# WTF! (My computer reset it'self) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282 "2003-03-01T01:20:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![da\_pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@da\_pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/da_pope)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282/21 "2003-03-01T04:18:58Z")
I saw that and agree that they probably don’t have a mylex raid. Either way, it’s the best place to start. (the knowledge base, that is) I’ve seen IRQL\_NOT\_LESS\_OR\_EQUAL with bad memory, and a bad network card. I’m biased to blame some kind of hardware fault. Or overheating. Check the CPU fan. If you have 2 sticks of memory in there, take one out and run for a few hours, then run on the other. Sometimes the hex code can help too: try searching on the STOP number (looks like STOP:0xD1), sometimes a general yahoo search on the exact error message can give you some leads as well. [http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=“DRIVER\_IRQL\_NOT\_LESS\_OR\_EQUAL”](http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=%22DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL%22) good luck! ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282/22 "2003-03-01T05:41:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fauxpas \* > \*\*DANG IT Q.E.D!! I was going to reply about the BSOD. 😛 \*\* [solemn talking sheep]But don’t you see, **fauxpas**? You _do_ have a sin to confess: the sin of jealousy.[/solemn talking sheep] > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by engineer\_comp\_geek_ > \*\*cosmic rays (theoretcially, though I’ve never seen it happen) > \*\* Heh heh. And you never will. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282/23 "2003-03-01T08:49:32Z")
**Earlyout:** I was thinking along the same lines. It’s possible a cord got jerked somehow and momentarily cut power to just the computer. My guess is it was power-supply related. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282/24 "2003-03-01T16:15:32Z")
Lobsang, I might appreciate some details, like what kind of computer it is, how old it is, system specs, when you ran defrag on it, etc. most likely it’s a heat issue, clogged vents, dirty fans, etc. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282/25 "2003-03-01T16:40:24Z")
I was getting IRQL\_NOT\_LESS\_OR\_EQUAL errors when my system, for no apparent reason, kept trying to move all plug-n-play devices onto the same IRQ (17, IIRC). This was a W2K system, but it would display similar behavior under Linux. If I reserved 17 in the bios, then it would move everything to 11, or some other IRQ. The weird thing was, if I moved a card from one slot to another or removed something, it would go back to normal for a while, then over several reboots it would gradually mess up the IRQs again. Which meant that every time I tried something - switch out RAM, change network cards, strip down to a barebones system, it looked like I had solved the problem. Then the problem would come back a couple of days later. That whole issue nearly drove me to become Amish. Everything seemed to be the problem, and it wasn’t till I looked at the device manager by resource (right click on My Computer, go down to Properties, click the “Hardware” tab, click the “Device Manager” button, go to the view menu and select “resources by type” and then open the “Interrupt Request (IRQ)” menu. It really should’ve been one of the first things I checked, but I haven’t had to debug problems like that in a while. Since it appeared to be a hardware problem, not software, I wound up replacing my motherboard (it was a Soyo Dragon, it was replaced with an Asus A7V333). The problem has not returned. I know I could’ve turned off acpi and reinstalled windows and set all the resources by hand, but at that point I wanted to kill the computer, not baby it more. On the other hand, random reboots usually mean I need to clean the cat fur out of my cooling fans and power supply. Or stop playing Sim City 4. ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282/26 "2003-03-01T17:06:26Z")
I run Windows 2000 Profesisonal at work. Part of my job is creating PDF files from Microsoft Word documents using Adobe Acrobat Distiller. Periodically, I would run into a document that, every time I tried to create a PDF from it, my computer would spontaneously reboot just before the PDF creatiion process reached 100%. This was, as you may guess, extremely annoying, espeically since it didn’t give me the ol’ BSOD, a General Proteciton Fault, or any other error message. This would happen over and over again with certain documents, but not with others, and I was never able to figure out what was going on. I fianally upgraded to a newer version of Adobe Acrobat Distiller and the problem went away. But it really surprised me that a program could cause my computer to reboot like that, especially with Windows 2000. Barry ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282/27 "2003-03-01T17:41:37Z")
My computer did this, I thought it was a CPU overheat, but upon closer inspection I found that one of those 1/4th inch cylinder things that sticks up perpindicular from the motherboard (someone fill in term there please!) had leaked a liquid that had turned a rusty brown color. I had to buy a new motherboard. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282/28 "2003-03-01T17:44:22Z")
I think you are referring to electrolytic capacitors, **Bob55**. These can indeed leak a caustic liquid when excessive heating creates steam inside which can ultimately rupture the can. There was a big issue with bad caps being used on motherboards a while back, apparently caused by a flawed design. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Pebs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Johnny\_Pebs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Pebs)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282/29 "2003-03-14T17:52:20Z")
Just a bump because I have the same question as **PurplePerson**. How do you turn this auto-reboot function off? In ME for my case. Some people have said it is done through the crtl panel, but where specifically? I’m having a similar problem, and I want to rule out a software issue before I start looking at hardware. TIA Pebs [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-my-computer-reset-itself/158282.md?page=1)