Optiplex 5000 Restarts at random

Question

Hi,I have a brand new Optiplex 5000 SFF desktop, about a month old. Win 11 Pro 22H2. All drivers are up to date with Dell Command Update. Nothing major installed other than Office Pro 2019.It restarts at random once a day, almost every day.Someone could be working on it, and boom, down it goes, restarts and comes back up.This is not a crash, not a blue screen. It's a restart. No memory.dmp. No minidump.In fact, Startup and Recovery  System failure is set up correctly. Write memory dump. Automatically restart is UNchecked.But it's not a crash. It's a random restart. Therefore, no memory dump.Event log has no clue as to why it's randomly restarting. Yes, I see the classic signature of restart events in the event log, but nothing jumps out at me like Aha! this is why it restarted.I thought it might be a power problem. So I put it on an APC battery backup and installed PowerChute. Well the battery backup isn't logging any power events, but still, down she goes! Still randomly restarting.Anyone have an idea how to go about troubleshooting this?Thanks in advance.

danmb · Accepted Answer

Update - - -

I am 99% sure the restarts were caused by the Brother printer drivers. Specifically, a program called Brother PowerENGAGE that is installed by the driver installation software.

Please see this:
https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2348869-brother-printer-retarting-the-pc-as-soon-as-the-printer-is-getting-fax

Quote:

"... but in addition to the other suggestions, look for "Brother PowerENGAGE" program in Control Panel. Remove all versions of "PowerENGAGE" program from any vendor. I have seen it come with Brother and Xerox printer software and it is used for advertising, usage stats, etc., BUT the POS software sets up a scheduled reboot that can happen multiple times a day without warning. People working away happily suddenly had their computers reboot on them, and after removing that "PowerENGAGE" program, they stopped rebooting."

I'm quite sure that's the cause.

Just in case anyone else has the same misfortune, this is how I found it:

Look in the Windows Scheduled Tasks history in Event Viewer.

Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > TaskScheduler > Operational

That's the history of all scheduled tasks that ran.

Right around the time of the restart - PowerENGAGE ran.

Put 2 and 2 together. Bingo. Gotcha.

Over and out.

Chino de Oro · Answer

Just go with your instinct. It does have the appearance of kernel power event 41 restart. Either power supply issue or wrong device drivers. Start the troubleshooting from there.

If cause is still undetermined, a clean install of operating system can be considered as last resort.

danmb · Answer

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.

Ay, there's the rub! There is no Kernel Power Event 41.

This is for all intents and purposes a normal system restart. Just as if the user initiated it.

But the user is NOT initiating it. The PC just up and decides to do a restart, all by itself, while the user is working!

Anyone have a clue how to go about troubleshooting this?

Thanks.

Chino de Oro · Answer

Since it's a brand new machine, contact Dell support as they have the resource (replacements) after troubleshooting.  If there is a slight chance of hardware (power) issue, at least you don't kick yourself later on for missing out the return/exchange window.

bradthetechnut · Answer

I'm in agreement with Chino with pursuing the problem under warranty.  One PC I had did random restarts before the PSU went out.

Chino de Oro · Answer

I don't think Dell would shipped the new OptiPlex with that settings. Else, all the new OptiPlex' owners would be flooded this community with the system restart issue.

It could be that you had installed or set it at one point and the issue was just isolated in your case.

danmb · Answer

Correct. Not Dell's fault.I installed the Brother printer, not knowing the driver (or more accurately, the PowerENGAGE component of it) would restart the computer at random. So I removed PowerENGAGE in control panel - it still prints. But if the driver update software brings it back, the printer is going in the trash. Recycled.

Chino de Oro · Answer

I see. and am glad that you were able to troubleshoot and found the cause. Still not logical for a device driver command to bypass Windows unless it was installed at kernel level.

On a separate note, many printers have added extra software to their drivers to monitor usages and sending back reports. While some could be useful such as toolbox and supplies, others seem to be unnecessary and not required for the device functional. Win 10 and 11 have native drivers for most printers, so there is no need to install the software package included with the device. Check your startup apps and disable all printer programs. That may prevent culprit app to reload without hindering your printer functioning and usages.

shawn reza · Answer

I have a PC that suddenly shuts down or shuts down and won't turn on. If I reset the bios it turns on

Optiplex Desktops

Optiplex 5000 Restarts at random

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