Computer keeps restarting!!!

C

Cheetah_SEKT

Newcomer
:devilish: Hello, I'm having a problem with my puter, it will spontaneously reboot without warning, it happens at random times, so you cant track it. I've tried different bios settings, and different Windows settings as well, but to no avail. I hope someone here can help fix it, any help would be HIGHLY appreciated.

Windows XP SP1 installed (Home Edition)
Athlon 700
FIC SD-11 MB
320 MB SDRAM
Geforce 4 4600
Hercules Game Forttissmo II (sound card)
Creative modem (name unknown)
1 20 gig HD (brand unkown)
1 6 gig HD (Western Digital)

I thank you very much if you can help! :D
 
FIC SD11, IIRC, has known problems with AGP: turn the AGP down to 1X and turn off sidebanding to see if this helps any.

Otherwise the usual suspects: check that you don't have leaky capacitors or defective/clogged fans in your system, if you haven't done this already. Then memory (heard a lot of good things about memtest86), motherboard in general, and power supply (getting old?). Less likely: sound card, hard disk.
 
Windows 2000 and XP reboot by default when they encounter a kernel mode error. If you go into the "Startup & Recovery" options in the system part of the control panel (that's where it is on win2k, I beleieve XP is the same but it may be slightly different) you can disable the auto-reboot option. Then you will get a blue screen of death instead which may be more helpful in diagnosing the problem.

I suspect one of your drivers is causing the problem.
 
Windows 2000 and XP have the same problem is you will never see the error blue screen. It will reboot at 0.001 sec.

Someone said that Windows Xp after setup service pack 1 will crash. Maybe the windows is longer to use... ( All of M$ windows will usually crash after longer used.)

i think you may set the default of BIOS setting or take out one of your SDRAM. :rolleyes:
 
BorisYeung said:
Windows 2000 and XP have the same problem is you will never see the error blue screen. It will reboot at 0.001 sec.

Someone said that Windows Xp after setup service pack 1 will crash. Maybe the windows is longer to use... ( All of M$ windows will usually crash after longer used.)

i think you may set the default of BIOS setting or take out one of your SDRAM. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The solution to the automatic rebooting and no blue screen is posted below BorisYeung.

Just to reiterate I will post Fruitfrenzy's reply in its entirety for the benefit of End Users not aware of the solution:

Windows 2000 and XP reboot by default when they encounter a kernel mode error. If you go into the "Startup & Recovery" options in the system part of the control panel (that's where it is on win2k, I beleieve XP is the same but it may be slightly different) you can disable the auto-reboot option. Then you will get a blue screen of death instead which may be more helpful in diagnosing the problem.

I suspect one of your drivers is causing the problem.
Click to expand...

Exact location in WinXP

1. Right click on My Computer, left click once on Properties
2. Left click once on the Advanced Tab at the top of the menu
3. Left click once on Startup and Recovery --> Settings Button
4. In the middle of the next menu you will see the subheading System Failure. Untick Automatically restart by clicking on the tick box with the left mouse button once.
5. Left click once on OK.

There you go. Blue Screen Galore :)
 
Doesn't Work!!!

I've tried all of these things, they do not help what-so-ever. Same things. Thanks for help, anymore would be welcome. :devilish: :( :-?
 
They only help in trying to diagnose the problem, not actually fixing it.

When you get a bluescreen try to write down what it says... it may give you clues as to what is happening when your OS crashes.

Regards,
 
If you have enabled the blue screens as described above and it doesn't give you a blue screen then it does help to diagnose the problem. You now know that it isn't a kernel mode driver crashing.

That leaves a shorter (but still quite long) list of possible causes.

If it was happening to my PC I would initially suspect the power supply. Are you sure your power supply is powerful enough for your requirements ?

I'm sure others can suggest more likely causes.
 
The Alcatel USB Speedtouch modem is known to do this kind of thing on some VIA (mainly) and SiS chipsets.

It could be a USB device also, as well as something completely different.

Need some specs... some description on when it occurs etc.

Maybe we can help in some way together.
 
take everything out of your pc except , ram , hardrive , cdrom drive , floppy , cpu , graphics. start it up see what happens. Start adding things till you get the crash. what ever you added when you get the crash is most likely the problem. IT could also be your power supply isn't strong enough
 
Arghhhhhhhh

My power supply is new, it has the power. When it reboots, you could be typing, surfing the web, playing a game, listening to music, etc., then the screen goes black, and out pops the POST. It reboots fast, so the fan motors don't stop, so I really doubt its the PS.
 
Did you check your memory as I suggested? I got a bad stick of memory once that caused programs to crash. I tested it in a friends computer, and it started behaving exactly as you describes. Running the memory at lower speeds with slower timings did not help, it had to be replaced.
 
My power supply is new, it has the power. When it reboots, you could be typing, surfing the web, playing a game, listening to music, etc., then the screen goes black, and out pops the POST. It reboots fast, so the fan motors don't stop, so I really doubt its the PS.
Click to expand...

I am not saying that it is your power supply, but what you described there doesn't rule it out. Do you know what power rating your power supply has ? You have a lot of power hungry kit running in your box.
 
Trust me

I calculated the total power, and the PS is enough, the other power setting will not work. I tried to remove one ram stick, it done nothing, so I'll try the others....
 
Ram not prob

The ram is not the problem, tried removing all the sticks, it still restarts. I will try to remove modem and sound card next.
 
Maybe some sort of grounding between the case and the motherboard? Good luck.
 
Re:

Hi, I'm the person that built the computer.

Originally this was my computer, and it did the samething to me.

Cheetah, who I gave the system to, once fixed it by changing a BIOS setting. He doesn't remember what he changed, but changing one BIOS setting fixed it. Then, in adventerous overclocking he had to reset the CMOS, and the setting was set back to the default. This overclocking was several months later, and he forgot the setting.

I've been here today, and changed some BIOS settings that may be accountable for this.

By the way, the motherboard is using the AMI NC610 Bios.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
GTX 970@1.5Ghz and 2500k vs Q9550 in 70+ benchmarks (+bonus i7-860)
2 3
Replies
42
Views
14K
Malo
Malo
D
Finally about ready. New Comp.
3 4 5
Replies
84
Views
11K
D3v0ur3r
D
K
ATI Radeon 9700 Drivers Completely USELESS! HELP?
Replies
4
Views
5K
Austarian
A
U
  • Locked
Overclocking Guide
Replies
1
Views
7K
Reverend
R
G
Wireless mouse: Logitech MX900 Impressions!
Replies
11
Views
4K
Guden Oden
G
Back
Top