Computer randomly restarts itself... needs a BIOS reset?

[TheTomHarrison]

I've have a friend who claims their computer randomly turned itself on a few times during the night. They also claimed that they went away on a long weekend and came back to the computer being turned on (they turned it off when they left). When I checked out the computer, it would turn on but not boot up. Once the power came on that's where things stopped - the initial memory scan nor device loading processes never take place. I have ruled out a defective power supply by installing a fresh one in the system and getting the same problems.

What do you think is wrong with this system? I am wondering if there was a power surge that damaged the motherboard, or perhaps the BIOS needs to be reset. If the BIOS needs to be reset, where can I find the reset switch/pins? This is an emachines computer and I have not been able to locate the BIOS reset.

Thanks for any help that can be offered.

[TheTomHarrison]

Also of note: I checked out the motherboard for signs of scalding or corrosion and found none.

[dionsiseire]

pc's dont turn themselves on unless it was on standby, the motherboard cannot initiate the machine , neither can the BIOS , unless their is already power being supplied.

the restart problems sound like the bios possibly
no booting up, well that could be HD or bios, which if windows is corrupt could be the restart problem again.

it sounds like the PC needs to be replaced, i personally would look for the jumper settings
here's an example image of a motherboard with a blue circle locating the jumpers
http://www.mysuperpc.com/pc_assembly...jumpers_cr.jpg

id be worried overall for the PC, but a fresh windows install would eliminate certain posibilities

[rushiku]

id be worried overall for the PC, but a fresh windows install would eliminate certain posibilities

That'd be a neat trick considering it doesn't POST...

Tom, your power surge diagnosis seems likely. Either the mainboard or the cpu has failed. Given it's an eMachine, it's probably not worth it to fix it unless it's less than a year old.

[troglodite]

almost sounds like the computer is going into standby and then being awakened - like by something via a network connection

though if it just reboots suddenly while working on it, it usually is a memory thing, i test machines with memtest (might be called memtest86) though if it boots up by itself i dont know if thats the answer. there is an option in the bios to have the machine boot at a certain time usually and options to have the computer wake from a standby mode from some sort of imput - like a network connection

[F4nat1c]

It's the CPU overhearting. Processors go into shutdown after they reach a critical temperature. Probably need a new heatsink or fan, or jus ta good 'ol clean. i used to have the same problem.

[MissLee]

I had an eMachine that did the same thing for about two weeks before it eventually died. I replaced the power supply, fan & cleaned... that bought me a few more weeks but then the same thing started happening again. I'd say tell your buddy to start shopping.

[TriGeminal]

It's the CPU overhearting. Processors go into shutdown after they reach a critical temperature. Probably need a new heatsink or fan, or jus ta good 'ol clean. i used to have the same problem.

I agree
I watch my pc health status and see the cpu temperature cause my pc will close at 70C .. it might also restart and never load windows!

The problem of overheating might Not be related to heatsink or fan, it might be cause of the gel between the cpu & heatsink is dry!

[TheTomHarrison]

Thanks for all of the input everyone. Since most of you are making statements that back up my original diagnosis, I'm am beginning to feel pretty confident that I was right. From the beginning I figured that buying a new computer was a foreseeable outcome to this situation.

Just to clarify, I do not mean to say that the computer randomly reboots itself. The owner claims that the machine was cold - shut down completely - and turned itself on once in the middle of the night while he was present, and again while he was away on vacation. He shut down the computer and left, and came back to what appeard to be a computer in standby except for the fact that it would not come out of "standby".

I personally have not been witness to this behavior. The only thing I have observed first hand is that when the power is turned on, the fans start spinning but the computer does not POST. I don't mean to say that it fails POST, because it does not emit any beep codes - I mean that the computer does not even begin to POST.

So, do you think a BIOS reset might fix this? Does anyone know where an eMachines BIOS reset pin is (or have a more close up picture of one?). I will try replacing the fans, but I don't think overheating is the problem for two reasons:

1. The fans appear to be operating fine.
2. This happens immedietly after the power turns on, not after an extended period of operation.

[rushiku]

If you're not even getting beep codes, it means the cpu is fried. 'Something' must process the instructions to make the speaker beep, that something is the cpu.

The BIOS is not 'self-aware', it's simply an EEPROM full of instructions on how to test and use the components on the board, and what to do (beep) when something isn't working.