Troubleshooting a Dell Laptop that Keeps Restarting

Is your Dell laptop restarting repeatedly, causing frustration and disrupting your work? Don’t worry, we’re here to help you troubleshoot the issue and find a solution. At Salvation Repair, we offer a limited lifetime guarantee on all parts and labor, and our expert technicians are available to assist you with any repair needs. You can schedule a repair at https://salvationrepair.com/repair.

Before we dive into the troubleshooting steps, let’s cover some basics. If your laptop is restarting frequently, it could be due to a variety of reasons, including problematic settings, faulty power input, corrupt or outdated drivers, malware infection, operating system corruption, bad battery, faulty memory, or motherboard or CPU fault.

Problematic Settings

Default Windows settings are intended to be best for most people, but hardware and software specifics can vary wildly across Windows configurations. This diversity can cause issues with setting standardization. A restore point can be used to revert any unwanted changes made resulting in poor performance. This is especially useful if your laptop won’t boot into Windows.

Faulty Power Input

If your laptop is restarting more often when you move it around, it could be that power is getting cut due to wiggly connections between the charger and the charger port.

Check your charger and cables for any signs of damage or wear. Try using a different charger or cable to rule out any issues with the power input.

Corrupt or Outdated Drivers

Any physical component of your computer needs instructions so Windows knows how to use it. That’s all a driver is, an instruction manual for Windows. If the instructions are old, they may not be compatible any longer.

Use Dell SupportAssist to update your drivers. Avoid any program advertised as a driver updater if it doesn’t come directly from an electronics manufacturer or Dell.

Malware Infection

Computer viruses and other harmful software can wreak havoc on system stability. They may generate issues the computer can only correct with a restart.

Run a virus scan using Malwarebytes or ESET Online Scan to detect and remove any malware.

Operating System Corruption

A corrupt OS means that there are files critical to the operating system that have become invalid or messed up in some way.

Windows provides access to repair tools that correct these corruption issues. You can try running a Basic Windows Repair or reinstalling Windows.

Bad Battery

Batteries are prone to failure due to their “consumable” nature. Although they typically die slowly and with diminishing power on time, a bunk battery might provide inconsistent power, causing unexpected shutdowns or restarts.

Use powrcfg to get a more detailed history of your battery’s performance. If you determine your battery is a likely cause, check out our guide on replacing a Dell laptop battery.

Faulty Memory

Random Access Memory, more commonly known as RAM, is a likely hardware culprit for repeat crashes. Luckily, most models of Dell laptop still contain at least one stick of modular RAM and are generally easy to replace.

Be especially mindful when replacing RAM to use something that is compatible. Crucial has a compatibility checker for their products you can use to validate.

Motherboard or CPU Fault

If the above tips have failed, the issue might be caused by the motherboard. Damage to the motherboard due to physical trauma, electrical surges, or other hardware-related issues can impact functionality.

A faulty motherboard can lead to erratic behavior, intermittent freezing, crashing, or overall system instability. If you suspect a motherboard or CPU fault, it’s best to seek professional help from a reputable repair service like Salvation Repair.

At Salvation Repair, we offer a limited lifetime guarantee on all parts and labor, and our expert technicians are available to assist you with any repair needs. You can schedule a repair at https://salvationrepair.com/repair.