random reboots

[latz]

To make this short, is there any way to test for a faulty powersupply?

My dad shipped his computer to Compaq over a month ago since it would randomly reboot or often reboot right upon starting up, and sometimes continuously reboot. Before he did this I searched on here and it seemed like most people thought it was a power supply problem. So he gets it back (after a month) and was told the hard drive was the culprit and they replaced it, but of course it's still doing the same thing (they didn't even connect all the right connectors on the HD). He would rather not send it back to these fools for another month, so I'm thinking of swapping out hardware to solve the problem. This can get expensive, and if it's the MB, he'll just have to send it back to them I guess. If you guys think it is the PSU, we'll probably go ahead and buy a new one. Thanks a lot.

 

[kd2777]

Try and find a friend with a computer, and swap PSUs. That is the best way I know of....

kd

 

[kitkat22]

There are several things to try. I would first think about the OS.
1) Check your startup. Go into safemode then Start=>Run type in "msconfig" and press enter. When the window shows up select "Selective Startup" under the General tab and uncheck the option for the startup programs. Restart your computer and see if the problem persists.
2) Do you run AV software and spyware removers? Do you employ a firewall? Is the computer updated? If not to any of these install the proper programs and see if that helps.
3) If these don't work you can start suspecting hardware. Hard drive and memory are the easiest to do. Run the diagnostic software on the HD and run "memtest" for a while to see if it is the RAM. kd2777 has the right idea about the PSU. If that doesn't work try getting the computer down to the bare essentials; in other words just have the CPU, RAM, HD, Video hooked up and see what happens.
4) Good luck!