need some computer help

[Drake]

my computer restarts by itself. it's been doing it a lot more lately (about 2 or 3 times a day) i've reformatted twice since it started and have still gotten nowhere. when i send microsoft the error report, it tell me its a "error caused by a device driver." but it tell me the device is unknown. i updated the drivers for every device in my device manager many times, but nothing works. i'm assuming that there's some problem that my computer has with the driver of some piece of hardware i have installed, but i have no way of telling what that piece of hardware is. if i could find out what it is, i'd ripping it out and replacing it. this is drving me nuts. our IT guy can't figure it out, but that's not surprising because he's an idiot. any help would be greatly appreciated.

[cigarsarge]

Have you gone to the micosoft website. They have a free computer scan that supposedly will tell you what is wrong if it is a microsoft thing.

If that fails take a hammer and bash the shit out of it. It won't fix it but it will make you feel better. Tell your old lady it fell off the stand during an earthquake. Good excuse to buy another.

[WhiteWidow]

I would say get a new computer since they sell them for like 5 bucks now. Did it just start doing this crap on its own?

[ukyfan]

my computer restarts by itself. it's been doing it a lot more lately (about 2 or 3 times a day) i've reformatted twice since it started and have still gotten nowhere. when i send microsoft the error report, it tell me its a "error caused by a device driver." but it tell me the device is unknown. i updated the drivers for every device in my device manager many times, but nothing works. i'm assuming that there's some problem that my computer has with the driver of some piece of hardware i have installed, but i have no way of telling what that piece of hardware is. if i could find out what it is, i'd ripping it out and replacing it. this is drving me nuts. our IT guy can't figure it out, but that's not surprising because he's an idiot. any help would be greatly appreciated.

On my last computer I was having it do the same thing. A lot of times it is the power supply that causes it. If you have added a lot of devices to it then it might not have enough power to run them all. Have you added anything new to it? Also the PS just might be going bad. That is what was wrong with mine. Good news is if it is the power supply they don't cost that much. About $50 would get you a 350 watt one, and for the average user that would more then likely be enough. But you might want to look into a 400 watt.

Anyway that is my guess on what the problem is. Let us know what you find out.

[SuperChuck]

It could be a power supply problem. Power supplies have been my achillles heel of late...

Depending on the make and model of the machine, you may be able to just unscrew it or you may need to get a new case. Or it could be even worse. (I had an old Dell that had a non-standard power plug on the motherboard, so I had to replace the case and scour the internet for a guy who was building adapter cables in his basement)

[SuperChuck]

If you have added a lot of devices to it then it might not have enough power to run them all.

They can also just plain go bad.

Do consumer power supplies have a fine adjustment screw? When I find a 12V power supply is having issues, I usually give the voltage screw a quarter turn and that usually does the trick.

[basil]

Have you gone to the micosoft website. They have a free computer scan that supposedly will tell you what is wrong if it is a microsoft thing.

If that fails take a hammer and bash the shit out of it. It won't fix it but it will make you feel better. Tell your old lady it fell off the stand during an earthquake. Good excuse to buy another.

Which could work except that there are about as many earthquakes in Houston as there is in Tennessee.

[Bkcloud114]

Have you gone to the micosoft website. They have a free computer scan that supposedly will tell you what is wrong if it is a microsoft thing.

If that fails take a hammer and bash the shit out of it. It won't fix it but it will make you feel better. Tell your old lady it fell off the stand during an earthquake. Good excuse to buy another.

LMAO...... sounds like something my father would do..... you should see his laptop

[WOXOF]

Take Sarge's advice and malletize it. A great site to go to for e-coupons on Dell's is www.edealinfo.com. Check it out.

[MCsommerreid]

Go to hardware manager and see if you have any weird devices that are saying "give me drivers" (the yellow question mark icon next to it). It's possible you're missing a driver because it got corrupted before the first format, and either forgot to install it, or didn't know it was needed.

Since it's giving an error it doesn't sound like PSU. If it was the PSU it would either power down, or reboot without an error. If it seems to be the PSU replace it post haste, because when PSUs go they can sometimes go specacularly. Mine went and fried about $1000 worth of hardware

If not the PSU it's possible your CPU is overheating. Check the fan when the computer is on and make sure it's running. If it's not, fix it/replace it, and if it is it's likely not an overheating problem.

If you have a super techie friend have them look at the error reporting and see if the can ID the device. It's possible that it's a motherboard error if no other device seems broken, because some motherboards use weird internal devices that detect funny and don't require drives, and when they break generally weird things happen.