IE Scripts cause machine to reboot

[Shawn Nicholson]

Hello,
I have just installed windows XP home edition on a new hard drive and have
run into a very frustrating issue.

After installing SP2 my computer now reboots if I browse (using Internet
Explorer) any webpage involving scripts. This happens if either of the two
settings: "Binary and Script Behaviors" or "Script ActiveX controls marked
safe for scripting" are enabled in the Internet options Security settings
for the Internet zone.

This includes attempting to run windows update. Starting Windows Updates
gets to the point where it's loading mstoolbar.aspx (the second script IE
asks me to allow to run). After I say yes, my system freezes, sits for
3-4seconds and then reboots. I am able to move the mouse around the screen
during the freeze but cannot interact with the system (mouse or keyboard,
ctrl-alt-del, alt-tab, etc) in any other way. On other sites (for example
browsing to http://www.msn.com I get the message saying Opening Page, the
status bar goes a random distance across, and then everything freezes and
then reboots.

There is no error message of any kind and when the machine reboots it does
not complain that it was shut down improperly.

After installing the OS (on a freshly formatted HD) I run windows update and
get all of the recommended security and other updates. I then installed SP1
and all of its updates and then finally SP2. I have also downloaded and
installed the script update at

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...43-7E4B-4622-86EB-95A22B832CAA&displaylang=en

to no effect.

I am unable to run windows update (since it's very script driven). Also,
attempting to open the Security Center in the control panel does the same
thing.

Does anyone know anything about what might be causing this behavior, and how
I might go about fixing it?

Thank you,
Shawn

 

[Galen]

In Shawn Nicholson <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Hello,
I have just installed windows XP home edition on a new hard drive and
have run into a very frustrating issue.

After installing SP2 my computer now reboots if I browse (using
Internet Explorer) any webpage involving scripts. This happens if
either of the two settings: "Binary and Script Behaviors" or "Script
ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting" are enabled in the
Internet options Security settings for the Internet zone.

This includes attempting to run windows update. Starting Windows
Updates gets to the point where it's loading mstoolbar.aspx (the
second script IE asks me to allow to run). After I say yes, my system
freezes, sits for 3-4seconds and then reboots. I am able to move the
mouse around the screen during the freeze but cannot interact with
the system (mouse or keyboard, ctrl-alt-del, alt-tab, etc) in any
other way. On other sites (for example browsing to
http://www.msn.com I get the message saying Opening Page, the status
bar goes a random distance across, and then everything freezes and
then reboots.
There is no error message of any kind and when the machine reboots it
does not complain that it was shut down improperly.

After installing the OS (on a freshly formatted HD) I run windows
update and get all of the recommended security and other updates. I
then installed SP1 and all of its updates and then finally SP2. I
have also downloaded and installed the script update at

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...43-7E4B-4622-86EB-95A22B832CAA&displaylang=en

to no effect.

I am unable to run windows update (since it's very script driven). Also,
attempting to open the Security Center in the control panel
does the same thing.

Does anyone know anything about what might be causing this behavior,
and how I might go about fixing it?

Thank you,
Shawn

For starters press WinKey + Pause/Break > advanced tab > Startup and
recovery > Settings > UNTick Automatically restart and capture the error
codes. Then either Google/MSN Search for the error codes or post them back
here.

Galen
--

"But there are always some lunatics about. It would be a dull world
without them."

Sherlock Holmes

 

[Shawn Nicholson]

Ok, what I saw after doing that (thanks for that, it was getting very
aggrevating having the computer reboot without any explanation) was blue
screen with info about:

nv4_disp
the information said it was due to the device getting into an infinite loop.

I have an Nvidia GeForce FX 5600 Ultra - the drivers I had installed at the
time were the 66.93 version (obtained in dec '04)
I went to nvidias site and obtained the latest version: 77.72 and installed
those.

Now, I get the same behavior as before, except instead of seeing the blue
screen of death, the screen just goes black and sits there forever (no
rebooting).

After browsing around I found an MS article on a problem which recommended
turning off hardware acceleration, which did in fact fix the problem,
however it's not really a good solution. Any info on how to fix it without
crippling my video?

Thank you,
Shawn

 

[Shawn Nicholson]

Well,
I removed the offensive card, cleaned its cooling fan of all dust,
reseated the card, and started everything back up and now it's all running
fine.

2 days of frustration due to dust and/or a poorly seated card.

Out of morbit curiosity, any hints as to why running scripts in IE would be
the only way to elicit the behavior (or was it just sheer chance)?

Also of question - any idea why updating my drivers resulted in a worse
situation (ie no more blue screen with information about why the system was
unstable)?

Thanks again so much,
Shawn

 

[Galen]

In Shawn Nicholson <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Well,
I removed the offensive card, cleaned its cooling fan of all dust,
reseated the card, and started everything back up and now it's all
running fine.

2 days of frustration due to dust and/or a poorly seated card.

Out of morbit curiosity, any hints as to why running scripts in IE
would be the only way to elicit the behavior (or was it just sheer
chance)?
Also of question - any idea why updating my drivers resulted in a
worse situation (ie no more blue screen with information about why
the system was unstable)?

Thanks again so much,
Shawn

Nope... Stranger things have happened... Automatically rebooting on errors
is default but for those of us who wish to debug the errors, not just hide
the system, it's a good idea to turn them off. It will help again in the
future probably.

Galen
--

"But there are always some lunatics about. It would be a dull world
without them."

Sherlock Holmes