Computer reboot randomly...

[Wnh5001]

My computer just randomly reboots sometimes and is unable to boot back up. I have narrowed the possible sources of error to 1- the heatsink, 2- the hard drive, and 3- the motherboard.

Sometimes i would get a blue screen error, sometimes it would just freeze. when this happens i notice that the hard drive sounds like it stopped working. i hear a slight clicking sound.

When my hard drive makes this sound i kinda shake my tower gently and the hard drive would speed up again sometimes and the frozen screen will unfreeze.

Many times im unable to get teh hd loading again so i just turn it off, re-apply thermal paste and try it again and most of the times it boots up normally again.

I don;t believe it to be a heat problem as asus probe and motherboard monitor both show around 40-45 c. and when it reboots and i get back into the bios immediately, it shows 40 also.

I have tested my hd on anotehr computer and works fine for 24+ hrs. so im not sure what the damn problem is..

the good thing is that i just bought a new cpu + motherboard to replace it. its a athlon 64 3200 venice core + asrock dual sata mobo, and -300 on my bank account... >_<

i think the current setup of my comp is in my sig, everything pretty new cept the mobo and processor.

 

[themusgrat]

Clicking for HDs is very bad. Grinding is ok, but soft clicks are not. My laptop had the same problem, and I had to RMA for the HD. Sure enough, they replaced the HD, and everything has been dandy since. Heat causes explosions or crashes, but 40 or even 60C will not continually cause this. If it is the HD, it won't be long before it breaks completely. Mine worked well some days, bad others, but it lasted less than a month. Good luck.

 

[meltdown75]

yep. clicking drives are bad. is it a Western Digital by chance? the infamous WD Click of Death. :Q not that the sound is limited to WD drives...

they've been known to survive for long after the clicking begins.... i have a 60GB WD that is clicking it's ass off in a spare system i have, but it still works. it will cause the system to randomly lock up though, that i know.

back up the data on that drive and get a new one, stat! don't be stuck without any of your data... it happens! take measures!

 

[Wnh5001]

But how come on when i tried the hard drive on another computer nothing happens? doesnt; lock up and reboot. is it a problem with the motherboard connection to the hard drive? thanks for the suggestions though i never knew other people hd's also clicked -.-'

 

[themusgrat]

Could be the mobo, or maybe it is the heat that is causing it. Leave the PC on for 30 min, then check to see by touch how hot the HD is. Remember to touch the back of the PSU before, though. Could you try another cable?

 

[Wnh5001]

after about an hr or so the hd is pretty cool oddly, i expected to be pretty warm.. althought im not doing anything too intensive, just browsing..

i think it might acutally be the hard drive though, cause when i move files around taht crap is slow..

 

[Wnh5001]

Update: today i changed some stuff; i switched the 4 pin power plugs and used another one, and changed jumper settings. to my amazement, my comp has now been on for 11+ hrs with no reboot. it might be the jumper settings or the cold weather(-20 degree outside from yesterday). i guess ill check back tommorow . Im planning to leave it on overnight and see if it can handle that.

 

[themusgrat]

Sweet. Hopefully you're fixed up. Try to move a large file to another HD, if you have one, or to a USB stick or something, and see the transfer rate.

 

[SemperFi]

Did you happen to go into control panel>admin tools>event viewer and see if it shows any errors.

No guarantee but worth a look.

 

[Wnh5001]

Hmm i dont see anything at the event viewer logs.
I did the Western digital Hard Drive Diagnostic tool, and my HD failed 9 secs into the test... hmm ill try to move one file from one partition to the other cause i only have one hard drive. i tried to move a 200 mb file over, it took about 2 mins. i dont; remember exactly how fast it was b4 all of this, but i think that is still kinda on the slow side.

 

[SemperFi]

If it failed the diagnostics you had better backup anything immportant to you now! If you haven't already that is.

I know how you feel I have lost 2 raid 0 arrays in the past few months. 4 drives.

 

[Wnh5001]

been like this for like 2 years on and off. one time i re-applied the thermal paste and worked for a good month or so. i guess i should try to buy anotehr hard drive and back that baby up.