and the PayPal plug-in...


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

If it happens before windows loads it is not virus related and a system restore won't fix it.


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## HenryH (Feb 16, 2009)

Thanks for your input; I figured it wasn't a virus. 

Should I just go ahead and purchase a new power supply? The support rep. told me that the Gateway 506GR (my computer) has a 300w 24-pin ATX. I found several on eBay for $25 shipped:

Here...

Does this look like a good quality power source? Do I need to opt for something more expensive?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Not really that's a relabeled generic try one of these> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104953


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## HenryH (Feb 16, 2009)

Thanks for the recommendation. But will that power supply (400w) be okay to use in my computer? The Gateway rep. told me that it comes with a 300w power supply, and I've read that it can be "dangerous" to introduce a power supply that is more/less powerful than the one it is originally assembled with...


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Don't know where you read that, the components will only use what they need and the supply will run cooler at less of a load and last longer the the stock supply.
A supply that is too small will cause damage because it can not supply the needed power run hot and when hot provide less power, eventually it will fail.


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