Computer restarts on its own.

Try running memtest to check your RAM.
http://www.memtest86.com/

Yeah I did that yesterday and it came up with nothing wrong. It seems to get progressively worse.

It flashes a blue screen with words on it for a second before it restarts.

Ive updated bios, video card drivers, did memtest, virus scan and spyware scan all which came up good.

When the PC restarts, do you boot to the safe mode menu? If no, tap F8 on startup to access that menu. Arrow down to the option to disable automatic restart on system failure. It should look like this.
http://z.about.com/d/pcsupport/1/0/0/8/-/-/disable-auto...
Then you should be able to catch the message on the BSOD.

Do you have SP3?

ok thanks ill try that next time.

yeah I do have SP3

Would a memory dump file help solve this aford?

Good thought. That would contain the BSOD info. Here's some info on how to set it up.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315263

ok ill read that

heres a summary of what the blue screen says

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

If continues disable or remove newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.

Tech Info:
STOP: 0x0000000A (0X00000040, 0X00000002, 0X00000001, 0X806E6A2A)

Already had a dump file setup, downloading the debugging tools now to read it

From that, it sounds like a bad driver, or faulty hardware.
http://www.eventid.net/display.asp?eventid=1003&eventno...

How do I go about figuring out what it is then?

What was the most recent driver you updated before this started?

You could try using the restore points to roll back to before this started.

Before this happened I hadnt updated any drivers sense I built this 1.

Built it like December/January

Thanks for the info aford!

What are your hardware specs?

Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Could it be my hard drive possibly? Been using it for like 2 years.

What about any add on cards (sound card, video card, sata cards..etc)?

It's worth checking.
Start-->run--> chkdsk /r
That will schedule a chkdsk for the next time you restart. It'll check for disk errors and try to repair any it finds.

start-->run-->cmd-->sfc /scannow
This will check your system files for any errors.

Only other card I had in it was the video card, but I took it out and went with the onboard and its still been doing it.

Also having problems now where it wont turn back on. It turns on but nothing happens, screen just stays black as if it wasnt on.

Was that right after you removed the video card, or has the onboard video been working since?

yeah onboard has been working sense I removed the video card.

Try putting the video card back in, see if you get a display with that.

Hey if you notice your MB has an ATI Radeon 3200 onboard video chip (I have the same chipset). You need this driver for XP for the Radeon 3200.

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=xp/in...

EDIT I have the exact MB running currently.

Sense the last time the pc crashed I havnt been able to get it on with onboard or the video card.

I'm starting to think PSU.

The system will not boot up at all? Well, unplug it from the wall for 10 minutes. If the system will still not boot the OS, I would remove the battery and reset the CMOS jumper. I have that exact board. I have used lots of different RAM and a couple of processors. Currently have 940 PII quad in there. The board is picky with RAM and rejects 1066MHz. transfer rates. I have the latest BIOS and 4Gigs of G. Skill PC26400 similiar to the RAM OP is using.

Unplug it from the wall for 10 minutes. See if that gets it back to desktop. Install the Ati version 10.4 I lijnked if using the onboard ATI 3200. I ran mine in native crossfire with a Radeon 3400 for a long while. I have an 8800 GT in there curently.

Ill see if I have a system I can put the drive into tomorrow to see if its the drive or not. How would I find out if it was the motherboard or cpu without buying a new 1 of them?



Did nothing for me.



All my hardware was working fine with the system, I didnt add or change anything when the crashes 1st started happening, bios are up to date also.

If the system is 'dead' then as aford10 suggested, look to the PSU.

As others have stated, the error IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL is related to a system driver conflict or systemRAM, most often a driver issue. As far as knowing if the CPU or MB is defective you will need a working speaker connected to the MB's front panel speaker header to sound BIOS error beeps. Once you can hear the error codes remove ALL the system RAM and boot the computer. If the system fails to beep signifying there is no RAM installed in the system, the MB or CPU or both are bad. At that point, you would need a spare processor to test with to determine if the 6000X2 is bad.

Is the system 'dead' as in will not power on at all?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314063/

So the MB and CPU are in working order. You say you have unplug the PSU, removed the battery and reset the CMOS jumper. Can you get into BIOS by powering on and tapping the 'delete' key?

EDIT what may have happened is the OS 'system' video driver has been corrupted or deleted. Can you get to BIOS screen?

Yes the PSA was unplugged, battery removed and moved the jumper cap to the 2-3 pins for 10 seconds like the manual says then moved it back, put battery back in and pugged PSU back up and still got nothing when I hit the power button, just a black screen.

Normally when it boots up it will show an asus screen that will say to hit the delete key to get into BIOS. But when I turn the PC on the screen just stays black I dont see anything show up at all. So im unable to get into BIOS.

How about unplug the hard drive from the SATA header. Try booting and hit the delete key.

Does this help?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314503

EDIT if you have other RAM try one DIMM in slot 1.

Still nothing with that, also tried clearing CMOS again before turning it on after I unplugged the SATA.

Looking at that link I only have a dvd burner on this system, no floppy or anything and drive is empty. For the cause #2 on the link ill have to try that tomorrow, im not quite sure where my XP cd is at.

I don't if these links work, but here are product page and forum for the MB:

http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?elitepost=0&SLangu...

http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?elitepost=0&SLangu...

If the links don't work, find the pages here by putting in the MB information.

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx

Only 240 pin RAM i have is the DDR2 dual channel RAM thats in it

Yeah, if the system will not post to BIOS there may be a hardware problem. I would try to get the board to Post to BIOS by breaking it down to CPU and RAM with onboard video, then a PCIE video card. Unplug everything else. As suggested, the PSU may be faulty. I keep a PCI video card to test with. No onboard, no PCIE I have the PCI video card.

I was just thinking if you had some other RAM around it is worth a shot. The monitor is good, working before right. One thing. If you are using the DVI plug on the monitor, you might try the analog plug on the monitor. Also, the onboard has a HDMI plug.

Monitor is working, im using the same monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers on this linux system as I do on my main system.

Yeah, if you can not get to BIOS by process of elimination breaking the system down piece by piece the MB may have failed. You would get a black screen if the processor failed. But the MB/CPU would not produce BIOS audible error code if the CPU had failed. How about try 1 DIMM RAM only in each of the slots, one at a time.

Look at this from the board's forum. The same X26000 processor you have. I hope the link shows up. The guy took the HSF off and apparently 'reseated' the CPU and it worked.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=2009093003123682...

Ok the computer turns on and runs with 1 stick of ram in it.

What was the change(s) you made to get it to POST? If it was because you removed a RAM chip, that could be the cause of the original BSOD.

Echo what aford10 mentioned. Also, if using the onboard ATI 3200 chip, install the ATI ver. 10.4 driver!  

Im using the 8800gt video card and all I did was remove 1 of the sticks of RAM

Out of curiosity, how many memtest passes did you run?

Well, what I would do is take that good DIMM out and try ther other in the same slot. Slot 1 right? If the system didn't boot with the other stick, you know it's bad. Also, what driver shows up in Device manager for the 8800GT?

I use Windows 7 64 with my M3A78-EM currently. I had Vista 64 installed for a long while. Later I will go into the BIOS and see if there are any adjustments that need to made that can help you. I always set the speed, timing and voltage manually. Your RAM requires 1.8-1.9v which should be good at default. But it would not hurt to set the voltage to 2.0v or at least 1.95v. Default is 1.8v. Timings would do well at 5-5-5-15 which G. Skill lists as spec.. The board has a problem running the system RAM at 1066 MHz., which your 800MHz. will not quite reach. So, the default should be 800Mhz. which works great. FYI, I have a problem running 4 DIMMS. I have tried many different DIMMS or brands and have stability problems. The problem with 1066MHz. speeds is well documented with the 780G chipset. Also, the 780G is the first ATI onboard chipset released by ATI since AMD bought ATI.

Latest driver for the 8800GT can be downloaded and installed here:

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index5.aspx?lang=en-us

i just ran memtest once.

ill try the other stick of RAM in slot 1 tonight or tomorow. Never changed voltage for RAM before, know of a good guide?
I have windows 7 ordered and will be here thursday.