My computer keeps restarting

Slynyc

OSNN Newbie
Joined
6 Aug 2004
Messages
9
Hey guys it is me again,

Intel Pentium IV 1.4 GHZ
256 MB Rambus Ram
Windows XP Pro SP2
120 Gig Maxtor Harddrive
40 Gig Western Digital Harddrive
Sony 16x DVD Rom
Sony 40X Cdr Burner
Geforce Fx 5900
300 Watts Power Supply


I am the guy whose pc has been rebooting by itself like crazy it randomly reboots itself when i am using it. Norton is up to date no viruses detected. I scanned it with Ad-aware no spyware detected. It used to be working fine until like a month ago it has been rebooting by itself, no blue screen pops up and i went to my computers properties and disabled Automatically restart if there is a system failure. So this is bugging the crap outta me. I would like to know if there is any Harddrive monitors that is a freeware that would tell me if my harddrives are failing me..... but my harddrive doesn't make any strange noise though but i just wanna check.
thanks Guys any help would be appreciated

Sly
 
First thing I'd do is run www.memtest86.com

If that ram test comes back ok, I'd 1) activate smart monitoring for the hdd, and go to the manufacturer's site and download the appropriate diagnostic software for the drive.
 
Could be any one of a number of things. You are going to have to work your way through ruling out one thing after another till you hit it.

To rule out a windows problem you could try doing a repair of XP.........best if you use a slipstreamed Cd of XP Pro & SP2.

It could even be SP2 giving you grief. Can you do a restore to an earlier date?
 
it woudl help you greatly if you configure windows to give you a BSOD instead of rebooting:

Right click my computer > Advanced > Startup and Recovery click settings, uncheck automatically restart.

Then weh you get a BSDO you will have a STOP 0x0000... write that down and then search for it on ms database. Should give you a hint as to whats wrong. Sometimes there is a mesage at the top of the blue screen that tells you whats wrng as well.
 
Also, open up the case, blow dust out, especially from the cpu and gpu heatsinks. Make sure the heatsinks are seated correctly. Make sure all fans are operating correctly.

Could also be that you're PSU isn't quite hefty enough for that rig, or is just on it's way out.

Hipster was right, could be many things, but the main areas I'd look to first are heat, power and ram.
 
Well i did the Memtest86 and the computer still restarts in the middle of the testing process there was no errors detected right through the middle of the test but then it restarts. Well this has been happening before i installed SP 2. I manage to Slipstream SP 2 into my Windows XP Pro.....but i hate having to reformat my comp it is a pain in the neck since i don't have a dvd burner to back things up easily. All the fans seem to be working. So i am unsure if the memory is bad or if my harddrives are going bad. If you guys know of any utilities that would help me analyze my Memory and Harddrive that would be great. Thanks
 
memtest86 is the gold standard for testing memory.

For the harddrives, the manufacturer should have a utility that makes a bootable cd or floppy.

With what you describe, I'm going out on a limb to suggest that it's either a heat problem or power problem.
 
Grab a copy of Prime95. When installing choose the 'testing only' option. Look for 'Torture Test'. There are three of them. See what one makes it crash.

Also grab MBM to keep an eye on temp, voltage etc when using Prime95.

(I'm going to add CPU to dreamliner77's list)
 
hello i've been saying its the PSU all along...why is anyone not agreeing with me? 300W is not enough for all the things hes running!
 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest profile posts

Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
Xie wrote on Electronic Punk's profile.
Impressed you have kept this alive this long EP! So many sites have come and gone. :(

Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
hello peeps... is been some time since i last came here.
Electronic Punk wrote on Sazar's profile.
Rest in peace my friend, been trying to find you and finally did in the worst way imaginable.

Forum statistics

Threads
62,015
Messages
673,494
Members
5,621
Latest member
naeemsafi
Back