Curse

Painbringer · Jan 13, 2010, 04:46 PM // 16:46

Probably does not belong here since its not game related but if anyone has an idea let me know

My work computer is a Dell vostro 220s (brand new just set up for me a week ago) from what I had before this thing is a dream speed wise. Core 2 Wolfdale 2.9 Here is the problem I have had it randomly shut off 5 times with no advance notice. It is not you normal shut off it’s like a light switch goes from everything normal to black screen then it reboots. No safe mode boot ever comes up. The event log shows the reboot but has no errors. I am suspecting a faulty power supply but not for sure. This is a 70’s building so I have a power monitor from the in-house electrician checking the plug for spikes and drops but so far nothing out of the normal 113-115 range.

Kattar · Jan 13, 2010, 04:51 PM // 16:51

Power supply would make sense. Get a battery backup/line conditioner/surge suppressor, just to see if that takes care of the problem.

Chthon · Jan 13, 2010, 06:14 PM // 18:14

Other possibilities are:
Heat
Faulty thermometer
Bad fan
Faulty fan speed sensor
Static discharge

caballo_oscuro · Jan 13, 2010, 06:16 PM // 18:16

If it's a work computer, I'd advise you to have your work IT people look at it. It could be a memory module loose or faulty, a memory management issue with the OS, a faulty motherboard is another possibility.

Try swapping the memory sticks around or put them in different slots. If they work fine in different slots then it's the board but if not, most likely one of the memory sticks. Test with each one individually in the system.

This is all stuff your work IT guy should do for you though.

End · Jan 13, 2010, 08:46 PM // 20:46

I would have to agree that it sounds like a power issues however can't be stressed enough to let the IT guy work with it. That way if something accidentally gets messed up it someone elses problem

Enko · Jan 13, 2010, 08:49 PM // 20:49

restarting like that sounds like a ram or psu issue. swapping those out and eliminating those as a possibility should probably be your first step.

as others said, if its a work computer, have your IT department take care of it.

jonnieboi05 · Jan 13, 2010, 11:34 PM // 23:34

Potentially a power issue. Let the ITs handle it so you do not get the fault should any serious problems arise.

Chop it Off · Jan 14, 2010, 12:01 AM // 00:01

first.

DO NOT LET YOUR IT GUY TOUCH IT.

all dell warranties are voided if a computer is opened by anyone other then a dell employee, or authorized to do so.

as for the problem, its either heat or power supply.

call dell and let them sort it out, if its new its still under warranty.

Elder III · Jan 14, 2010, 12:20 AM // 00:20

what he said ^^^^^

Enko · Jan 14, 2010, 02:02 AM // 02:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chop it Off

first.

DO NOT LET YOUR IT GUY TOUCH IT.

all dell warranties are voided if a computer is opened by anyone other then a dell employee, or authorized to do so.

as for the problem, its either heat or power supply.

call dell and let them sort it out, if its new its still under warranty.

if its a computer issued by his company, then it falls under them regardless. if they void the warranty, its the company's cost, not his.

Kapral · Jan 15, 2010, 10:13 PM // 22:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrisworld

What warranty? Last time I looked at any Dell's issued to any company, there is no seal on the computer anywhere interrupting the ability to easily open it.

Yeah we open ours all the time... That's our job.

Have the guys at work take a look at it, that's what they are for. It could be a bunch of different things so you would have to narrow it down for us to tell.

retro77 · Jan 25, 2010, 05:36 AM // 05:36

Do a memory test. I've seen this before where you won't see an issue until something tries to write to a bad memory block.

Riot Narita · Jan 25, 2010, 08:45 AM // 08:45

I've seen stuff like that on my home PC's - two different power supply problems were responsible.

First one was random dips/noise in mains power supply, and trashy power supply units in the PCs. I had two hard disks die due to that (RAM and HDU's seem most susceptible to unstable power), before I figured out what was happening... because two desktop PC's simultaneously restarted themselves. Surge protectors do not help - high quality PC power supply units with smoothing/noise filtering do, and so do uninteruptible power supplies.

The second was due to upgrading the graphics card. GW was fine, but the PC power supply unit wasn't up to the increased power demands, and it crowbarred when I ran eg. Crysis.

About Dell and warranties... I used to work for a multinational that used Dell, and I never heard of invalid warranties due to opening the case of a desktop PC (laptops are different). After all, what point in PC's that you can't upgrade, install expansion cards etc? In other words what point in PC's where opening the case invalidates warranty?