If your computer keeps restarting it can often be fixed in software, but there are many different things that can cause a system to crash and keep rebooting. Modern Operating Systems will not usually produce a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). Instead, Windows will simply restart the computer and hope for the best. The theory is, if something critical to the Operating System failed, a reboot will correct it. This is often true. But if a computer is having a hardware problem, this may not work. So the first step in solving your computer restart problem is to isolate the source.
Turn Off The Automatic Restart If Computer Keeps Restarting
You can turn off automatic restarts by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Properties. Under the Advanced tab, look for Startup and Recovery and under the Settings find and uncheck the Automatically Restart option. Now, when your system crashes, you should receive a blue screen error that will have some type of information you can use to find a solution to your restarting issue. Write the entire error down and visit us on our forums for a diagnosis.
Restart in Safe Mode
Restart the computer and tap F8 to get into Safe Mode With Networking. By starting in Safe Mode you can uninstall any recently installed software that might be causing the crash. You can also update drivers, perform a system restore and even scan for and remove malware that might be causing the restarts. By successfully running in Safe Mode for an extended period of time, this tells us the problem is likely related to software. If the computer keeps restarting or shutting down, the problem is likely hardware-related.
Scan Your Memory If Your Computer Keeps Restarting
You can run utilities in Windows that scan your Memory and hard disk for errors. If you have faulty RAM, this can cause massive instability with your system. If your hard drive is failing or has bad sectors, this can also cause problems as the Operating System tries to use that damaged sector.
Scanning your RAM will require third-party software. We like Memtest86. Download and burn the image to a floppy or a CD and reboot to that drive to begin the scan. You may need to change how your PC starts in the BIOS. If you make a CD, go into the BIOS setup and make sure the CD ROM is first in the Boot Sequence option. If you’re running Vista, you can access their RAM scanner by going to the Administrative Tools area of the Control Panel. From within that section, look for the Memory Diagnostic Tool.
Scan your HDD for errors by opening My Computer and right-clicking the C drive. Select Properties, then under the Tools tab, look for the Error Checking area and click the Check Now button. Check both options and hit OK. The computer will run a thorough scan when the system boots next time.
If your computer keeps restarting at this point, you can try is flashing the BIOS. If there is a known flaw with hardware on a machine that software can fix, a BIOS update will be issued by a manufacturer. Contact the manufacturer of the computer or the motherboard for specific details on how to flash the BIOS.
If at this point the computer keeps restarting, you should look into replacing the power supply, then the motherboard in that order. The power supply is a cheapest and easiest thing to replace and is often the source of the problem for shut-downs and reboots. Be sure to replace the power supply with a name brand you recognize. Cheaper is not better when it comes to power supplies. Also, be sure to get the same wattage or greater. For instance, if the power supply is 350 Watts, you can get the same of go higher.
If your computer keeps restarting, write down as many details you can about your system and join our free computer forums, or read more of our Windows tutorials.
My vaio is messed up! After the animation screen, it says “setup is inspecting your computers hardware configuration” then repeats the animation. What can I do to fix this? My computer didn’t come with a recovery cd either!
my computer keeps restarting when i turn it on
Try tapping F8 at boot. If you can get into Safe Mode, you likely have a problem with a driver. If you can’t, join our forums and we’ll troubleshoot.
hi everybody, my computer restarts continuously whenever it reaches with the START WINDOWS NORMALY with a blue screen.
Have you tried to scan the RAM and hdd as described above? Can you get into Safe Mode (tap F8 at boot) and undue any recent changes you have made.
My computer just keeps restarting. I have made boot disk went to restore, repair, F8 everything. Nothing seems to work. It won’t let me press F10 during startup. Although through the boot disk I can reach certain areas like i stated but nothing good results from it. Is it my hard drive that went out? I have Vista on It. It just started today. I scanned what I could and found no problems. Any ideas.
Dave
You might not be able to get get into F8 options if you have a USB keyboard. Some BIOS settings can turn on a USB keyboard, but this might be the problem you’re having. Find a PS2 keyboard (round connector) if you have one handy.
Regarding the restarting of your machine, I can be caused by programs, hardware–anything you recently installed. By getting into Safe Mode (tap F8) you can remove any recent programs or undo recent updates, etc.
I would also unplug any external devices to make sure they are not causing the problem. For extended help, please join our forums.
ok i have been trying to fix my computer.pressed the f8,pressed f10 went try to go into anything at all just keeps restarting over and over tried boot disk.All its doing is restarting oh,and tried replacing power box still same problem can u help,ty.
If you tap F8 at boot (continuously) and it doesn’t go into Safe Mode, then you you either have a serious problem with Windows or a flaky motherboard. You should try reinstalling Windows. If you cannot boot to the install disk, you should join our forums so we can troubleshoot further.
my computer keeps restarting i cant even go to safe mode. if i try to reinstall windows,it will shut down automatically.
Same problem of jasoune,,what is the caused of that?
any suggestion pls,,i need your help.
You should try some registry softwares. Maybe the random restarting is caused by registry errors or some malwares… So, think twice about it…
Ok I’m having the same problem. I went to add my sd card to the computer and it didn’t locate it so I restarted it and now all it does it sits trying to load windows and then reboots.. tried safe mode and flashes a quick blue screen then shuts off again.
Try disconnecting all external USB devices and see if it boots. It sounds like a driver is causing the system to crash.
My toshiba laptop restart randomly,,,but when i top f8 and go to safemood it works properly…and when i start it normaly it restarting by itself again without warning….what can i do???Plss Help me….
While in safe mode, go to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore and use system restore to go back to a date before the problem began.