Win 7 started rebooting every few minutes

[1metalguru]

Hi Guys:

Today, my Windows & computer started rebooting every 5-10 minutes. The screen goes black, then the Asus motherboard BIOS splash screen comes up. There is no warning, no errors reported or error windows.

I have not installed any software for months, so I don't think it's a new program. I just hope I can get this posted before it happens again.

Where would I look for log files to find out why this is happening? Any programs I can use to see what the cause is?

Thanks in advance.

Metalguru

 

[flavallee]

Load the "System" properties window.
Click "Advanced system settings".
Click the "Startup and recovery" settings button.
Remove the checkmark in "Automatically restart".
Click "OK - Apply - OK".

That should prevent your computer from automatically restarting if there's a system failure.

 

[1metalguru]

Thanks Flav

That should stabilize things a bit, now how do I find the cause?

MG

 

[flavallee]

I'm not a diagnostic expert, so someone else here will need to assist you.
Good luck.

 

[Megahertz07]

Does it do a normal shutdown (close programs etc) and restart or restart as a power failure?
Look at Administrative tools - Event Viewer
On mine I had a power failure yesterday and it reported:
"The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."

 

[1metalguru]

Meg:

No, it just shuts down like it was a power failure.

The event Viewer is kind of greek to me, I don't really know what to look for or where. But, I did not see any messages like the one you posted...

The suggestion from flavallee worked a charm, it has not rebooted since. But I am worried that there is something more sinister causing this issue in the background. Perhaps hardware? Power supply failing?

MG

 

[Megahertz07]

Open Administrative tools - Event Viewer
On the left panel, expand Custom Views - Summary page events
Any message like "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first"?

 

[1metalguru]

I found these:

Critical 1/27/2022 5:59:53 PM Kernel-Power 41 (63)
Critical 1/27/2022 6:06:30 PM Kernel-Power 41 (63)
Critical 1/27/2022 6:34:46 PM Kernel-Power 41 (63)
Critical 1/27/2022 7:02:39 PM Kernel-Power 41 (63)
Critical 1/27/2022 8:00:42 PM Kernel-Power 41 (63)


MG

 

[Megahertz07]

I think you have a Power Supply problem.
Do you have a Linux USB drive that you can boot from and see if it also happens under Linux?

 

[1metalguru]

Meg:

No, unfortunately I do not. I'm not what you call a power user, I just have enough knowledge to deal with small everyday problems, but I am by no stretch of the imagination a programmer or IT specialist. Hence the use of Seven Forums...

I am having a lot of problems with Windows 7 and my computer in general, it being almost 10 years old I think it is time to upgrade to a new computer. As much as I hate Windows 10, I will not really have any choice since modern hardware will not even run Windows 7 anymore.

Sniff, sniff. Thanks for your help, Megahertz07, and Flavallee!

MG

 

[Megahertz07]

1metalguru, you have a good computer. Not the latest tech, but it is a decent computer with a lot of memory. And it has win 7 that for me is still the best OS.

Things you can do to see if the computer can be saved.
- Open the case. Is the CPU heat sink clean? Is the fan running?
- Don't you have a friend that can borrow you a PS?

 

[TechnoMage2016]

Sometimes, just the smallest thing can cause a PC to Reboot. Just one loose wire can do it.
If I had your PC here on my Repair Bench, the first thing I'd do is check every connection, starting with the power cord, then the wires from the power supply to the motherboard, etc.
While you have the case open, DO check the fans, especially the one that cools the cpu. Make sure they are all turning freely.
And while you're there, check for dirt in the CPU heatsink. If it's full of dirt, that can cause your PC to shut down, from over-temp.
I would probably remove the CPU cooling fan, and clean it, as well as the heatsink.

Then think for a moment.....when was the last time the CMOS battery was changed? If more than three years ago, I'd just go ahead and change it. ( I always keep several of those little CR2032 batteries in stock)

I've seen everything I've mentioned above, cause a PC to randomly shut down.

You probably don't need a new PC. Being retired, it's now my hobby, to take PC's that people have thrown away, and refurbish them and get them running better than new. The small form factor (SFF) HP PC that I'm on now, is one of those.

Good Luck to you,
TM

 

[1metalguru]

Mega & Techno:

Thanks for the tips, but I'm pretty sure I've covered all that. Heatsink fan is fine, heatsink is clean. All fans are operating and clean. I will go over all the connectors, however. Cmos battery is a good tip, I don't recall ever changing it, but I will now. I ran OpenHardwareMonitor and all the temps are just slightly above ambient, and all fans are working to spec.

While I've got you guys attention, one of the main reasons I wanted to replace this thing is that my copy of Windows 7 has seen better days. It does all kinds of weird things, like:

1. Occasionally, it stops responding to any input for 2-3 minutes with no apparent reason. The mouse still moves, but whatever window is open reverts to an all white window and says (not responding) at the top. I can't use mouse or keyboard, but it seems to save any input and executes it when the computer starts responding again. IE if I type ctrl/shift/esc to open Task Manager, nothing happens, but when the computer comes back on line it will open task manager. Annoying, happens several times a day
2. Windows update stopped working a couple of years before Windows ended support. It will not install any "Monthly rollup" or other packaged updates that MS went to near end of life on Windows. Tried every fix I could find with no joy.
3. Does dozens of small annoying problems too numerous to list, that are untraceable. You can go back over my history in Seven Forums for some idea of what I'm dealing with.

I'm thinking Windows 7, in its old age, is just becoming senile, too many corrupted files or whatever. The main reason I haven't replaced it before now is that I have a huge investment in installed software some of which is irreplaceable. Updating to Windows 10 will cause me to lose a lot of this stuff and spend dozens of hours reinstalling.

So, the question I have, is will doing a repair install of Win 7 fix all this stuff, or make it worse?

MG

 

[Megahertz07]

As your windows installation is old, you have collected a lot of trash. Remains of uninstalled programs all over the place and Register with useless data. Instead of a Repair install, do a Clean install
There is nothing like a Clean install
- Save your data to an external drive
- Boot from the Win 7 installation drive and delete all partitions and proceed
- For the updates use Single file with all updates - Simplix
- Reinstall programs and recover your data

 

[1metalguru]

Mega:

I tend to agree, a clean install is the way to go. However, in my case, this would involve not only a huge amount of work reinstalling everything, but I don't have the original installation media for a lot of the programs, only the installed program. It would be impossible to recover these programs. I don't see how backing up installed programs would help, since they are already installed and registered through the original installer, there is no way to restore these without the original installation disks. Backing up the data is easy, but without the original program the data is useless. Not to mention the insane amount of time and effort required.

Also, when I originally set up win7, I had an early SSD that was only 64 Gb. So, I moved all of the user files, program files, and program data to another drive, leaving only essential windows and boot information on the SSD. This makes it extremely difficult to update Windows since it usually requires everything to be on the same partition.

Is there a way to reliably clean up files and the registry without this drastic step?

MG

 

[Megahertz07]

I suggested you try a Linux boot able drive (you declined). It's very easy to put a Linux on a flash drive and test to see if the problem is on Windows. I can guide you on how to build one.

I suggested a clean install. You argued that you will loose some programs. If you buy a new computer you will loose anyway.