Computer randomly restarting

[Spurred]

Hi, new guy here. I've enjoyed looking around - lots of knowledge on this board.

The problem I have is; It seems like it started after installing dvd burner, then I ended up reformatting after virus' were detected. The machine is restarting randomly sometimes and also while using the dvd burner. I've lost several disks so, I quit using it for now. I've replaced the cpu fan and heatsink because the fan was not working properly and sometimes I had to actually start the fan moving at startup. Replacement did not make a differance.

Now I'm stumped at what to do next. Maybe replace the 420w power supply? I notice the +12v varies to 10.18v, all other voltages seem ok.

Any guidance will be appreciated.

 

[Fragrant Coit]

Hopefully you haven't cooked it!!!

try downloading and running Memtest - you make a bootable Floppy or CD, let it go for an hour and see if there's any errors. If so, then RAM is faulty, if not, we've ruled out one suspect.

If it passes, find out what brand Hard Drive you have, go to the manufacturers site and get the Diagnostic - like MemTest, you make a bootable Floppy or CD.
Run the Short Test, if it passes, run the long one, if it fails, the Hard Drive is on it's way out and needs to be replaced. BACK UP YOUR DATA ASAP IF IT FAILS THE TESTS AS it could die at any time!

 

[Tedster]

also check your PSU with a tester and a multimeter.

 

[Spurred]

Naw, I haven't cooked it, it's still running untill it decides to reboot - only once so far this evening.

I already did the memtest and no errors detected. I ran the diagnostics on both hd's and they both recertified as being good. I haven't checked the power supply unit yet, I'll check it soon, I only have a multimeter so I'll have to have someone else test it for me. I'll post the results as soon as I can. I'm using speedfan and Hmonitor which vary quite a bit. On Speedfan +12v has read a min. +6.46v the -12v has read a max. -1.25v. Hmonitor doesn't show that much variation.

Thanks!

 

[pdyckman@comcas]

When a 12 volt power source dips to 10 volts? That is a problem. Did you say that on Speedfan your 12 volt power dips to a minimum 6.46 volts? Replace your PSU and upgrade it while you are at it. It's not good to run 12v electrical devices on such a lowered amount of power.