Question Computer freezes and restarts randomly

[NeTWorKzz]

I have the strangest and most random problem. My desktop computer randomly freezes for 5 seconds and then it restarts and it's completely random and there doesn't seem to be anything that triggers it (randomly restarts even when its idle).

The problem started a few months back and it would happen quite frequently and random, I didn't have time to diagnose the problem at the time, so I I left the computer off for a month since I was out of town and when I came back, it worked absolutely flawless and it didn't restart at all, so I left the computer on for 2-weeks, while using it constantly and under heavy loads, still fine.

Today, I decided to restart my computer due to installing a new program and now the problem is back, it would freeze and restart randomly.

It's never under heavy loads since I don't play any games, just normal browsing and Netflix.

CPU: i5-3570K
Ram: 16GB
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W Gen2

 

[Ralston18]

Motherboard: make, model, version?

Disk drive(s): make, model, capacity, how full?

How old is the PSU? Original to build, new, refurbished, used? History of heavy use for gaming, video editing, or even bit-mining?

= = = =

Power down, unplug, open the case.

Clean out dust and debris.

Verify by sight and feel that all connectors, cards, RAM, and jumpers are fully and firmly in place.

Use a bright flashlight to inspect for signs of damage: bare conductor showing, browned or blackened components, kinked or pinched wires, Anything at all.

= = = =

And because the problem comes and goes take a look in Reliability History for error codes, warnings, or even informational events in a pattern the corresponds with the time pattern you posted. Red and yellow icons in particular.

Reliability History uses a time line format so the pattern, if there is one, may be very apparent.

Event Viewer will also provide error information but is not as user friendly: Takes a bit longer to navigate about and get a sense of the actual information being captured and logged.

In both Reliability History and Event Viewer you can click any given entry to obtain more details about the entry. The details may or may not be helpful or even directly understandable.

 

[NeTWorKzz]

Motherboard: make, model, version?

Disk drive(s): make, model, capacity, how full?

How old is the PSU? Original to build, new, refurbished, used? History of heavy use for gaming, video editing, or even bit-mining?

= = = =

Power down, unplug, open the case.

Clean out dust and debris.

Verify by sight and feel that all connectors, cards, RAM, and jumpers are fully and firmly in place.

Use a bright flashlight to inspect for signs of damage: bare conductor showing, browned or blackened components, kinked or pinched wires, Anything at all.

= = = =

And because the problem comes and goes take a look in Reliability History for error codes, warnings, or even informational events in a pattern the corresponds with the time pattern you posted. Red and yellow icons in particular.

Reliability History uses a time line format so the pattern, if there is one, may be very apparent.

Event Viewer will also provide error information but is not as user friendly: Takes a bit longer to navigate about and get a sense of the actual information being captured and logged.

In both Reliability History and Event Viewer you can click any given entry to obtain more details about the entry. The details may or may not be helpful or even directly understandable.

Motherboard: make, model, version? ASUS P8Z77-V LK

Disk drive(s): make, model, capacity, how full?
Intel SSD 330 180GB (SSDSC2CT180A3) - 4GB remaining (Windows OS boots from here)
Toshiba 3TB - DT01ACA300 - 30 GB remaining
Seagate 4TB Barracuda (ST40000LM024-2AN17V)

How old is the PSU? Original to build, new, refurbished, used? History of heavy use for gaming, video editing, or even bit-mining?

The PSU is about 6-7 years old - Brand new - 4 years of gaming only

I have inspected the internal components, all seems to be good. It was quite dusty, so I just cleaned it.

 

[Ralston18]

The disk drives:

Intel SSD 330 180GB (SSDSC2CT180A3) - 4GB remaining (Windows OS boots from here)

Toshiba 3TB - DT01ACA300 - 30 GB remaining

Both drives being very full. Especially the SSD boot drive. For the most part disk drives should not be filled beyond 70-80% of capacity.

Likely both drives need some administrative attention to clean out old folders and files. And possibly (for HDD's only) defragmented.

Is all important data backed up to at least 2 x locations off of the current host computer?

If not do so.

Verify that the backed up files are recoverable and readable.

Start by manually deleting folders and files that you no longer need. Do be careful - all too easy to get carried away and something important gets deleted. (Which is one reason backups are mandatory.)

Then run Windows Disk Cleanup.

FYI:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-windows-8a96ff42-5751-39ad-23d6-434b4d5b9a68

At least let Windows do the initial checks and report what will be deleted and how much space will be recovered. May take some time.

I would not do any other work on the computer or run any other apps during the cleanup process.