Random crashing

[Guest]

I have read a bunch of the other threads and have tried some of the advise
you have given, but i seem to still be crashing and im not sure why. I seem
to get along fine, sometimes for quite a while but then my xp pro crashes.
Sometimes Im up for an hour or Two, other times I crash in less than 5 mins.
Checked my hard drive w/ the diagnostic utilities it came w/ and it says its
fine. Ran my XP Pro disc to reapir any problems and still the samething. Any
advice? Thanks in advance.

 

[Michael T]

Start here so you get a Stop Message which you can cut & paste here in this
newsgroup. Note: In other words, you should get a Stop Message instead of
seeing your computer reboot

Right-click My Computer, click the Advanced tab, click Settings under
Startup and Recovery , and then view the Automatically restart check box
under System Failure . If the Automatically restart check box is selected,
Windows automatically restarts if the computer stops unexpectedly. So
UNcheck this check box.

 

[Guest]

While reading you post i crashed again. I have done as you suggested. now
what? will that prevent it from crashing? Or should i look for something else
to post here for some advice?

 

[Michael T]

While reading you post I crashed again. I have done as you suggested. now
what? will that prevent it from crashing? Or should I look for something
else
to post here for some advice?

Hopefully you will not get an error message (a.k.a. Stop Message with a code
like 0x000008E). If you write down the message and post it here perhaps we
can offer a solution.

Is there a pattern here? For example, are you always using IE when it
crashes? If yes, does it crash while a new web page is being launched?

Also, I would check Event Viewer if I were you.
Go to Start > Run and type
eventvwr.msc
click OK

Now check the trees for Application and System and look for any entries
flagged as errors with a red X.

Also check Device Manager for devices flagged as bad.

Try Safe Mode (tapping F8 a few times while booting). While there check for
viruses and spyware. Then boot in normal mode.

If you have your XP CD-ROM and your PC will keep from crashing for a while,
then run System File Checker

1) Insert your WinXP installation CD

2) Then go to Start > Run and type
sfc /scannow
click OK

For more detail visit:
http://www.updatexp.com/support-files/scannow-sfc.pdf

 

[Chelsea]

Tealfin
you could try this. Go and right click the desktop, select properties, then
in the top right click settings, followed by the Advanced button, finally go
to the Troubleshooting tab pull the slider down to the None setting. Reboot
the computer. When the computer restarts go to Control Panel/Administrative
tools and double click the Event Viewer.Right click System and clear all
events, repeat with Security and Application-there is no need to Save any of
the listings. Now you should have a video sub system without any hardware
acceleration. See how the computer runs in this config and post back

Chelsea

 

[Nog]

I have read a bunch of the other threads and have tried some of the advise
you have given, but i seem to still be crashing and im not sure why. I
seem
to get along fine, sometimes for quite a while but then my xp pro crashes.
Sometimes Im up for an hour or Two, other times I crash in less than 5
mins.
Checked my hard drive w/ the diagnostic utilities it came w/ and it says
its
fine. Ran my XP Pro disc to reapir any problems and still the samething.
Any
advice? Thanks in advance.

Bad or loose ram can do this. Try removing and reinstalling the ram. Lock it
in good. If that fails you can take it out and have it tested at various
stores that sell it.
A flakey powersupply can also do this. Make sure the fan in it is operating.
Try a new powersupply.
Lastly you might just have a crappy motherboard.

 

[Guest]

Michael, maybe you can help me with my problem, which is that everytime that
I'm in the middle of running my anti-virus program my computer shuts down.
Have you seen that problem before? When I look at the CPU, the little richtor
scale thing, it goes up really high.

Any advice? Do you know what virus or problem I might have?

 

[Michael T]

As I replied to original poster 'Tealfin' I would begin by setting up your
PC to display a Stop Message instead of shutting down.

As I said you can cut & paste here (actually jot down msg on paper) in this
newsgroup. In other words, you should get a Stop Message instead of seeing
your computer reboot

Right-click My Computer, click the Advanced tab, click Settings under
Startup and Recovery , and then view the Automatically restart check box
under System Failure . If the Automatically restart check box is selected,
Windows automatically restarts if the computer stops unexpectedly. So
UNcheck this check box.

If your antivirus program is crashing (and this is the only cause for this)
I would consider running it in Safe Mode (tapping F8 a few times while
booting).
Or use one of the online scans listed below. Personally, I use Panda On-Line
scan as it seems to catch things that others won't/can't.
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp

Finally, you may be able to glean some useful information by checking for
red Xs in Event Viewer.
Start > Run and type
eventvwr.msc
click OK

 

[Guest]

Thanks. This information is helpful and I will use it. Unfortunately I
couldn't access my e-mail.