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XP reboot for no reason?!

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meganova   08-10-2005 at 04:08:33 PM

my xp with sp1 reboot whenever i access files stored in my maxtor 40G HDD. i have xp installed on a SATA HD and have the maxtor for data storage. but recently when i access any files on it, doing disk scanning or whatever then xp auto reboot.

Sometimes the boot sequence would run in loop as the system reboot itself b4 i can see the desktop. What is happening here, at least i want to go through any log generated.

Scanning the maxtor on another pc shows there is no disk defects and viruses. i had tested the power connectors and IDE cable/ports, no problem at all.

Does xp generate boot log files?

Please help all xp veteran i am still new to any xp stuff.

[seagate SATA and maxtor IDE on A8NSLI]
[nF4 driver 6.31]
[nortan antivirus 2005]
[LG DVDRW on another IDE channel works just fine]

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Riser   08-10-2005 at 04:27:01 PM
- 0 +

Right click My Computer - Properties - Advanced - Start Up and Recovery Settings.. in there, uncheck the Reboot automatically, plus it'll tell you where your log file is. You can also check out the event viewer for additional information.

Sounds like it might be a motherboard issue.. try updating tot he latest bios version.. possible power supply issue that the PSU can't keep up, thus a brown out or dip in power, causing the computer to power down but power back up during the power dip.

Reply to Riser
meganova   08-11-2005 at 07:11:44 AM
- 0 +

Thanks riser

i can now go through the log files but i still need to find a way to understand them.

i have just system restored xp and it runs fine except the same problem occcurs whenever large files are copied from the maxtor drive. Scandisk now run ok.
** Previously the maxtor HDD works like a charm **

Since it now runs without problem, so i dont think it is the problem of psu/power. I suspect it is the software side, particularly drivers or XP messing up any settings.

Any advice on this, could i have tried anything else?
What should i do if im going to reinstall chipset driver because i dont want to format and reinstall everything.

Reply to meganova
Riser   08-11-2005 at 03:41:56 PM
- 0 +

Update your motherboard chipset driver, which you can find on the manufacturer's website. Check to see if the Bios are current. They should have well written directions on how to flash your motherboard BIOS.

Reply to Riser
joe_tlj   08-12-2005 at 11:09:09 PM
- 0 +

When your HD used to work, what this before you installed nforce drivers?
If so, I'd recomend you get rid of them.

Or if you you want to kill a small problem with a big solution, you can do a repair install.
Different from the reformat install, files and programs are left intact.
<A HREF="http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm" target="_new">http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm</A>
It's the stupid solution, but you need a bit of stupidity on your side.
Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. :smile:


There's nothing more dangerous than a wounded mosquito.

Reply to joe_tlj
meganova   08-14-2005 at 09:22:38 AM
- 0 +

Thanks for your help

I did the bios flash and newest driver update(entire nForce driver). At first it seemed ok and everything ran smoothly until yesterday the same thing happened. One thing that i previously missed out is that whenever xp reboot the IDE channel of the maxtor disk would be set to PIO Mode with bios select unchecked, i think it should be Ultra133.

Could this mean something?

Now i fall back to m/b bundled nF drivers and the same problem still pops up occasionally. It might be a day or two or couple of times within a few minutes. It is annoying.

Reply to meganova
joe_tlj   08-14-2005 at 04:51:16 PM
- 0 +

I don't know why your MB gave you the option to run your HDD under PIO. PIO is very, very slow @ 16mbps. This is bad. Change it to ata133.


There's nothing more dangerous than a wounded mosquito.

Reply to joe_tlj
meganova   08-14-2005 at 07:20:09 PM
- 0 +

I think MB didnt select this mode as the bios select checkbox was unchecked. Would XP think something along the IDE channel was not right and forced my maxtor to run in PIO mode. When i reset it to ATA133 everything was ok(until the next bsod and reboot happen again -_-)

Reply to meganova
joe_tlj   08-15-2005 at 03:39:39 AM
- 0 +

Do a software uninstall/reinstall of your HDD to get it out of PIO mode.

Swap the IDE cables on your optical drive with your HDD and leave the IDE cables where they are on the MB.

test both HDD and DVDdrive for trouble.

HDD trouble: Bad HDD
DVD trouble: bad cable/ide channel/bios settings
If they both give you trouble you have all of these problems.



There's nothing more dangerous than a wounded mosquito.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Joe_tlj on 08/14/05 10:51 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

Reply to joe_tlj
pat   08-16-2005 at 01:15:06 AM
- 0 +

It could work, but if the DVD cable is a 40 wires, then it wont work. I think that he's better getting a new 80 wires ribbon cable for its HDD and test it. A bad cable can cause this to happen, due to data corruption.

<font color=red>Sig space for rent. make your offer.</font color=red>

Reply to pat
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