Possible Internet Connection Problems...

[MaxLee]

Hello guys I have a serious problem with the internet connection in my office. For some odd reason my Laptop keeps restarting automatically every once and a while, on a random basis. My office is at Sukhumvit Soi 19 BTS Station Asoke.

First I assumed that I had a virus or worm, but my Anti virus programme didn't detect anything. The thing is, that this problem does not occur at my home,... only in my office. Thereafter I assume it's the wireless Internet connection that causes the problem of restarting...

What the devil is going on???

Edited March 26, 2008 by MaxLee

[JohnC]

Do you run it from battery at work and mains at home? I had a similar problem and it turned out the battery was faulty and the pc was trying to recharge it and kept tripping. I removed the battery and the problem went away.

[MaxLee]

Do you run it from battery at work and mains at home? I had a similar problem and it turned out the battery was faulty and the pc was trying to recharge it and kept tripping. I removed the battery and the problem went away.

No actually I do not use battery anywhere if I don't have to. Especially at home I prefer to not use battery. In work as well. My female colleague has the same problem. I don't think it is a battery problem. I assume it's a network problem....

[sbk]

Actually, I had this problem with my desktop last year, it turned out to be some dratted windows update.

[MaxLee]

Well that didn't really help me :D

[Totster]

Well that didn't really help me :D

Why not ?

Have you recently had a windows update on that machine, if so a system restore may help ..

Surely worth a try ?

Totster

[MaxLee]

Well Windows updates they come and go,... yes sure. Well, do you mean I have to reformat my Laptop Windows software???

My colleague did that two weeks ago and it still kept restarting...

[RKASA]

Does not happen at home and someone else was having the same issue in your office.  its wireless.  try being connect cat5 use cable if you can see if that helps.  Make sure your remote in firewall is disablabled and someones not playing games.  check your network is secure.

[MaxLee]

Well, my boss cannot send any emails from Outlook for two days now,... smells fishy...

[Gary A]

By any chance is your home cooler than your office? It sounds like a heat problem. If the CPU gets too hot it normally shuts itself down and reboots.

I had that rebooting problem at home with my desktop. The CPU eventually fried and had to be replaced.

ADDED - Try one of those little coolers that the laptop sits on. They normally have several small fans blowing air on the bottom of the laptop. They are not expensive and certainly much cheaper than cooking the CPU.

Edited March 27, 2008 by Gary A

[Mighty Mouse]

It could be one of many things.

If you Google "computer intermittently restarts" or similar words, you will find a heap of information from others who have had similar problems.

[Cuban]

If you can turn off the wireless feature on your laptop and then use the laptop completely isolated from the internet in your office (do not connect any LAN cable) - just play games or use Word / Excel etc. If the fault repeats it might suggest that heat is an issue, but I doubt it would cool that quickly to allow it to reboot and continue.

If the problem does not reoccur in a few days - it would support the idea that someone were accessing your computer remotely via the wireless LAN.

If you have someone IT aware in the company (I guess not as you are asking us.) you could see how many wireless devices are on your LAN (check the router console), if it is more than your company own then you have someone (former employee or IT contractor?) that has access and might be using your internet connection and possibly 'playing' with your laptop.

I would suggest that you audit the use of your wireless LAN, change the encyption key you use and apply what patches your laptop OS requires, apply a software firewall and scan for infections, spy/malware and any backdoors that might have been installed while your LAN was open for all to use (?).

If there was a problem with your LANs security it is most likely to be kids playing, if it were a serious attempt at theft the hacker would want to remain unseen to use your connection and extract data from your systems hopefuly banking account numbers and information that has value that could be sold.

Most wireless products are sold with no security in place, making them easy for the home user to plug in, switch on and use. In business you have a duty to the company to protect your data, do you leave the doors unlocked when the office is empty? Many people do just that with their wireless LAN.

Read this as a primer on the subject.

[OxfordWill]

Hello guys I have a serious problem with the internet connection in my office. For some odd reason my Laptop keeps restarting automatically every once and a while, on a random basis. My office is at Sukhumvit Soi 19 BTS Station Asoke.

First I assumed that I had a virus or worm, but my Anti virus programme didn't detect anything. The thing is, that this problem does not occur at my home,... only in my office. Thereafter I assume it's the wireless Internet connection that causes the problem of restarting...

What the devil is going on???

If you want I can pop in sometime and take a look, cant promise but I should be able to diagnose. in return for a beer or two at your expense sometime.