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restarts for no reason HELP!!!

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12 replies

by trancemaasta

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am running the following

asus p4r800
p4 2.8C
256 DDR 400 no-name RAM - 1 stick
450watt ps
windows XP with all latest service packs upto 24th of april 04

configured so that the onboard ati radeon uses 64mb for vid.

sympton = restart for no reason, will just switch off and restart like i just switched the bastard on and xp says "systems has recovered from serious error"

How do I fix this?
What could it be?

bad ram? mobo stuffed? heat is no problem all updates are installed including latest mobo. usually turns off when i watch videos. i.e high processing operations. of no particular format and no particular player.

i.e .mov in quicktime or a .avi with divx

help me .. this is driving me nuts.

have read forums and have no idea.. will provide more infor if required.

thanks

12 replies

by jardinier

This behaviour is characteristic of an infection by the LovSan/Blaster worm.

So this would be the first place to start looking.

by trancemaasta

The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x000000d1 (0x00001000, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x00001000). A dump was saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini042704-01.dmp.

by jamesrl

If you note the times when this happens, and check the event viewer for any cautions or errors leading up to that time you might get an idea.

I've had a problem for some time with the system "freezing" and by looking at the event viewer I was able to determine that the freeze happened after a DHCP error. So it has to be a network thing - narrowing it done alot. I've taken to disconnecting from the network when game playing and doing other non network related activities.

I would encourage you to check out the event viewer to see if there are any hints there.

James

by oz_media

Firstly you have an error that needs to be resolved but you will NEVER see that error becaus einstead of showing you a fatal exception error, Windows XP is set to reboot if it crashes. You need to disable this option so you can see the error that is causing it to reboot and then debug it from there, whether memory, video card or audio related etc.

System | Performance | File System | Troubleshooting and check "Disable
System Restore"

Now when the machine crashes (as it has been doing) you will at least get an error message so you can search for a solution. Instead of having it reboot and leaving yuo wondering what went wrong.

by oz_media

Actually, you have XP so look for the Auto restart switch here.
Click on START->CONTROL PANEL->SYSTEM, click the ADVANCED->SETTINGS BUTTON -> AUTOMATICAlLY RESTART in the SYSTEM FAILURE section.

Sorry to be so misleading, it's just one of those days.

by gralfus

If the Event Viewer doesn't yield any revelations, then I always start with the hardware for seemingly random shutdowns.

*If you can observe your CPU heat in BIOS, boot into BIOS and watch it for a while. There may not be good contact between the CPU and heatsink.

*The CPU fan is another thing that can go bad. I had one that was intermittent (due to dust) and so the CPU would overheat and the system would shut down to protect itself.

*Swap out the RAM for another module. Bad RAM can sometimes be hard to discern, except by replacement.

*Try a different power supply. I had a very reputable Antec power supply that turned out to be bad and was the source of a lot of weirdness.

I realize that some of these methods cost more money, but if you are going to build your own systems, it can really help to have a test bench with extra parts that you know work well.

by oz_media

I posted under another answer but it wasn't a reply to that person.

Your system is set to reboot on fatal errors.

See "Common issue should be relatively easy"

By the way, for future errors or to debug your system error once shown, post to the "Technical Q&A" section instead of the Discussion Forum and you will get more responses, once you have found an error code you will probably find The Chas or Coluck will help with the hardware issue, if you post to Technical Q&A that is (they are kinda Guru's, or Geeks if you wish, in that area.)

by fluxit

One of Microsoft's patches / Bug fixes is actually a bug in itself causing this effect. I have seen this happen a lot. Go to the online support for Microsoft and there is a patch for it.

Got to love Microsoft.

Hey, I found out why it is called MicroSoft. Apparently, after Bill got married his new wife uncovered the truth behind the man, the myth, and the legend.

by fluxit

I installed a 9800 xt pro radeon card and had this happen. Apparently, under system properties, advanced tab, performance, advanced tab the memory usage has to be set to programs.

by jellimonsta

You can disable the automatic restarts by following the instructions in MS Technet article 314466.
You can then check to see exactly what driver or dll is causing the problem and then correct as necessary.

by trancemaasta

thanks heaps for the help , but i ditched the mobo and ram and swapped it for new other ones

got a gigabyte mobo pro2 and corsair ddr 400 ram

think that ram was the problem

but i will use this trick next time in my pc building / upgrading work

ash

by fluxit

Welcome to IT, everyone has a solution but no one knows how to fix it. Wipe the drive and re-install about four times, then do a low level format, replace all the edge cards and cables then try another opsys like linux, beos, or unix.

If that fails bitch at your employer since he is an idiot. Quit and increase your salary at least $5k in your new position where everyone thinks you are a wonderful know-it-all guy.

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