PC restarting

[venoz0r]

Hello, i got a very odd problem. Now, i am sure there are 1000 topics about this, but still.
At least once a day, my PC suddenly restarts it self for unknown reason. Now, its not the temp, because i am keeping an eye on this all day long, and it wont go over 45 (i am running p4, 3.0).

What could be the problem?

 

[dasickninja]

It could be an OS problem, or a virus or something as simple as an object triggering the reset button....
Have you tried reinstalling the OS?


Edit: Damnit Jack you beat me to it..

 

[Grimmy]

Try checking that one setting, under system properties:

advance (tab) / startup and recovery /settings

under system failure,

uncheck (if checked) automatically restart.

 

[celewign]

Try precussive maintence.
-cm

 

[venoz0r]

I doubt its anything related to viruses/adware/malware.
I got an updated version of antivirus and i scan/update on weekly bases. I also got fresh copy of OS (winxp sp2)

 

[jazzpicker]

I have the same problem and have done everything possible trying to resolve it. I've Rma'd MB. CPU, Memory is en route now. I've literally changed every component and driver in the computer including the case. Despite all the work the fricking thing continues to spontaneously reboot.
I've googled the problem and we're aren't alone.
I should have the memory back this week and if the reboot issue continues, I'll contact intel again. I really think it's a bug in the core2duo processor but who knows.
:?:

 

[440bx]

First thing to do is to determine if the problem is caused by hardware of software. If you have a spare hard drive, this is easy to determine.

Connect your spare drive to your machine, do a clean installation of Windows. Use your new Windows installation for about 30 minutes without installing any drivers other than the ones Windows installed automatically.

If the system is stable (does not reboot) then the problem is caused by software in your current Windows installation. Otherwise, you very likely have a hardware problem.

What steps to follow next will depend on what happened.

HTH.

 

[endyen]

Most common causes are psu and memory.
You can check your voltages in bios, and download memtest86 to check your memory. That will at least allow you to remove those as cause.

 

[Robc1880]

what are you system specs? This would help us see if there is a power problem or anything like that. Have you run memtest to test your memory, incase it has gone bad.

 

[predatorgsr]

The reason is that you are getting a bsod, and windows xp, by default, instead of showing you the bsod, restarts the computer. As stated earlier, you need to uncheck this setting, and then it will show you what stop error you are getting and you can narrow it down.

 

[jazzpicker]

I'll have the new ram back on Thursday and and will see how things go after installing that. I do have an extra hard drive and can easily install XP without drivers to see if there is a software issue but wouldn't it be the same to just run the computer in safe mode. I don't think safe mode loads any drivers.
Extensive memtesting has been free of errors but Corsair reccommended that I rma the ram despite no errors.
I unchecked the "restart on error" box and the machine still restarts without bsod or giving a code that may help me track the problem down.
I just hope the ram fixes the issue but sometime nothing is easy with computers. Intel has been great and immediately sent me a new e-6700.
No sig errors in the in the event's viewer and have replaced PSU, optical drives, hard drives. I'm at a dead end if the memory doesn't fix the issue.
I also plan to disable onboard sound and try a blaster audigy to see if that makes a differnce.
THanks for the advice.

 

[venoz0r]

Well, i pretty much found the cause of my problem.
Apperantly, its both hardware and software. As far as i understand, its some sort of conflict between Win XP Sp2/SB Live/Mcafee. The BSOD is refering to one of mcafee's DLLs and the PC restarted simply because i had "Automatically Restart" Option checked in My Computer. The problem is, i forgot the name of the DLL it was yelling about. Is there a way to see some sort of BSOD log?

 

[Grimmy]

%SystemRoot%\Minidump

Or

Windows\Minidump

Look in that folder for log... I think. :?

Its been so long that I haven't used it for a long time.

 

[venoz0r]

I found some *.dmp files in it, however, they have alot of senseless stuff within them, and are impossible to read. Should i open them with something other than Notepad?

 

[Grimmy]

Gah.. memories, I do recall not being able to read the log files from notepad. :lol:

Here is a link I found that might help you be able to find out more info on those logs:

Troubleshooting Stop Errors

Debugging tools off the above page:

Tip #4: Reading Memory Dump Files

In some cases a system might die without writing an event to the System log. In that case, if you have Windows configured to create a dump file, you can use the Microsoft Debugging Tools for Microsoft Windows to manually analyze the dump file and extract the error information you need to troubleshoot the failure. You can download these tools from Microsoft's Windows Hardware and Driver Central (WHDC) web site and install them on your system. It takes a bit of work getting used to working with these tools, but as an added bonus, the Help file included with the tools has a complete reference for every possible kind of Stop message with suggestions on how to troubleshoot them.

Debugging Tools for Windows