Annoying Windows 200 "shutdown"

[Jeff Sabala]

Greetings!

I've been trying to track down the source of this problem on my HTPC/
DVRfor over a month now, and I'm going nuts! Hopefully someone out
there will have some insight.

Here are my computer specs:

AMD ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe Motherboard; Athlon XP 2600+ processor; 1GB
RAM; eVGA 128MB Geforce 6200; 1x250GB IDE HDD (apps, photos, music),
1xSeagate 300GB SATA HDD (Recordings); Antec Sonata Case; Windows 2000
Pro SP4; SageTV v6.0.19.120; 1xHauppauge WinTV-PVR-350 Capture Card

The problem is a random "shutdown" of the computer. Sometimes it shuts
down during the boot sequence, sometimes it shuts down when Windows is
loading, sometimes it will go for hours or days until it shuts down.
When it does shut down, the case fan and CPU fan are still operating,
the computer is still on, the hard drives are still powered up, but
the monitor goes dark (no signal), and nothing else works (mouse and
keyboard don't respond, etc.). In one case, I was listening to an
internet radio broadcast through my stereo speakers when it shut down,
but the broadcast continued to play through the speakers!

When I reboot the computer, and Windows loads successfully, I
occasionally get the Restore Active Desktop/unexpected error screen on
the desktop. And I have had numerous instances of Event ID 51 in the
Event Viewer, stating:

"An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk1\DR1 during a paging
operation. "
That leads me to believe it's a hard drive issue...

Here's what I've done to troubleshoot:

-I've reformatted both hard drives and reloaded the OS
-I've blown out the case of all the dust bunnies,
-I've run the Windows RAM diagnostic utility for hours, with no
failures,
-I've run Spinrite on both hard drives, with no failures,
-Virus scanning and spyware checks are negative,
-Graphics drivers are current,
-Checked connections (hard drive cables, RAM seating, etc.) and all
look in order,
-Checked CMOS battery voltage, and that's OK (around 3.2 V last time I
checked)
-The CPU and MB temps look reasonable (CPU is around 51*C).

This problem occurred occasionally prior to reloading the OS, so I
can't believe it's a software-related issue, but maybe I'm missing
something...

I'm plum out of ideas and really frustrated! Any help is most
appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jeff Sabala]

Greetings!

I've been trying to track down the source of this problem on my HTPC/
DVRfor over a month now, and I'm going nuts! Hopefully someone out
there will have some insight.

Here are my computer specs:

AMD ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe Motherboard; Athlon XP 2600+ processor; 1GB
RAM; eVGA 128MB Geforce 6200; 1x250GB IDE HDD (apps, photos, music),
1xSeagate 300GB SATA HDD (Recordings); Antec Sonata Case; Windows 2000
Pro SP4; SageTV v6.0.19.120; 1xHauppauge WinTV-PVR-350 Capture Card

The problem is a random "shutdown" of the computer. Sometimes it shuts
down during the boot sequence, sometimes it shuts down when Windows is
loading, sometimes it will go for hours or days until it shuts down.
When it does shut down, the case fan and CPU fan are still operating,
the computer is still on, the hard drives are still powered up, but
the monitor goes dark (no signal), and nothing else works (mouse and
keyboard don't respond, etc.). In one case, I was listening to an
internet radio broadcast through my stereo speakers when it shut down,
but the broadcast continued to play through the speakers!

When I reboot the computer, and Windows loads successfully, I
occasionally get the Restore Active Desktop/unexpected error screen on
the desktop. And I have had numerous instances of Event ID 51 in the
Event Viewer, stating:

"An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk1\DR1 during a paging
operation. "
That leads me to believe it's a hard drive issue...

Here's what I've done to troubleshoot:

-I've reformatted both hard drives and reloaded the OS
-I've blown out the case of all the dust bunnies,
-I've run the Windows RAM diagnostic utility for hours, with no
failures,
-I've run Spinrite on both hard drives, with no failures,
-Virus scanning and spyware checks are negative,
-Graphics drivers are current,
-Checked connections (hard drive cables, RAM seating, etc.) and all
look in order,
-Checked CMOS battery voltage, and that's OK (around 3.2 V last time I
checked)
-The CPU and MB temps look reasonable (CPU is around 51*C).

This problem occurred occasionally prior to reloading the OS, so I
can't believe it's a software-related issue, but maybe I'm missing
something...

I'm plum out of ideas and really frustrated! Any help is most
appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

I disconnected the drive that was giving me the Event ID 51 errors,
but I still get the same shutdowns.

It got me thinking that this might be a heat-related issue. I checked
the temps of my other two computers and they're both running around
35-38*C, whereas the problem computer is running about 50*C.

Any thoughts?

 

[Andrew Rossmann]

[This followup was posted to microsoft.public.win2000.general and a copy
was sent to the cited author.]

I disconnected the drive that was giving me the Event ID 51 errors,
but I still get the same shutdowns.

It got me thinking that this might be a heat-related issue. I checked
the temps of my other two computers and they're both running around
35-38*C, whereas the problem computer is running about 50*C.

Double-check the CPU fan/heatsink on the problem computer. Make certain
it is working, clean and properly mounted. If the fan speed is
controlled by the BIOS, see if there are settings to make it more
sensitive.

Double-check all case fans and openings to make certain they are working
and not blocked, especially if it's sitting on a carpeted floor. Some
cases have an intake at the bottom of the front panel that's easily
blocked.

Make certain the computer itself has plenty of clean air, and isn't
buried in a closed cabinet.