Random Reboots in a new XP install

[sunexplodes]

System specs:

Celeron 2.4 GhZ
Geforce FX5500 256MB
1 Gig of ram.


I just reformatted my hard drive this weekend, and re-installed Windows XP Home.
There were no serious problems before formatting, other than the fact that things
were kind of slow due to how much crap had built up.

SO I formatted to an NTFS filesystem, and installed WIndows. I've since updated all
my drivers, and installed 2 or 3 applications (Firefox, Winrar, Winamp, not much
else).

So now, the computer, without warning, reboots. So far it seems to happen when installing
programs, but not EVERY TIME I install a program. Today it happened when I was trying
to download a 40MB file. Earlier it happened when trying to view a YouTube video.
Windows doesn't shut down/logoff, it's instant. System doesn't go through scandisk
or mention any error when it boots back up.


Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[dmroeder]

Things that come to mind are heat, failing/undersized power supply, bad stick of RAM. You can check the RAM with MemTest86.

If you have not added something to your rig, but only formatted it, then I would suspect failing power supply as far as that goes. I've had a crappy power supply eat my lunch for a while before I figured it out.

Good luck and post your back what you find.

 

[sunexplodes]

Okay, I figured out the reboot problem.

My computer's rebooting because of a problem with Macromedia Flash files. The crashes during installs and downloads were just co-incidences, as i must have been on a website with flash files at the time.

Now, the problem is that I can't find a solution to this problem anywhere. The only reference to it that I've found is in a forum post here:

http://forums.techguy.org/all-other-software/501410-solved-flash-sites-cause-instant.html

and the solution that worked for THAT GUY doesn't seem to work for me.

Any tips?

 

[jcsamp]

I have been having the same problem. My issue started just after I purchased my new 7600GT. I really noticed it after I installed the beta of AIM Triton. I thought it was instability from the beta version, but I think now it was because of the Flash-based ads in AIM. I uninstalled that, but it continued to happen. I was noticing it mostly as random freezes, not reboots. I thought there was a problem with my motherboard (MSI RS480M2-IL) since I got it from the Returned items bin at the store (they probmised me it was OK, and it was about $30 less than a new one). I thought it also might be an issue with the ATI and nVidia drivers messing with each other. I replaced the MB and HDD, reinstalled Windows, and now instead of random freezes, I get random reboots whenever I view a page with Flash.

I have noticed that one common issue with people who have this problem is that the majority seem to have nVidia cards. I wonder if there is a problem with Flash and nVidia drivers. Thanks for the link, though. I will give that a try when I get back to my computer.

My Specs:
Athlon 64 3000+ (Winchester)
ASRock 939Dual-SATA2
Patriot PDC1G3200LLK
EVGA 7600GT CO
Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W PSU

UPDATE:
I tried the method suggested in that link, and it seems to have worked, at least half way. I am now able to go to websites that contain flash without rebooting, because I no longer have any traces of Flash Player on my computer. However, reinstalling Flash Player causes the reboot thing to happen again. I am just going to leave Flash off my system until I can find more information about this issue.