Problem with win 98 pc rebooting itself.

Cactus Col

Hello

I have a win 98 pc (a fujitsu, I'm not hugely technical so don't really know the specifications of it).

The problem is that the computer will reboot itself for no apperent reason. The first time it's switched that day on it might work for a hours (or minutes) but will then go off and try to reboot. It usually does not get far back into the booting process before it starts again (usually it has barely started booting before it starts again). there is no set point when it starts to reboot.

I have run adaware and spyblaster to no effect.

Any help on this would be appreciated, cheers.

davel04

Cactus,

It sounds like it is not a virus or spyware, it seems that either the PC or the processor is overheating and rebooting to protect itself, that is why you may get an initial hour or so out of it untill it reaches a certain temp, then when it reboots the core temp is already high so it reboots quicker and quicker..etc. Either check the processor fan to make sure it's working, get the hoover out if it's dusty and reseat the processor heatsink to make sure the thermal paste is in contact with the processor,

rgds.....

gamer

sounds like its overheating make sure theres plenty of space around pc clean inside get rid of dust see if theres a bios tempeture readout re motherbrd tempeture sum people have loads of items in 1 room printer tv video and in winter they switch on centalheating and the combined heat is just too much for pc it starts crashing but i suspect hardware problem cos its unusual for pcs to reboot themselves ,prbly needs ventilation ,overheating,make sure all fans working,including cpufan,sumtimes connectors loosen themselves.but in my experience win98 tends to crash especially if u install loads of games utilitys on the system,winxp is much more stable,if theres 1 glitch or bad process in win98 it crashes if ur on net i recommend winpatrol adaware and spybot used together with firewall constantly, updated antivirus package and u need to check for spyware at least once a week otherwise ur pc will become unstable because of spyware,worms etc.one package doesnt get everything ,it takes 3 at least to keep a pc stable.u need to update antivirus definitions, at least once a week.and then widows 98 is full of security holes vunerabilitys.

Cactus Col

Cheers for the help! ... will check out the fans (and I've a feeling it's quite dusty behind there too)

will get back if it works ... or doesnt

gamer

try take off 2 side case covers leave pc on 6 hours see if it crashes ,IF THERES no kids round ,or lock pc room ,if crashes stop then u ,ll know its overheating,be careful, make sure power is going to all fans get rid of all dust disconnect power cable when doing this.sum people say win 98 needs to be reinstalled after 2 year intervals cos it slows down becomes unstable especially if u r downloading from net . try download hijack this to scan for hidden malware too.

flyinfishmonkey

If you're not technically minded this may be a stupid question but did you add any new hardware recently, Graphics Card, Hard Drive, Disk Drive...? Reason I ask is that I did a build recently and added lots of stuff but when all booted up it would crash nearly immediately or run for a while like yours and then crash. Had me dazed and confused.! Eventually traced it back to the Powerpack. It wasn't able to cope with the new editions of juice suckers so just turned itself off. Could be worth having this shecked out as well as what the other guys reckon. Good Luck.

kmb

I would say probable cause is the power supply.That would be my main test area first if the fan is working okay on the heatsink.(above the cpu)


regads kieran

Cactus Col

cheers .... didn't add naything flyinfishmonkey ... would be too afraid to mess around with it at this stage of it's life! ..

mate had a look. ... don't know what he did but it seems to be going okay now ... but thanks for the help and all the suggestions!