Computer randomly restarts...need theories

[xr280xr]

I don't have much to go on with this so hopefully someone has experienced it. Every once in a while my computer will just restart! The first few times it happened were when I put a specific data DVD in the drive. Another time when I put a different CD or DVD in the drive (it doesn't do this everytime). And 1 or 2 other times it has just done it under no specific conditions. Weird.


Hardware:
I built this computer, here's what's in it:

• 
  -P4 (3Ghz)
  -ECS board (PT800CE)
  -512 MB of Kingston ram (1 stick)
  -A micro advantage dual layer dvd burner
  -No name cd burner
  -ATI Sapphire Radeon 9800 pro
  -Cheapie 400 watt power supply
  -120GB Western Digital HD
  -Windows XP Pro sp2 (up to date)

Any ideas?

 

[Inaris]

Can yo test a different power supply? I would think the one you have needs to be replaced.
Also, do you see any event in your event log that are stamed right before the reboot?

 

[xr280xr]

I can't test a different power supply very easily because it happens so infrequently. I don't have another power supply either, but I really don't suspect it to be the problem. I've tested the outputs before and they're all giving about the voltage they should be. So unless something is causing it to drop spontaneously (which i'm not ruling out) it should be ok.

The event viewer is a great idea. I didn't realize XP had that. I will check it next time it happens and post back on what I find. Thanks!

In the mean time, anyone have other ideas?

 

[Inaris]

the event log will contain a record of events. So if you can recall when it last did, then you can locate the events around that time...

what about over heating? are you ventalated properly?

 

[killians45]

May also want to turn off the autoreboot in the startup-recovery. man, we need a sticky with all this. I think I've seen this question more times than any other.

 

[Ste]

How long is the computer usally on before this happens?

 

[xr280xr]

I haven't found any other patterns to it other than what I've listed. Ya, there is actually a post in the computer hardware section about random restarts. I'll just have to wait until it happens again and try to find an error message.