***URGENT*** critical stop error, restarting

[ishbog]

24 hours ago, formatted my pc and reinstalled windows xp pro, for the 100th time. im a performance hog. I built my system 5 months ago. everything has worked splendidly.

This time, now that all my stuff is re-installed and working, my computer restarts itself every time i log in. in safe mode, it works properly. I have disabled everything that starts up thru regedit and msconfig to try and solve this. the only thing ive done differently this time around is installing the nvidia nforce4 firewall. also, the other night, there was a storm, lights were flickering, and my computer was on the whole time. the problem did not occur till after this. every time it restarts, i hear a physical *CLICK* and it reboots.

my possibilities:

-hardware short-circuted during the storm
-some of my hardware is not compatable when using the nforce4 firewall
-windows had a corrupted install and i need to re-format and install everything. again.

system:
MSI neo4 k8n-sli mobo, nForce4
athlon 64 3500 venice OC to 2.42ghz
1gb corsair valueselect, 2.5cas
msi 7800GT 256mb
400W fortron PSU
coolermaster case
USB keyboard and USB mouse


basically, i cant use my PC, but have to for work. its the only PC i have that does 3D modelling.

 

[pscowboy]

The nVidia firewall is buggy. Junk it. Get a hardware firewall (cable router). Does a perfect job.

Start over. When the install program gets to the partitioning/formatting section - delete the existing partition; then recreate it; then long format using NTFS. Proceed with the install (you're obviously an expert with that).

If, after a clean start, you still have problems, you have suffered hardware damage. That you'll have to troubleshoot one by one. I would start with the power supply. Replace it with known good.

Good luck!

 

[ishbog]

Already using a sonicwall hardware firewall. when i get back tonight, ill do just that. thanks for the input.

 

[ishbog]

well, i reinstalled nforce drivers, but not the firewall. dont need it anyway. $400+ business firewall does the job...

but, after i reinstalled them, the computer is working fine... ive manually restarted, booted from cold, and everything, 20 times, and it seems to work fine! for some reason, i dont expect this to last... no reason to get rid of backups!

as for reformatting, i usually do the long format, after deleting and recreating a partition, but what is the actual difference between quick and full formats w/ntfs? what does one do that the other does not?

 

[pscowboy]

The quick just erases the record in the boot sector.

The long checks the entire hard drive surface. If it finds a questionable "spot", it will mark it not to be used by the OS.