[MOTHERGREEN]

for the third time now my computer has restarted on its own while playing counter strike source. this has never happend to me before untill now. when I restart it says the system recovered from a critical error and asks if i want to send an error report. I was told this is from overheating? I put my hand behind the computer and I can feel the fan blowing so its not that the fans dead. also.. it doesn't feel very hot back there. is there something else that could be causing this? is it overheating? how do I fix it?

[tous]

How hot is the GPU on your video adapter getting?

Unexpected halts are not always caused by thermal events. Look in your event log and see what was having troubles just before the halt.

[MOTHERGREEN]

you will have to explain to me what you just said cuz I don't understand. it happens while I am in a game so theres not much I can check.

[doktarZues]

How old is the computer? Do you know the brand/model/size of your power supply? Have you ran a memory test?

First thing I would do, is replace the power supply if it's old (or upgrade it depending on how big it is/what type). Second, run a memory test. Most swear by memtest86, I swear it's like 50 years old http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

Then,
From Control Panel:
System > Advanced > Settings (under Startup and Recovery) > Under System Failure: Uncheck automatically restart

If reboots continue, go to the command line and run chkdsk /f and reboot, let it run its course.

Most common causes for unexpected reboots:
bad power supply
bad memory
overheating

Though it can be any number of things. Bad sectors on the hard drive, corrupt system files, malware (closely related to corrupt system files), blend of software/drivers/frameworks that create OS errors/memory leaks, and the list goes on.

If you run through the above with no resolution, I recommend going to this link and follow the instructions to set dr watson as the default debugger and get nitty gritty with the crash dumps. http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/arc...ash-dumps.aspx

Good Luck, -dok

[chbix]

Just cause the fans blowing doesnt mean the items are overheating. Counter strike is a video game and with out knowing the details of your computer you may be causing alot of heat on your cpu and video card while running that. Random shut downs are usually the cpu getting to hot, the video card getting to hot, your power supply going bad or your power supply not being ample enough to handle what your doing.

For over heating, the easiest is to install more fans, however making sure that the fans are blowing correctly is more important. If you have an older case it may be worth it to be a newer more airflow efficient case. which if you shope around can be had for as little as 30-50.

as for power supply, how big is it? what are your components?

try using power calculator

[MOTHERGREEN]

you guys are talking to somebody so illeterate about computers he bought an alienware.. I bought it at the end of 04.

[Grimsi]

Originally posted by MOTHERGREEN
you guys are talking to somebody so illeterate about computers he bought an alienware.. I bought it at the end of 04.

See if you can barrow a local eight year old child, then at least there will be one person in your house qualified to use your machine.

Seriously, you are too ignorent to fix it, so take it down to the best buy and have them do it for you.

[chbix]

alienwares are pretty good for the most part, but again its going on 4 years old. your best bet is to take it to best buy!