Why does my Mac Pro spontaneously restart?

My Mac Pro suddenly restarted and continues to do so when I sign back in.  I can't use it more than five minutes without a spontaneous restart. I put in the OS installation disc and manually restarted from it and then went to disk utilities to repair my startup drive.  Did this and nothing changed. Still continues to restart again and again and again.  I'm trying to back up on external drive but that takes time and the computer restarts a few minutes into the backup procedure interrupting it.  What can I do?
Thanks

There are so many replies, I don't know if anyone has solved this, but I have found something that has worked for me, twice, on my Mac Pro Tower 2008, OS 10.6.8. Like everyone else, my Mac was restarting by itself over and over. Here's what I did: 1) Clean up the dust inside (canned air and wiping down the flat surfaces that had a ton of dust on them. 2) Remove the video card and reseat it. Pulling the card out can be a bit of a trick, it can seem stuck, but you just have to pull firmly (ok, don't forget to unscrew the little screws that hold it in, and don't drop 'em!). Just pull it 'up' a few inches away, enough to pull it free of the contacts.
I suggest immediately reseating it, rather than pulling the card out to inspect and then realize that re-positioning it is awkward, especially if you haven't pulled the vid card before. Old pros can ignore this recommend.
This worked for me a few years ago and just recently (Late April 2015) the problem resurfaced. I can't say that cleaning did the trick, but it was awfully dusty inside my Mac anyway.  Perhaps related (or not!), I've replaced my video card twice now, so I'm on my third vid card. They just don't seem to last.
I don't guarantee anything, but if you haven't tried this, give it a shot and best of luck to you!

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