Why is my computer randomly restarting and freezing?

[Nusc]

Initially my computer either kept restarting or freezing. It soon became more frequent so I checked the CPU fan. I noticed the fan wasn't moving.

Now, however, the CPU fan is moving after a few weeks after I took the fan off and replaced it back again. My computer still restarts and freezes
Does anyone know what the solution to my problem is?

The CPU is a P3 @ 500 mhz with a SEC II cooler fan.

Is this a hardware of software issue? What can I do to rule this out?

I've had this issue of my computer restarting in the past however not freezing. My solution was to reformat my computer and it worked temporarily of course.

 

[ranger]

Since you've reformatted several times and still get the same problem, it may not be a malicious software. It seems like a overheating problem. Are you sure the fan was installed properly?

But you can narrow down the causes by doing a virus scan. If that finds nothing, then it probably is a heating issue.

 

[NateTG]

There's a fan in the power supply which could also be the issue.

To check if it's a heat issue, see if the computer doesn't crash as often when it's cold i.e. when it hasn't been running.

Also, there may be an issue with the thermal connection between the CPU and it's heat sink.

 

[Nusc]

Since you've reformatted several times and still get the same problem, it may not be a malicious software. It seems like a overheating problem. Are you sure the fan was installed properly?

But you can narrow down the causes by doing a virus scan. If that finds nothing, then it probably is a heating issue.

Initially the fan was never touched until the restarting became more frequent.

I can't do a virus scan, my computer would never last that long without restarting or freezing.

 

[Nusc]

There's a fan in the power supply which could also be the issue.

To check if it's a heat issue, see if the computer doesn't crash as often when it's cold i.e. when it hasn't been running.

Also, there may be an issue with the thermal connection between the CPU and it's heat sink.

HOw is the fan in the power supply an issue? I just bought a third one after going through two. The one I currently have has this huge fan in it facing towards the CPU. I just faced it the other way so it hits the top of the tower chasis.

Running it in cold or warm temperatures doesn't make much of a difference. It's purely random. Sometimes it lasts unusually long. As for the thermal connection, I'm not sure what that is.

 

[CRGreathouse]

re: thermal connection: The heat sink is generally glued to the processor with thermal glue -- if the alignment is off, or if the connection is broken by something, heat is transferred much less efficiently from the processor and the processor can overheat even with plenty of fan power.

 

[fizziks]

If I recall, Intel CPU chips don't freeze or restart the computer when they overheat. Only AMD chips do that. If an Intel CPU overheats, it greatly lowers the speed of the computer. If you reformatted the HD and it still freezes/restarts, then it's definitely not software related.It's probably a bad hard drive. Can't really fix that unless you get a new one.

 

[ranger]

Okay, I would do the following to try and pinpoint the possible causes.

You can go into your BIOS. This should give you a wealth of information about various components, such as fan speeds, temperature, and voltages. This can give you some idea of state your computer's environment just after a failure.

Its is also possible to monitor CPU temp once the OS has booted up. You can use various software packages. An example of such a software is Asus' PC Probe. They tap into the built in sensors on your motherboard. If that doesn't suite you, then you'll have to google for alternate packages that your motherboard manufacturer may have provided.

 

[Nusc]

For some reason my computer hasn't restarted or froze in the last three hours.

I suspect that it's because I faced the big fan of my power supply outward towards the chasis rather than directly onto my CPU. Isn't that strange?

Man, I'm so happy!