random restarts

[Matt]

my computer keeps on restarting automatically without
warning.

Computer Information:
**MSI 845 Ultra (6398) mainboard (uses intel 845 chipset)
**Pentium 4 Northwood 1.8G FSB400 ratio18
**Kingston PC2100 512mb ddr-ram (tried a stick of crucial
PC2100 512mb ddr-ram with same results)
**GF3 Ti200 64mb agp 4x
**onboard ATA133 RAID supported by Promise PDC20276
(which i disabled because kept gettin a read/write errors
with the drives on it)
**Maxtor ATA133 IDE card instead of the onboard
**SMC EZ Card 10/100 PCI NIC
**additional NEC USB
**windows XP updated as of today with all updates n
critical addons n drivers

What I've Tried:
*Changing memory, Changing memory settings in BIOS
*Updating BIOS
*Updating Drivers from MSI webpage
*getting rid of the my firewall and nortons (because the
Windows error service told me to)
*removing the additional USBs
*removing all HD's except OS HD
**getting to be a pain in the butt to remove hardware and
test then put other in, because of the "you have changed
hardware too many times you must reactivate windows" crap.
*running Nortons corporate Virus scanner (found nothing)
*running that trend companys online virus scanner (found
nothing)
*ATA133 RAID supported by Promise PDC20276 which i
disabled because kept gettin a read/write errors with the
drives on it
*reformated twice, reinstall winxp, only install winxp's
drivers and intel's chipset driver

Any clues as to how to help me with these random hard
restarts, It happens when im not running anything and
come back and find the sign-in screen. It happens while
surfing the net. It happens while typin word doc or on
aim. I dont know what it is do you?

 

[Chris Lanier]

Windows XP Shut Down Issues
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_restart.htm

Troubleshooters for Windows XP Shut Down
http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Any clues as to how to help me with these random hard
restarts, It happens when im not running anything and
come back and find the sign-in screen. It happens while
surfing the net. It happens while typin word doc or on
aim. I dont know what it is do you?

You are presumable blue-screening, and you are set to reboot
whenever that happens. Right-click My Computer, and choose
Properties. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and
Recovery. Under System failure, uncheck the box "Automatically
restart."

Now when the problem occurs again, you will get the blue screen
with diagnostic information. Post back with those details for
more help.

 

[Beemer Biker]

my computer keeps on restarting automatically without
warning.

Computer Information:
**MSI 845 Ultra (6398) mainboard (uses intel 845 chipset)
**Pentium 4 Northwood 1.8G FSB400 ratio18
**Kingston PC2100 512mb ddr-ram (tried a stick of crucial
PC2100 512mb ddr-ram with same results)
**GF3 Ti200 64mb agp 4x

**onboard ATA133 RAID supported by Promise PDC20276
(which i disabled because kept gettin a read/write errors
with the drives on it)
**Maxtor ATA133 IDE card instead of the onboard

So you are not using any onboard IDE or just the Raid one? I would run a
diagnostic on the hard drive (get from oem website ie: seagate, ibm, maxtor)
and check drive. If drive good and you Event Viewer reports errors then
suspect motherboard problems (chipset, dma , etc) Pick another slot for the
IDE that does not share an interrupt. Disable on-board serial ports,
anything not being used, to free up an interrupt.

**SMC EZ Card 10/100 PCI NIC
**additional NEC USB
**windows XP updated as of today with all updates n
critical addons n drivers

What I've Tried:
*Changing memory, Changing memory settings in BIOS
*Updating BIOS
*Updating Drivers from MSI webpage
*getting rid of the my firewall and nortons (because the
Windows error service told me to)

What was listed in the error log? You should spot a "rebooting" type
message and anything before that might be a clue? I assume you have cleared
out you logs and then waited for a reboot to make it easier to spot the
problem?

*removing the additional USBs
*removing all HD's except OS HD
**getting to be a pain in the butt to remove hardware and
test then put other in, because of the "you have changed
hardware too many times you must reactivate windows" crap.
*running Nortons corporate Virus scanner (found nothing)
*running that trend companys online virus scanner (found
nothing)
*ATA133 RAID supported by Promise PDC20276 which i
disabled because kept gettin a read/write errors with the
drives on it
*reformated twice, reinstall winxp, only install winxp's
drivers and intel's chipset driver

Any clues as to how to help me with these random hard
restarts, It happens when im not running anything and
come back and find the sign-in screen. It happens while
surfing the net. It happens while typin word doc or on
aim. I dont know what it is do you?

I would pull out or disable all non-critical stuff (serial ports, audio,
enet, etc) and let it run with motherboard monitor (temperture loging
enabled, etc) and see if it reboots while doing nothing. If it does and
there is no indication from event log or motherboard monitor (temp to high,
etc) then junk the motherboard. You might want to try promise for a later
bios for the raid chip.

Hope this helps.