pc restarting randoml

y2jmocho

Hi

i have a pc that restarts randomly, but when this occurs, nothing on the pc is working except the motherboard light turns on and the case power light turns on. i think it might be hardware problem, any ideas? i have checked all the cables and no problem. i have also brought a extra hard drive but after installing that it still causes the same the problem. i reinstalled windows xp but still the same problem. please help!

my spec:
windows xp pro sp2
asus p5gd2 deluxe mobo
intel p4 630 3.2 processor
nvidia 6600gt graphics card
old maxtor 300gb diamondmax 10 hard drive
new seagate 250gb baracuda sata hard drive
nec dvdrw
sony dvdrom
ultra 500w power supply

mostly

is wake on lan enabled in the bios.

fwor

(just checking as you don't say explicitly)

Have you gone to the websites of Asus, Nvidia, etc to download and install the latest drivers for their hardware? The ones that ship with XP are seldom the best available.

Zagu

Probably hardware or overheating. Ive solved similar by taking everything apart, cleaning it all up, removing the mass of gunk from the CPU heatsink, and reassemble. If that fails, take out anything you can, like sound card, a stick of memory if you have two, graphics if youve got on-board too, etc...

wakandem

It could be overheating. Check the fans for dust etc. Also check for heat damage (discoloring) around the motherboard and the componants on it. It is also possible a connected piece may be failing and causing a power surge cutting out the system ( hard drive - floppy - cd - usb attached hardware) If you are sure the system is clean then I would look at trying a different psu. 9x out of 10 it is the psu.
some malware which can get on to an unpatched system could also cause shutdown but you say you reinstalled xp so unlikely