PC suddenly restarting every now and then

kurtbaronagliam

Reputable
Sep 8, 2017
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4,510
Hi, so my PC of 5 years recently developed a bad habit of restarting at unexpected times. It started yesterday when it restarted once then everything was okay. I expected it to be just overheating since I do live in a fairly hot country (The Philippines) so I let it slide.

Today however, it restarted 3 times in a span of 3 hours. Just less than half an hour after turning it on the first time, it restarted without warning. I was away at the time it did but I caught up quickly. I just let it pass and did my usual things like playing games and stuff but then it hanged so I was forced to restart it a second time. I scanned my PC for viruses with Malwarebytes but found nothing. It took a solid hour and a half, maybe a little more, before it did it again.

To be honest, I'm lost here.

Here's my specs. Did I mention they're a little ancient?
Processor : AMD A4-3300 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
Motherboard : EMX A55GM iCafe
Graphics Card : AMD Radeon HD 5500 Series
RAM : 4GB with 3GB being used
OS : Windows 7 32 bit
HDD : WDC WD5000AAKX-001CA0

Any and all help would be gladly appreciated. Thanks
 
Solution
In such a scenario i check for dust, most of my replies mention dust because dust off all types of dust from pc especially if i can make a small pillow out of it then i check thermal paste, gpu fans and cpu fans. Finally when that is done i examine windows for errors via chkdsk or sfc /scannow. .......especially when a pc restarts for apparent reason.

zer0c007

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Jun 10, 2017
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860
In such a scenario i check for dust, most of my replies mention dust because dust off all types of dust from pc especially if i can make a small pillow out of it then i check thermal paste, gpu fans and cpu fans. Finally when that is done i examine windows for errors via chkdsk or sfc /scannow. .......especially when a pc restarts for apparent reason.
 
Solution

lenny23

Distinguished
BANNED
Dec 1, 2012
25
1
18,545
You didn't post what PSU you got. I'd say that's the problem. Sudden restarts or loops are typical signs of a Power Supply Unit failure. But you should also check for dust, thermal paste and your CPU temps like zer0 says.
 

JonCondiff

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Oct 20, 2015
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18,660
both of the other posts are great, install a pc thermometer to check the PCs temp or feel the air in the case right after it restarts. If it's hot it's overheating. And you should worry about it overheating as it will damage the CPU