Consistently inconsistent reboots

[Kelric]

So my system is about seven years old and other than being prone to overheating very easily has worked great the whole time. For the last month or so, however, it turns on and then 10-15 minutes later it crashes and reboots itself no matter what I am doing (nothing, just using a browser, running an intensive game, etc.) and without the cooling fans spooling up to indicate a heat issue. After that reboot it works fine for however long I use it, whether it is an hour or eight hours. For the initial crash it does not matter if I come out of a full shutdown or sleep mode - it crashes no matter what and then works fine. Thoughts?

[Anonymous Bosch]

So my system is about seven years old and other than being prone to overheating very easily has worked great the whole time. For the last month or so, however, it turns on and then 10-15 minutes later it crashes and reboots itself no matter what I am doing (nothing, just using a browser, running an intensive game, etc.) and without the cooling fans spooling up to indicate a heat issue. After that reboot it works fine for however long I use it, whether it is an hour or eight hours. For the initial crash it does not matter if I come out of a full shutdown or sleep mode - it crashes no matter what and then works fine. Thoughts?

Given all the heat issues you mentioned, have you tried cleaning it with canned air? The following Linus Tech Tips video demonstrates how to do it properly and thoroughly to achieve the best results:

[gilraen]

If a computer crashes after a cold boot, but not after a forced restart - could be a driver that isn't loading properly on the initial boot. It's highly unlikely to be a hardware issue in itself, but an affected driver could be the one controlling the fans. Something to try would be when you first boot up - wait a couple of minutes, and then restart. See if a graceful restart has the same effect as a crash restart (I don't know how the sleep mode is classified in this).

Try to disable fast startup and see if that makes a difference.

You can also go into the Event Viewer and see what kind of error is logged - at least to see if it's complaining specifically about memory, kernel, etc.

[Smoove_B]

For the initial crash it does not matter if I come out of a full shutdown or sleep mode - it crashes no matter what and then works fine. Thoughts?

I'd be surprised if this was the case, but I'll offer it as a possibility based on what I saw once - bulging/leaking capacitors on the motherboard. I did numerous re-installs, removing/replacing hardware and the computer would randomly reboot.

Fortunately it should be easy to figure out when you open everything to get the dust out. You could try doing a Google search for your motherboard to see if it's one that is known to have issues (depending on when/where it was made), but I think they'll be easy to see once you know what you're looking for.

[malchior]

Random reboots out of nowhere in my experience indicates a failing power supply or drivers. You can take a look and see if anything updated. If not, I'd take a hard look at the power supply.

[hitbyambulance]

power supply is probably on its way out. but you really should clean out the inside (and check the capacitors, just to make sure)

[Smoove_B]

FWIW, I had originally replaced the power supply as part of the testing (as that seemed more likely), but even with the new one it was still randomly rebooting. That's when I took a closer look and saw the capacitor issue.

[Rumpy]

For the initial crash it does not matter if I come out of a full shutdown or sleep mode - it crashes no matter what and then works fine. Thoughts?

I'd be surprised if this was the case, but I'll offer it as a possibility based on what I saw once - bulging/leaking capacitors on the motherboard. I did numerous re-installs, removing/replacing hardware and the computer would randomly reboot.

I've experienced these same issues due to bulging capacitors on a previous motherboard, and that was my first thought based on the description of what's happening. I was honestly surprised it still worked given how bad it looked when I finally looked it over.

[hitbyambulance]

i had a system i put together in the summer of 2000 and the computer was experiencing random hard locks in 2002 - just would completely seize up, most often whenever i had a game that utilized 3D accelerated graphics (the card was the first of the nVidia GeForce line- the 256?). brought it into a local computer shop, and they found a few bulgy capacitors on the ASUS motherboard. this was of course when the bootleg capacitor formula scandal was happening:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

i ended up replacing it with a lower-end motherboard, wish i could remember what it was... but that lasted for the rest of the life of the PC. i should have pushed harder for warranty on the ASUS one.

[Anonymous Bosch]

If you do find damaged or bulging capacitors on your motherboard, it's worth remembering that a competent PC repair service can repair and replace them for you (e.g. here's a Texas-based repair company that specifically mentions capacitor replacement on motherboards as part of their PC repair service). If you're unable to find one locally, you can send in your motherboard to BadCaps.net and have them recap and repair it for you.

[hitbyambulance]

yeah capacitors are totally end-user replaceable. my soldering skills were non-existent back then, but i could do it now.