Random hangs and restarts

[Kocky]

Hello people,

My pc is getting on my nerves.
I built the new one on dec. 2002. The specs are:

CPU: AMD ATHLON XP 2400+
MOBO: ASUS A7V8X
MEM: 256mb pc2700/333 DDR RAM Apacer brand
power supply: 300 watts
VGA: GeForce 2 MX 400 32 mb
Sound: Sound Blaster Live
LAN: Broadbandcom 100/10 mb ethernet
HD: Maxtor 60 gb ATA133, 2mb cache
Modem: Creative Modem Blaster 56k V.92

It has worked super until last week. I get random restart while surfing the net or loading and playing games. Sometimes I get a blue screen and sometimes it restarts or hangs. Very unpredictable. I formated the whole drive and reinstalled Windows XP. I ran scandisk. Still the same problem. Downloaded a program from memtest86 and the ram came out fine. Also at the store they tested it and said the ram was fine. What the hell can this be ????
Processor is not overheated and running at 133x15 speed.
Is there some sort of BIOS setting that can cause this or is my processor or mobo bad ????
I'm lost in the hardware jungle !!
Please help.

 

[PepeLeMokko]

You seem to have a BIOS or driver problem.
First of all install all the latest drivers for your hardware and Win XP updates.
If the problem still occurs, consider flashing your BIOS but be very cautious about it.
Don't forget you can roll back drivers and you can create restore points with XP, just to stay on the safe side.
Good luck

 

[ukjane]

Sorry to but in but how to do create restore points, i'm quite new to XP.

 

[Kocky]

I'm pretty sure that I have the latest drivers installed for my hardware. I might not have WinXP fully updated. I will try that and look for an updated BIOS version. I'll get back to you with the results.

 

[jdunderhill]

Hi

I had a similar problem with my Uncles PC, the problem seemed to lie with the Ethernet card, we disabled unnecesary IRQ assignments in the BIOS like serial, parallel etc (As he doesn't use em) I got the latest drivers from the web and made sure there were no conflicts in Windows

He had symptoms like hanging when Windows first starts, he wouls surf web then just restart on its own

When he turned off the cable modem it was fine so it ruled it out to be a problem with that or the card

 

[linney]

You could look at typing MSINFO32 in the Start Run box, and check Components/ Problem Devices. Also check Hardware Resources/ Conflict-Sharing and also IRQs.


ukjane,

Type "Create a Restore Point" in the Help and Support program for instructions.

 

[Comtech]

That's a VIA chipset board, have you installed the Via 4-in-1 drivers for it?
If not, that could be the cause of all the problems.
You don't need a BIOS flash, it's not going to magically fix any problem that wasn't there before, the motherboard is too new.
Windows updates may help, but only if they are driver updates, the security updates won't do a thing.
If ACPI is enabled in BIOS, then IRQ sharing is normal.
If you're using broadband internet, why do you have a modem in the system? If you're not using it, it could be removed, although it should play well with the other children...
Set a restore point: Start > Programs > Accessories > System tools > System Restore...click on "Create a Restore Point" to make one. Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[Kocky]

I yesterday flashed the BIOS. Didn't help. Downloaded Windows updates, no luck. I have installed the latest Via4in1 drivers and no I have no Broadband internet but a broadband Ethernet card.

I then changed the virtual memory to be controlled by the system and removed all the files in C:\Windows\Minidump\. I also removed the detonator drivers from NVidia and used the drivers that came with WinXP. This helped because I was able to play the game Warcraft III without any problems.
I thought it was solved but no.

Now when I go to the display properties and I choose a screensaver which uses 3D rendering(e.a. The magic box that changes of shape) and I click OK, and then I go back to the display properties, as soon as I click on the ScreenSaver tab the system reboots !! So I'm beginning to think it has something to do with the Palit Daytona GeForce 2 MX 400 video card.
Is there someway I can check if the card is faulty or the memory of the AGP port ??

 

[Kocky]

I do have to say that all the trouble began after installing the External Creative Modem Blaster V.92 on COM2.
Could it also be a IRQ conflict ? I don't know if external modem require a full IRQ for themselves ? I have tried removing the device form windows by removing it's drivers but did not remove it physicly from the com port. If the device is attached to the com port but has no drivers installed does it occupy (is that spelled right?) a IRQ channel?

 

[DecoyBoy]

I have had the same problems with my system hanging and restarting. It is one of my test machines, but I am concerned about it since it represents a quarter of our motherboards.

The machine is:
Motherboard: Intel SE440BX-2
BIOS: 17(latest one)
RAM: 128MB
Processor: Intel PII 550
Video: Matrox G200
Sound: Onboard legacy sound
Network: 3Com 3C905-TX Ethernet card

I have installed all of the updates, but still get the same problem. I have turned off the reboot on system failure option and get the blue screen O' death instead of the reboot. However, the information only states that it a driver problem. No further information is given. Even after reinstalling just the OS I still get the problem. I thought I could track the culprit down by installing one program and testing it for a week, but it seems to be in the OS.

If anyone has any ideas on this I am open for suggestions.
(Keep your minds out of the gutter.)

 

[Kocky]

Problem is solved !!
It turned out te be a multiple problem. First of all it was due to latest NVidia Detonator drivers. They don't work for me. At least not with the game Warcraft III. Second problem was a faulty Sound card driver. I own the Sound Blaster Live Value card. I installed drivers for the Sound Blaster Live card and they updated the WDM driver. After that I installed the new modem which added a Modem Sound Device that uses the WDM driver. Bad,bad,bad...
Uninstalled the Sound Blaster Driver, NVidia driver and the modem. Now I'm using the sound blaster driver and GeForce driver that come with WindowsXP and haven't had any problems anymore !!

Thank god. It took me a lot of time.
Thanx all of you for helping me out.