Dell Dimension 3000

[ben946210]

Does anyone know much about the Dell Dimension 3000? I have run into a problem for about a month now of it restarting itself no matter what OS it is running. It is obviously a hardware problem and not a Windows problem so please don't try to troubleshoot it.

Any help will be appreciated.
Ben

 

[Britton30]

Fill out System Specs completely, Dells are mostly custom and we'd need to know what your has.

 

[ben946210]

Dell Dimension 3000:
1GB RAM
160GB HDD
3.2GHz Pentium 4
400 Watt PSU-Replaced

 

[Britton30]

You are 1GB short of the minimum RAM to run Win 7 X64. that may be the cause.

 

[ben946210]

Actually this computer is running Windows XP Pro. On the profile, Win 7 is referring to my laptop. Like I said, it restarts no-matter what OS it is running. For example, I was trying to backup my computer over night using Acronis Image off disc and it restarted in the middle of the backup.

 

[TVeblen]

Specs here:
Documentation

Common causes are:

• [Most common]: Power supply (you did that), but unless the replacement was new it could still be the cause.
• Poorly seated components (remove the components - RAM sticks & PCI cards) - and reinstall them making sure they click completely into place.
• Dust: Enough to cause short circuits (shorting) - blow out the case and all components with compressed air.
• Shorting at the motherboard mounts (be sure the mounts are in the correct location and snug-tight.
• Shorting at the motherboard input/output (I/O) shield.
• Shorting on the externally connected devices.

Can you check those items?

 

[Britton30]

Go to Control Panel|System|Advanced tab. Start up and recovery, UN check Automatically Restart. this won't fix it, but upon powering up may generate an error code.

 

[ben946210]

Im not sure if you understand, it isnt a Windows problem. It is hardware.

 

[Britton30]

OK, never mind.

 

[ben946210]

Thanks for trying though, its greatly appreciated.

 

[Petey7]

Have you ever seen it suddenly restart? Windows will automatically have the computer restart after a BSOD. I believe many versions of linux do the same thing, so Britton's advice is reasonable.

On another note. I have had this problem with an old desktop before (running Knoppix). It turned out to be a faulty floppy drive causing the problem. It would cut off then come back on shortly after on it's on. My point is, you can't rule anything out.

 

[ben946210]

This is something that I should have mentioned, but for about a month now I have been having problems with the computer when it is turned off, it will sit in a restarting loop where it will start for 1 second and turn off. It will repeat this process until I turn the power switch off. The thing that strikes me the most is when I turn the computer off, it turns itself on into this loop.