Inspiron 560, restarts unexpectedly

Question

We have an Inspiron 560 that is restarting once or twice a day. Each time the Reliability Monitor shows a "Windows was not properly shut down" entry, and the Event Viewer notes the restart but gives no further information that I can tell. However, for some reason the timestamps between the RM and EV entries usually do not match.

In rare cases, the PC will shut down completely. When this happens, the front case power button will not work until the machine is unplugged for a bit and then plugged back in. A few times this full shutdown has happened, I have held the Power button for 30 seconds or so to do a discharge.

In other rare cases, the PC restarts but a distorted plaid pattern is shown on the screen instead of the desktop (photo attached). Usually before this happens the normal display has visible distortions or "squiggles" and jerky movement, but not always.

I have tried:

- Windows SFC scan
- Turning off Fast Startup in the Windows Power manager
- Testing the power supply using the LED light on the back side (unplugging internal components, plugging in machine, checking LED light...). However, this unit does not seem to have the Dell Test button, only the light.
- Dell Diagnostics - no issues found
- Various Windows Troubleshooters - Power, Disc Check, etc.

The machine has all its original Dell components (no upgrades), but it has been updated from Win7 to Win10. I'm happy to provide other system info, log files, etc. to track down the issue. I've been going in circles, and I'm just hoping someone can put me on the correct path.

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Tesla1856 · Accepted Answer

@iansnana wrote:

1. Thank you for your reply.

2. The machine is on a surge protector, but not a UPS.

3. The Dell diagnostics were the ones you can run using SupportAssist.

4. It's possible the power supply is the problem, but I'm not sure how to go about diagnosing it for sure (other than the steps I've already tried with the green light on the back).

5. This machine does have Intel on-board graphics. I checked the drivers through Device Manager. The system gives the "best driver for your system is already installed" message.

1. Sure. Your post and troubleshooting were good ... looked like you were making an effort.

2. So that's wrong. Open that surge protector and you will see it's just a glorified extension-cord. Once you get a good UPS, you will be surprised how bad your AC-Power actually is.

3. So, instead, do the ePSA (outside of Windows).

4. You're in luck ... just answered that:

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/OEM-AMD-RADEON-7870-Graphics-Card-8500-XPS-BAD-Power-Supply/m-p/6198795/highlight/true#M19276

5. Good. Intel video drivers are simple and pretty solid. If there weren't, the industry would revolt fast. :Smile:

nyc10036 · Answer

I would update all 'important' the drivers starting with the chipset.

Tesla1856 · Answer

@iansnana wrote:

We have an Inspiron 560 that is restarting once or twice a day.

1. Each time the Reliability Monitor shows a "Windows was not properly shut down" entry, and the Event Viewer notes the restart but gives no further information that I can tell.

2. In other rare cases, the PC restarts but a distorted plaid pattern is shown on the screen instead of the desktop (photo attached). Usually before this happens the normal display has visible distortions or "squiggles" and jerky movement, but not always.

3. Dell Diagnostics - no issues found

1. This means that Windows had no advance warning of the shut-down. This usually means:

a. Hardware problem
b. Lack of power (including AC-Power trouble)

2. So, about 90% of the time it's like I say above. But once, I saw bad Nvidia driver cause it:

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General-Read-Only/Aurora-R6-Hard-Lockup-and-crash-while-gaming-SOLVED/m-p/5504128/highlight/true#M6104

I've never seen this until recently and just that once. My guess is because that machine had an Intel CPU with integrated GPU.

3. Do you mean ePSA (outside of Windows)?

Is it on a good UPS (like APC with LCD and AVR)?

iansnana · Answer

@Tesla1856 wrote:

1. This means that Windows had no advance warning of the shut-down. This usually means:

a. Hardware problem
b. Lack of power (including AC-Power trouble)

2. So, about 90% of the time it's like I say above. But once, I saw bad Nvidia driver cause it:

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General-Read-Only/Aurora-R6-Hard-Lockup-and-crash-while-gaming-SOLVED/m-p/5504128/highlight/true#M6104

I've never seen this until recently and just that once. My guess is because that machine had an Intel CPU with integrated GPU.

3. Do you mean ePSA (outside of Windows)?

Is it on a good UPS (like APC with LCD and AVR)?

Thank you for your reply. The machine is on a surge protector, but not a UPS. The Dell diagnostics were the ones you can run using SupportAssist.

It's possible the power supply is the problem, but I'm not sure how to go about diagnosing it for sure (other than the steps I've already tried with the green light on the back).

This machine does have Intel on-board graphics. I checked the drivers through Device Manager. The system gives the "best driver for your system is already installed" message.

iansnana · Answer

@nyc10036 wrote: I would update all 'important' the drivers starting with the chipset. Thank you for the reply.  Dell is showing no updates for the model number, both on the webpage and through Dell SupportAssist.

Tesla1856 · Answer

@iansnana wrote:

We have an Inspiron 560 that is restarting once or twice a day.

One more easy thing to try ...

Disable all monitor, HDD, whole computer, whatever ... Sleep mode. It's either on or off. See if that helps.

Inspiron Desktops

Inspiron 560, restarts unexpectedly

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