PC randomly reboots … or not

[nickster 0]

PC randomly reboots … or not. For the past 2 weeks, my computer simply reboots on its own or just freezes, whether I’m in an app, just surfing or during the reboot. When it comes to a dead stop before rebooting, I hear a click (probably the Viewsonic monitor). Sometimes it just comes to a dead halt without rebooting then I have to hit the power button off then power on to reboot.

 

Also, once in awhile I get a checkerboard screen of multiple colors moving up and down then I have to re-boot. In the past, I’ve religiously done my virus and malware checks. Now I can’t even complete one malware scan before it re-boots or stops.

 

Once I got the following message:

0251: System CMOS checksum bad – default configuration used

 

Any ideas of what the problem could be?

 

The config:

eMachines T1440

1.4 GHz

256 mb RAM

XP Pro

XP Pro Office

PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0 vs. 1.05e

 

 

I’ve checked all connections – all is OK.

 

Just in case, where do I get a PSU and/or CMOS battery? It’s been difficult finding a CMOS battery for the T1440 or is it juts a standard?

 

Thanks,

Nickster

 

[Myke 0]

It is definitely your hard drive. I had the same thing happening to one of my PCs. I ignored it and dealt with the random reboots until the system wouldn't even boot up before rebooting again.

 

This is something that cannot be fixed, as it is a physical error on the HDD. Reformatting the drive and reinstalling the OS does not work. My advice is buy a new HDD ASAP and transfer your files before the entire drive completely fails. I know from experience and it's not fun.