Old PC randomly rebooting/turning off video

B

billfold

Geek Trainee
Hello,

I have been trying to fix a problem with my parent's computer which has me puzzled, other than that it is some sort of hardware problem. I'm slowly replacing components...

The system is a Pentium III 900Mhz, with an Asus motherboard. It has been running fine for many years now without any issues. The only thing that was done to it over the years was a memory upgrade, and there were no issues for over a year after that.

All of a sudden when using it, the monitor would shutoff or it would reboot sometimes going into the BIOS screens. This happens very randomly. At times it works for days, other times it is very repeatable, usually when I'm not there. :-)

They are using Windows XP, and to eliminate any software problems, I completely reinstalled the system, installing all the latest patches, Anti-virus, spybot, etc... It is now a completely clean system. I ran Prime95 to stress-test the memory/cpu, and it ran for 8 hours with no problems.

I replaced the video card, checked the voltage of the PSU with a multimeter, everything looks good. Of course it works perfectly when I'm there, but the moment I leave it acts up. :-)

It must be the PSU dying slowly possibly working fine most of the time then a drop in power at random intervals. With my experience of dying PSUs, usually they die completely, as in you can't restart the computer -- I have had 2 do this over the last 15 years. Or possibly something wrong with the motherboard? Is it possible the battery on the motherboard needs replacing?

Does anyone have any suggestions other than replacing the PSU or motherboard?

Thanks...
 
Have tried to give the inside a bit a clean? when dust builds up inside it can raise the temps which can cause random restarts etc
 
If it restarts randomly then its likely to be the PSU. My dead one did that until it stopped working completely,
 
addis said:
If it restarts randomly then its likely to be the PSU. My dead one did that until it stopped working completely,
Click to expand...

That's what I'm guessing. But I've never seen a PSU cause random issues at least with an older system like this. Usually either it works, or it doesn't even start up. Pentium IV's and Athlon's require more power which may give a random behaviour...

It has been doing this for months now, but is getting slightly worse as time goes on. I hope it just dies for good soon!

Oh, and the case is very clean inside, almost no dust at all, it had a really good seal.
 
PSUs don't get better. Once they start down the path of the dark side forever will it dominate their destiny. Consume them it will. Uh... sorry.
 
Remove the Video card and inspect the capacitors they are the cylinders with 2 conections to the board "color may vary". If any of them are corroded or appear to bow outwards, It may simply be a video card issue. Dont Know what Os you are running But also try going into safe mode and uninstalling the drivers for video."make sure you have the driver disk "or the driver setup installed on your HD first" reboot and let your os install a generic driver. If your problem doesnt occur in the generic setting then its a graphics issue. either fix or replace the card.. "easier to replace " If it still continues Try checking for conflicts in the IRQ settings. but would reccomend that you give any details possible about the system in the future, bios build etc.. hope I could be of help :o
 
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