hi guys, i am using xp pro on an asrock k7vt6 motherboard using an amd 3200 cpu 512 mb ddr memory. the system keep rebooting when i randomly at times when i click to do something, like just6 now it shut down when i started ms paint up. before it shut down when i clicked to open a new internet explorer wondow. i have not added any hardware recently, i have scanned for virus with avg and housecall but no virus found. i have switched hard drives over, reformatted hard drives and reinstalled windows xp pro on blank hard drive and still it happens. where do i go from here? is it a hardware issue? its driving me nuts, it can be fine for an hour or two then it just reboots itself. the cpu is not over heating either i checked that. i dont know what to do next really, any thoughts???
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xp pro rebooting where do i start? 1
- Thread starter sbrawn
- Start date
-
1
- #2
Boot to Safe Mode and do the following:
- Right-click My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced, Startup and Recovery, Settings. Uncheck automatically reboot on errors
You should then be able to record the full text message of any blue screen.
You can also check the event viewer:
- Start -> Run -> type eventvwr.msc and hit OK
See if there are any event entries about the restarts
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
- Right-click My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced, Startup and Recovery, Settings. Uncheck automatically reboot on errors
You should then be able to record the full text message of any blue screen.
You can also check the event viewer:
- Start -> Run -> type eventvwr.msc and hit OK
See if there are any event entries about the restarts
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
- Thread starter
- #3
i have ru the eventvwr as you said and it shows a number of error events occurred at the last reboot. so what does this tell me? it says error with internet explorer, and some with true vector application. system errors occured in category 102. im not sure what that means and what i can do to rectify it?
When did this start happening? The fact that its happening when you install clean on a second hard drive points directly to hardware problems to me - I'd start with RAM (if > 1 stick, try each on its own, and/or run a memory checker like memtest), then anything else you can eliminate (by disconnecting or replacing with known good alternative).
- Thread starter
- #5
it started happening about 4 days ago. i have now downloaded windows memory diagnostic program and booted from the floopy that makes, all the memory tests it does came back as passed with no errors. if it is a hardware problem i dont know where to start. the blue screen i get when it errors is different everytime, its getting really bad now. it can go for an hour or two with no problems then just error to blue screen. after that i can reboot sometimes it wont reboot it will just keep restarting before the reboot has finished loading windows. or if it does reboot it may stay on for 30 mins or sometimes just 15 mins. i dont know what to try next??
franklin97355
Technical User
Check the memory and power supply while you are at it.
If > 1 memory stick, try running with each on its own (memeory checkers don't always find problems, and sometimes problem is that you've 2 sticks ok on their own, problem together). If just one stick, have you another from elsewhere you can try?
Disconnect/turn off in bios any sound, network, modem cards/features.
Disconnect optical & floppy drives (inc zip drives)
Disconnect any printers, scanners, any USB devices.
Run the machine like this till it blue screens or till its runs for long enough to convince you its running ok. If the latter, connect items back one at a time and repeat. If the former - frankin's suggestion about power supply good - try a replacement. Also, check the temperature of the cpu (should be available in bios settings - and/or with somethjing like Aida or Everest) just after it blue screens (you could do this immediately in fact), in case the fan is not running properly or the heatsink is not properly conducting heat from the cpu.
Disconnect/turn off in bios any sound, network, modem cards/features.
Disconnect optical & floppy drives (inc zip drives)
Disconnect any printers, scanners, any USB devices.
Run the machine like this till it blue screens or till its runs for long enough to convince you its running ok. If the latter, connect items back one at a time and repeat. If the former - frankin's suggestion about power supply good - try a replacement. Also, check the temperature of the cpu (should be available in bios settings - and/or with somethjing like Aida or Everest) just after it blue screens (you could do this immediately in fact), in case the fan is not running properly or the heatsink is not properly conducting heat from the cpu.
- Thread starter
- #9
what i have done is i borrowed a copy of windows xp home edition from a friend and installed it a few days ago, now my computer has not been restarting itself since i did that and it seems to be running fine. so i cant really work out why my previous instalation of xp pro went corrupt after 6 months and when i tried to reinstall from my cd the computer still kept restarting. maybe the disc is corrupt also? i will have to get myself a new windows instalation disc. i wonder if microsoft will replace it?
tygressjanie
MIS
- Jun 1, 2005
- 87
From what I know, there are only two hardware problems that cause a computer to reboot repeatedly.
1. the power supply, usually from being overtasked. This is most often caused when someone installs new hardware which requires too much power from said power supply, however, it could just as easily be from a power supply going bad. It basically says "sorry, I can't handle this" and reboots your machine.
2. the CMOS battery, it eventually loses it's power and needs to be replaced. When this happens and the computer reboots, you will usually see a "checksum error" when the computer is booting back up.
The CMOS battery can be picked up at pretty much any store for about $3. Radio Shack, Walmart, etc. The number you'd be looking for is CR2032...one of the bigger circle ones
That would be the cheaper thing to try to replace first, so I'd go for that. Then if it still does it, I suppose it's possible that it's your power supply. You can find a power supply relatively cheap as well, probably between $20-40, depending on what you want. I would go with at least a 400W power supply, but 500W is much better. You could get more if you wanted.
I hope this helps you out
1. the power supply, usually from being overtasked. This is most often caused when someone installs new hardware which requires too much power from said power supply, however, it could just as easily be from a power supply going bad. It basically says "sorry, I can't handle this" and reboots your machine.
2. the CMOS battery, it eventually loses it's power and needs to be replaced. When this happens and the computer reboots, you will usually see a "checksum error" when the computer is booting back up.
The CMOS battery can be picked up at pretty much any store for about $3. Radio Shack, Walmart, etc. The number you'd be looking for is CR2032...one of the bigger circle ones
That would be the cheaper thing to try to replace first, so I'd go for that. Then if it still does it, I suppose it's possible that it's your power supply. You can find a power supply relatively cheap as well, probably between $20-40, depending on what you want. I would go with at least a 400W power supply, but 500W is much better.
You could get more if you wanted.I hope this helps you out
tygressjanie - there are many more than 2 things that can cause rebooting - bad RAM, bad drivers, virus/malware, bad any hardware, overheating to name a few.
sbrawn - odd! When you reinstalled Pro, did you complete the install, then it began restarting - or was restarting during install? If it installed ok, unlikely (but not impossible) that disk is corrupt. Was a clean install of Pro? (presume Home was as it won't go over Pro).
sbrawn - odd! When you reinstalled Pro, did you complete the install, then it began restarting - or was restarting during install? If it installed ok, unlikely (but not impossible) that disk is corrupt. Was a clean install of Pro? (presume Home was as it won't go over Pro).
I had a problem very similar to this once and it turned out to be my power supply dropping out under a load. I switched the plug I was plugging my hard drive into and have never had a problem since. Turned out that I had the higher powered plug running to the floppy and cd instead of to the hard drive. On other machines I have found this type of problem is usually network card or modem driver related. Just my two cents.
lmwtech
lmwtech
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