Unscheduled computer restarts can be annoying when you have work to be done and not much time to go around.
In this article, I would like to share with you a few possible causes of these ongoing restarts of Windows systems and how you can easily check if an SSD is causing them.
In general, a bad SSD can cause computer restarts. They often manifest in different forms like windows 10 constantly rebooting or your computer keeps restarting on boot.
One common problem that users experience is unscheduled computer restarts after installing an SSD (or another storage system).
Can a bad hard drive cause restarts?
While most computer restarts are not directly linked to bad hard drive, an SSD could be the culprit.
People often assume that an SSD being bad is purely a hardware problem, but I want to show you how different factors can contribute to your computer suffering from these restarts.
I have bought many hard drives over the past few years and it’s common for them to randomly go bad after some time.
Why does a pc consistently reboot?
Many reasons are linked to why your Windows computer keeps restarting on boot.
Overall, failed updates and hardware failure or driver conflicts cause consistent reboots. When your Windows PC restarts on boot it means that a process has failed during the startup.
In most cases, this is caused by some updates like windows updates or driver installation/updates.
I recommend using Update & Security in Windows, and install all available updates. This should resolve any issues with failed updates and hardware failure or driver conflicts.
If you still encounter these problems, try to disable Windows Defender and then activate it again (you can find more information here ). If this fails as well, simply proceed with following the next steps of our guide: Check for Hardware Changes. Disconnect your computer’s HDD but also checking that all components are properly connected, then running diagnostics software for physical hardware tests that can find failing components if any exist.
How to know if an SSD is faulty?
Apart from intermittent computer restarts, there are other ways you can tell that your SSD is faulty.
- Slow And Constant Computer Freezing.
- Odd Sounds or Noisy Computer Fun.
- Corrupted Files
- Frequent Computer Crashes.
Slow And Constant Computer Freezing.
Corrupt SSD can slow your computer or cause your opened windows to freeze when you least expect it.
The slowdown you are experiencing can also be caused by your Windows registry becoming corrupt.
This is why I recommend making a registry backup before you proceed with any of the actions in our guide to fix repeated computer restarts.
Odd Sounds or Noisy Computer Fun.
Sometimes users encounter strange sounds when their SSD is malfunctioning. Noises caused by errors detected in your hard drive’s hardware can manifest in all sorts of different ways, from clicking noises to high-pitched squealing sounds. Whenever you hear odd noise coming out of your PC, it might indicate that there are some flaws that may force you to replace the component causing this issue or have your entire computer fixed by an expert.
Corrupted Files
Corrupted files often affect your computer’s registry system which then affect your SSD.
Frequent computer crashes and restarts that aren’t caused by failed updates can be linked to corrupted files. Corrupted registry entries will interfere with the way your PC links to other hardware and this type of errors generally shows as a broken registry link or some internal communication problem.
If you had an SSD installed in your computer some time ago, there is a big chance it has already broken down at least once. No matter how many times it happens, don’t assume that the same thing will not happen again because you have replaced the faulty hard drive with another one.
I have seen several computers having these issues for over 4 years now and users continue installing new drives expecting different results after their latest installation attempt.
What causes random computer restarts?
The main cause for random computer restarts are failing updates, these are simply due to some bad sectors that have appeared on your computer’s SSD.
These bad parts of your drive are not just about the disk, they are also part of Windows itself. This is why you should really consider running a free scan using reliable diagnostic software or similar tools which will ensure no faked capacity drives were installed where there wasn’t any space available.
The second most common cause for random restarts is faulty hardware or corrupt registry entries created by faulty hardware – yes, it sounds complicated but you can easily resolve this issue if you try our solutions below or follow our guide here . Solutions are listed in order of appearance, simply follow them until your PC is fixed.
Fixing boot errors and slow computer starts.
Reinstalling the system on a fresh drive will fix these errors for sure, but there is a chance that some of your files may be corrupted as well.
In this case, you need to back up those files and restore them from your backup source after you have fixed those boot problems or registry issues.
This is why I recommend creating a registry backup before moving on with any of our solutions below: Repairing Windows Registry Errors .
If you experience both bootloader and hardware or software conflicts, then it means that bad sectors have appeared on your new SSD as well. Take into consideration that if this happened with two different drives, chances are high that all three components failed at once – either
What happens when an SSD fails?
When an SSD fails it is best to replace it with a new one. Not just because it stopped working properly, but also because the bad sectors found on faulty hardware will continue spreading and cause booting problems in both Windows and any other OS installed in your computer.
These areas of the disk may form an internal map of where files are stored or where they can’t be saved. When these parts of the drive fail, Windows will start reporting issues that could lead you to lose data permanently.
Fixing errors caused by bad sectors
If this happens with your SSD, chances are high that both Windows has encountered some file-system corruption and struggles reading certain parts of the disk. System Restore Points .
Generally speaking, Operating Systems like Windows will power up and behave as if nothing has happened. The Windows logo will pop up on the screen, you will hear the loading sound and then suddenly your computer will reboot itself.
This is a system timeout, but it can also show as a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) with an error code like MEMORY_MANAGEMENT or SHADOW_FALLBACK_DRIVER. If this happens to you repeatedly for no reason, well…it could be because those bad sectors have started affecting other components in your PC as well.
Can data be recovered from a failed SSD?
If your SSD has physical damage, recovering your data is unlikely to happen.
If the controller has failed, the data still exists but you won’t be able to access it.
If your SSD’s components are fine (controller, chip, etc.) but you’ve lost power during an update or had a computer crash that was not caused by failed updates, there is still hope that you’ll recover some of your data!
As a rule of thumb, stored data can be recovered from logically failed SSD’s and not physically broken. There are guides that show anyone how to recover data from your failed SSD which I recommend checking out if this is what happened to yours.
But if neither of these types of scenarios applies to you and your computer keeps restarting on boot for no reason whatsoever, don’t expect any chances of recovering any lost files because, without proper hardware diagnostics tests, there is really no way to tell why your computer keeps restarting on boot.
How to fix a computer if it keeps restarting?
There are some SSDs that can cause issues with your Windows installation but this is not always the case. Generally speaking, you may be able to restore your PC using an older set of drivers or reinstall the latest ones.
If this doesn’t work, try uninstalling or disconnecting all of your hardware components one by one until the problem goes away and then connect them back in reverse order so you know which one is causing it. If neither suspension method works for you, there’s nothing else left but to backup all of your data using a cloud storage backup service and replace your computer with a newer one.
What is the lifespan of SSD?
Generally, SSD’s don’t have a limited lifespan as they are very resistant to physical damage. However, their storage cells deteriorate over time and this is what determines the lifetime of your SSD.
Overall, an SSD can last anywhere between 5-10 years. The number of programming/erase cycles on an SSD is one of the most important things that determine its life expectancy.
This means that as you keep writing data to your computer using this hard drive, individual memory cells deteriorate like the read/write speed degrades or cell leakage rises which can lead to either losing your data or needing to replace the entire hardware component with a new one before it dies entirely.
How to prolong an SSD’s lifespan?
Make sure you have your write speeds set to be faster than your read speeds. This will prevent excessive writing that could cause the storage cells of your SSD to deteriorate rapidly.
You should also keep track of how much data is being written on your hard drive because this determines the number of times the storage cells are accessed and therefore, how fast they die out.
What happens if a computer is left turned off for a long time?
With older types of drives, you’ll never have to worry about leaving them turned off for too long because their operating system would shut down everything automatically before it completely dies out. However, newer models require an external source in order
How often should I backup my files?
Having a regular backup of your files to external cloud storage is highly recommended because you never know when an unexpected event may occur that could wipe out all of your files.
Using cloud storage backup service is the most reliable way to keep your data safe because these are updated daily which means it is always updated whenever you need it.
This makes cloud storage very convenient especially if you use one or several computers on a day-to-day basis. Computer backups also come in handy when your SSD’s storage cells start deteriorating because you’ll still have access to all of your important files.
What happens if I disconnect my SSD without using Safely Remove Hardware?
One thing about SSDs is that they don’t have an actual power button so once you’ve connected them, they’ll be on until you physically remove them from your computer’s ports forcefully. If this doesn’t happen, the SSD will continue working for as long as your computer is in use.
