New Dell 4700 spontaneously rebooting--help?

[one7]

Hi all... I wonder if someone here might be able to help me pinpoint a problem.

I bought my mom a new Dell 4700 this week, one of those outlet specials for $300. It's a P4 520 2.8ghz w/ HT, 2x256mb dual DDR, rynning Win XP home. I set it up for her Thursday night, and it ran fine yesterday and this a.m. Tonight she calls me, it keeps spontaneously rebooting while she's working in Excel. Started at about 30-minute intervals and then became more frequent to where it was happening every couple of minutes. Now, it sometimes will hang and reboot before I even get to the Windows logo. Behavior is the same in safe mode, and sometimes I can't even get as far as the safe mode selection screen. The system clock in the BIOS reset itself to default, and it sometimes gives me a keyboard error or a "Error 8602 - Auxiliary Device Failure" when trying to boot.

I initially thought it might be McAfee Internet Security Suite 2005 v7.0 that I installed for her this afternoon, because when I checked her system log every reboot was preceded by a 'warning' involving McAfee and an unknown file name error for something (I'm sorry, I can't see that text right now--I'm logged on on her old computer, and get get into windows to access the message again.

I couldn't find anything in the Dell forums, and since this is the best source of information I know of on the web, I thougth I'd try here. I'm on hold with Dell technical support as I type this, but I don't expect much from them, and I'd like to be able to identify the source and not just restore and forget about it, which is what I expect I'll be told to do.

Anyone know what _might_ be causing this? Do I have some sort of hardware failure, perhaps the power supply? I appreciate any help you may offer... thank you!
-Mark

 

[one7]

One other thing to add, I tried to use Dell's system restore. It aborts as soon as it starts, something about an invalid hd partition (I partitioned her hard drive to separate her data files. But the restore function (this PC has the hidden partition to restore from) tells me something about the partition, then says it doesn't recognize the master boot record, and it won't continue.)

However, with the spontaneous shutting down and rebooting, I don't know if I should even risk trying to restore, in case it's a hardware failure. I don't think it would be good for the system to crash in the middle of restoring a drive image.

Again, any help you can offer would be great...
-Mark

 

[mechBgon]

Hmm, well I think you know why it was originally returned now Call Dell and get them to warranty it.

 

[one7]

Well, I finally got a person on the phone... they have me back on hold while they look into it.

Is it possible this was some weird software thing, or does it sound like faulty hardware? It ran perfectly for nearly 48 hours before it started doing this, which would seem to indicate it isn't hardware related. But it sure reminds me of a power supply issue...

Thanks,
-Mark

 

[daveybrat]

Keyboard issues, time/date resetting, constant crashing/rebooting.......all sound like signs of a faulty motherboard to me. I'd send the unit back or request service immediately.

 

[one7]

So far, they've made me check the LEDs... remove all expansion cards (only a modem), move the RAM around... still rebooting. Telling me we need to isolate the problem before we can go any further...

 

[mechBgon]

The other thing I can think of is to try a different surge supressor. I know that sounds strange, but I had one fail at work once with really odd results... computer acted as if the hard drive had failed. I replaced the hard drive, took the happy computer back to its office... and it acted as if the hard drive had failed!



Whatever. I tried a new surge supressor and we were back in business.

 

[daniel49]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
The other thing I can think of is to try a different surge supressor. I know that sounds strange, but I had one fail at work once with really odd results... computer acted as if the hard drive had failed. I replaced the hard drive, took the happy computer back to its office... and it acted as if the hard drive had failed!



Whatever. I tried a new surge supressor and we were back in business.

that is an odd one???

dell starting to sound like e-machines:Q

 

[one7]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
The other thing I can think of is to try a different surge supressor. I know that sounds strange, but I had one fail at work once with really odd results... computer acted as if the hard drive had failed. I replaced the hard drive, took the happy computer back to its office... and it acted as if the hard drive had failed!



Whatever. I tried a new surge supressor and we were back in business.

That is an interesting one... I'll try going straight to the wall. It was plugged into a cyberpower UPS backup, and it is a few years old. Worth a try.

Meantime, regarding Dell--after 90 minutes of holding, talking, and testing, they are sending a repairman out within two days to install a new power supply and a new motherboard. I imagine that's gotta do the trick (assuming I don't find out in the next 15 minutes or so that it's the surge protector!)

And the 4700... it's now having no problems booting to the Windows desktop consistently, but it hasn't gone longer than 20 minutes without doing the reboot trick.

What an adventure...

I appreciate your contributions, guys. I'll continue to keep you apprised of the situation.

 

[mechBgon]

 

[one7]

Well, I can now confirm that it is not the UPS backup battery/surge protector...

 

[one7]

I hate to dredge up an old thread, but I received a PM today from someone having the exact same problem, and realized I never posted regarding the resolution of the problem.

Dell sent their service tech over a couple days later with a new (er, refurb) motherboard and power supply. About 15 minutes to install bot--problem solved.

Of course, I realized after that incident that the DVD-RW wouldn't burn DVD's (Phillips DVD8631), so I placed a few more calls to CS and made them replace that with an NEC model. They sent the 3520a and everything works just great now.

Thanks again for your assistance!