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PC reboot on first boot

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Hi,

I have a curious problem with my pc that has been ongoing for a few months now. When the pc is first turned on it remains stable for about 30-60 mins and then the display will blank and recover a few times before it just reboots of it’s own accord.

Once the reboot has taken place the pc will remain stable until the next time it is powered off. As a result, I have got into the habit of powering it up /logging on and then immediately restarting via Shutdown – Restart. This prevents the crash scenario described above.

I have tried the following in my attempts to fix the problem:

1) Replaced memory
2) Replaced video card and drivers
3) Updated BIOS
4) Updated VIA 4 in 1 drivers
5) Turned off all power management

If anyone has any ideas I would be very grateful to hear them.

My pc spec is:

Legend QDI kudoz 7 (chipset Via KT266)
AMD Athlon XP 1600+
NVIDIA GeForce 2TI video card
568MB RAM
2 x HDD (40GB system disk, 60GB data disk)
Windows XP Pro SP2

I hope that is enough info?

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In reply to PC reboot on first boot

You got any auto updates running?

Reply To: PC reboot on first boot

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I have WinXP auto updates turned on and my AV software looks for updated virus definitions daily, although both these services do seem to be completing successfully. I will try turning them off anyway to see what effect that has.

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In reply to PC reboot on first boot

This is just a guess; but it gives you a couple of other places to look.

Take a look at the temperatures. One utility (that I haven’t tried myself yet) is at http://www.download.com/SpeedFan/3000-2094_4-10432092.html?tag=lst-0-8

Also, try changing out the power supply.

Reply To: PC reboot on first boot

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I checked the temps – all ok.
I swapped out the power supply as well – it is a lot quieter now but still crashed, I’m afraid.
Thanks for the advice.

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Point value changed by question poster.

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damokay , cool your CPU with a better fan . Also the system box must be ventilated well . if all fails you need to change your MB .

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This is a tough one. But I would try a few tests, test the RAM,HDD, and CPU thoroughly, see if it happens after removing a RAM chip. Also, maybe a power issue (like low voltage). I have had several problems in this area beore, try installing a UPS.
Also, uncheck the Auto reboot on Errors, and see if it comes up with a BSOD which can further help in troubleshooting.

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Could power it up, let it fail then look at the events log to see what caused it to reboot.

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If you have the resources, I would try changing the power supply out. Also, take a close look at your motherboard – specifically the capaciters – you may have one that is leaking or bulging causing the issue… if you find one then you have two real choices – either get a new motherboard or try to replace the capaciter (can usually be found at a Radio Shack). Hope you can get this resolved – good luck!!

Reply To: PC reboot on first boot

In reply to Reply To: PC reboot on first boot

I swapped out the power supply and checked over the mb – all looked ok but still crashed, I’m afraid.
Thanks for the response.

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In reply to PC reboot on first boot

wow. that is a weird one. i think it is enough info…this used to work right and nothing has changed? except for windows updates of course…
if yes, to me the only thing that explains the second boot cure is sure sounds like it is getting suspended or hibernated, but not correctly. maybe a bug in BIOS with xp service pack that they haven’t fixed yet. but you turned off power management in the BIOS AND Windows, yes? and in your nic…i don’t what else has suspend capability but check out hd controller mapbe post disk model numbers?
maybe doublecheck if your HAL is correct for your motherboard? and while there on mboard mfg website searching for these symptoms you might doublecheck that they don’t have another bios update for you…

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or a corrupt suspend partition.

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yeah… resource conflict perhaps…

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The antics you are experiencing is normal for this motherboard. It uses a CPU thermal protection on board the mother board (see QDI website) to take care of this problem buy a power supply with a seperate power on/off switch. What happens when you shut down the sys through the o.s. it turns off all power to the board this disables the C.O.P. (CPU Overheat Protection) feature. When you repower up the system with the power button on the front of the computer it has to reset. It first retreves the C.O.P. settings and then restarts to have a reference point. The fix is to install another power supply with a seperate power switch on it so that when you power down from the O.S. the power is still maintained to the motherboard (very low power draw) (they usually include a small LED on the motherboard when using this feature but I cannot tell from the manf. website if there is an LED on your mod or not)I recommend a 300watt power supply for C.O.P. enabled motherboards. EASY FIX.

Reply To: PC reboot on first boot

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Thanks for the info. I already had a power supply with a separate on/off switch but I swapped it out anyway. Unfortunately – I’m still getting the problem.

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In reply to PC reboot on first boot

Hi,

From the fact that the Computer keeps running after the reboot, I would rule out a temperature problem, otherwise you would get continual reboots, as the cpu keeps heating up.

My experience with having to reboot once or more to get the computer to run, is that you have faulty capacitors on your mobo. Check for bulging sides or tops, check for a cap that is higher thatn others of its type (case has blown off) and check for any signs of leakage etc around the caps. If you find a faulty cap you will either need a new mobo or if you are gonig to attempt to replace the caps I would recommend that you replace all that are the same as the faulty one.

Good luck

Reply To: PC reboot on first boot

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Thanks for the help – all mb caps look okay, although I guess that doesn’t necessarily mean they are? I may end up swapping the mb as a last resort if I don’t get anywhere.

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In reply to PC reboot on first boot

Hi!

I had a similar problem and I guess due to some weird spyware that was on my machine. I had to re-format the hard drive and re-install everything and since then, never had this problem any more.
I guess something is written in the registry that makes the machine reboot.
Hope this will resolve your problem once for all, otherwise I would suggest you to run a software called CheckIT Pro, to determine whether you have a hardware problem instead.

Reply To: PC reboot on first boot

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I did wonder about this some time ago sop I completely re-formatted and re-installed – no difference I’m afraid.

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hi good day,just try to replace your processor

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Do you remember what you were doing when this started to happen 2-3 months ago? Did you install service pack 2. Did you have updates auto-loading so that something might have loaded that you were unaware of. When you reformatted and reinstall did you try to run it without sp 2. Did you reload software from scratch or did you use an image? 3 Does this happen in safe mode? in Dos?
You could try booting up from LINUX with the version that allows you to boot from a cd to troubleshoot this…before you try a new MB.

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I get a funny feeling the faulty hibernation theory might be worth revisiting. Have you tried deleting the hiberfil.sys file? I have read that the only way to get a truly thorough defrag is to remove the hiberfil.sys file. IF I remember rightly you should be able to do this without too much trouble. Hiberfil.sys is where Windows stores the contents of your RAM when your computer enters hibernation. When your computer leaves hibernation, this data is returned to your RAM. That being said, the size of hiberfil.sys should be approximately the same size a your RAM.

To disable hibernation on your system, go to Control Panel, Performance & Maintenance, Power Options, Hibernate tab, deselect ‘Enable hibernation’, OK and reboot. Hiberfil.sys should be gone.

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Thanks for the response – I had already disabled hibernation but I double-checked the hiberfil.sys file and it wasn’t present.

Reply To: PC reboot on first boot

In reply to Reply To: PC reboot on first boot

Thanks for the response – I had already disabled hibernation but I double-checked the hiberfil.sys file and it wasn’t present.

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I would say to try and flash your bios and then reinstall the newest virsion of it if that is possiable

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also i forgot be careful should you choose to do this contact the MB’s company to see if and how it is possiable

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