MacBook Random Restarts!

anfieldgirl · 02-03-2010, 09:47 PM

Hey guys.

For the past months my MacBook has been randomly restarting. What happens is that the system just restarts. I don't click anything and nothing shows up. In fact, just a few hours ago I was watching a video and it just restarted!

Its not a frequent thing but it happened twice this week (so its getting more frequent). For January I think it happened twice.

Anyone know what's the problem!?! MacBook is 2,1 by the way.

Please help me out. I'm getting worried. Thanks!

rom · 02-04-2010, 04:58 AM

It might be a problem with either your OS or your HDD.

dude_funk · 02-04-2010, 09:31 AM

For starters, try running Disk Utility to Repair permissions.

anfieldgirl · 02-04-2010, 10:46 AM

I repaired permissions last month, but it still does the same thing. Any idea how can I check it if its an OS or HDD problem?

rom · 02-04-2010, 06:19 PM

Try to boot from an external drive and see if will still happen. If it does, then I recommend an OS reinstall. If after you reinstall the OS and it still happens, then it is a HDD problem.

A friend had the same problem - tried re-installing OS and still had lock-ups. Changed the HDD and no more problems.

anfieldgirl · 02-04-2010, 09:46 PM

Okay. I'll try to re-install the OS once I get the time! Thanks so much!

anfieldgirl · 02-08-2010, 08:43 PM

Well I just re-installed my Operating System around 3 days ago and it just restarted around 10 mins ago. So I guess its a HDD problem? Any other possible cause?

d0natell0 · 02-09-2010, 07:17 AM

it is a hdd problem. could be a defective RAM also, though very remote.

anfieldgirl · 02-09-2010, 09:55 AM

Aw, this is the second time I have a problem with my HDD. How do I check for a defective RAM?

d0natell0 · 02-09-2010, 01:31 PM

the OS X disc that came with your mac includes a diagnostic mode. press "d" while booting to boot into the diagnostic program and there it includes a memory testing function. or try the OS X version of memtest at http://www.memtestosx.org/

but i guess random rebooting is mainly an OS or hdd problem. crashes and freezing are RAM related problems. since your problem is the former and you have already re-installed your OS, that leaves your hdd as the most likely cause.