VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Jason Huggins]

Well my computer was doing some funky things. It started randomly restarting itself. At first it was just every evening, then it started multiple times a day, then it would only stay on for 3-4 minutes at a time, then it wouldn't boot at all. Looks like the hard drive was dead.

This the easy part...no data loss. I have all my audio on an external drive, the entire system was backed up via Crashplan and I have a second computer so I had no downtime while I was getting, replacing and restoring the hard drive.

The lesson I learned...don't be without a backup of mission critical systems and information. I also learned that an SSD is WAAAAAAAY faster than a standard drive.

[Ed Fisher]

You don't say if your computer is a Desktop or a Laptop. (or something else)

But if your computer is randomly rebooting it could also mean your CPU is overheating and it's doing what it's supposed to do. (to protect itself)

If it gets full of dust that can cause a problem. (check any and all fans for dust - also to make sure they are moving)

I recently had to go into a computer and tell it to runs the fans constantly, since it was supposed to be in "quiet" mode and turn on when necessary. But, still, it was randomly shutting down.

I've also had random things happen if the RAM works itself loose. (good thing to check)

Most of this would apply more to a desktop. Although, I'm sure that laptops can accumulate dust as well. Only, I suspect, not as bad.

If your harddrive has gone bad, I would be shocked if you could boot it up at all.

Just some random thoughts on the subject.

HOWEVER..the main point of you post is well taken. (speaking from very painful experience) BACKUP. BACKUP. AND THEN...BACKUP SOME MORE.
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"I reserve the right to be completely wrong."

[Eddie Eagle]

maybe a cmos battery replacement is what it needs

[Foog]