Random reboots.. even in safe mode

W

wjlane

New Member
Hello everyone,

Newbie here with my first post and sorry for being long but this is my last resort to find an answer to my issue. I've done as much as I could because I didn't want to waste anyone's time in here.

I have an eMachines T5082 and yes, I know it's a piece of crap but it was cheap and I got it for my daughter who only uses it for internet and school work. It's been working fine for almost 2 years but recently it started rebooting randomly. Sometimes instead of a reboot, the screen will lock and be distorted. It has two sticks of RAM: the crappy 512 that came with it and a 1gb stick of Crucial that I added when I first bought it. There was no hardware or software installed just prior to the reboots. Here's what I've done so far without success:

-Cleaned interior and fans of dust. The avg. operating temp is 59c (CPU) but even with the case open and cool air flowing in, it still reboots.

-Checked all connections and inspected all MB capacitors for buldging. No issues found.

-Removed dialup network card. It wasn't even being used and it's the only device attached to the MB. (MB has integrated video and no card).

-Ran checkdisk on HD; no errors found.

-VirusScan always running but did a full scan anyway with no infections detected.

-Reinstalled (clean install) Vista HB operating system.

-Booted in Safe Mode but still reboots.

With all that I've done, especially the last step, I'm assuming it's a hardware issue. That pretty much leaves the PSU, HD, RAM, or something on the MB.

Now here's the weird part. I ran memtest86 on the 512 stick three times and it showed errors on test #6 consistantly. The 1gb stick tested fine. So I thought I figured it out and just left the 1gb stick in but the reboots continued. So now I'm thinking it must be the PSU however, when I put the 512 stick in and removed the 1gb stick, the computer runs just fine! WTF?

I put the 1gb back in and sure enough, reboots over and over. Ran memtest again and the same results: 512 bad, 1gb good. But how has this computer been running without error for 2 days with a single bad stick of 512 RAM? I've been running Office, IE, ViruScan, and I haven't been able to generate any errors from this bad stick of RAM. I'm still suspecting a failing PSU and just thinking that the 1gb is causing just enough power drain to cause the reboots but I've read where such a power drain from RAM would be insignificant.

My next step is to replace the PSU and upgrade the RAM to two sticks of Kingston 1gb.

Any suggestions? Is it possible for bad RAM to still function without error? Am I on the right track to solving this issue? Hardware related?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Bill
 
this might work and is easy so its my first go to.

press the power supply off or unplug it, open that cancerous baby up, look at the motherboard (i dont know your knowledge so im asuming the low) , its the big thing thats long and thin, mounted to the back of the case. find the little batter, its circular and shiny, take it out, wait.....wait....wait, put it back and try to reboot it.
 
Thanks for the reply. I thought the CMOS serves no function after the OS is loaded? If that's the case, a faulty CMOS battery would not cause the system to reboot. Correct? All of my random reboots have occured after the OS has loaded or sometimes during the splash screen. Also, the computer has been running just fine with just the bad 512mb stick of RAM in it; which makes no sense to me whatsoever.
 
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After.

I did notice something else in the BIOS menu under the Hardware Monitoring screen, below the various temperature readings there was the following:

12v: 11.871
5v: 5.16
3.5v: 3.63

Is the low reading under 12v indicative of a failing PSU or is such a flucuation below 12v normal?
 
I'm suspecting a PSU problem or maybe there's something in the BIOS that has a cut-off monitor that restarts the computer if the CPU gets too hot? And it's possible that it could be a failing hard drive - You never know. Computers restart themselves because of 1. Settings configured 2. Faulty/Failing hardware (Obviously). So check the bios. And just start removing hardware like (GPU, take out a stick or RAM and leave one in, put in extra HDD, take old out, stick new PSU in, take old out etc.)
Process of elimination.
 
dak1b said:
hd failure.. :(
Click to expand...

But why does the computer run fine with just that one bad stick of 512 RAM? A failing HD would show the same symptoms over and over regardless. As soon as I put in that 1gb stick of RAM (that tested OK) either by itself or with the 512 stick, the computer starts the random reboot cycle. And again, I've had both of these RAM sticks running together in that computer for almost 2 years without issue.
 
I am away from home attending computer forensics training for the next 2 weeks so I am unable to mess around with the computer. So for now, I'm just running possible solutions through my head. Here's what I plan to do in order:

-I will test it with a different power supply from another computer to see if the PSU is failing.

-Connect a different HDD from another computer.

-Buy new RAM.

-Disable on board video and buy/install a separate video card.

If the condition still exists, I would have to narrow it down to a MB or CPU issue. After that, not sure what else it could be. All evidence indicates a PSU issue but how this thing will only run on a single RAM stick that has verified errors on it just baffles me. Again, when I put in a larger stick of RAM that has no errors, I get random reboots. I suspect the power drain from the larger RAM is causing the reboots even though the power difference is ever so slight. Apparently, it must be just enough for a failing PSU.

What is the normal voltage fluctuation for the 12v rail? My BIOS is showing a reading of 11.871v. If this number is too low, that would be another indicator of PSU failure.

Do these steps seem logical? Anything I'm missing?

Thanks.
 
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