random reboot - help!

[YT]

Ok here is the WHOLE story. Sit back. Relax. Grab a cuppa tea.

System in question:
Mobo: Abit SE6
Chip: PIII 800 MMX
1 stick of 256 MB PC100/133
1 NIC
1 Quantum FB 13G
1 CD-ROM

The story:
Bought the system to use as a basic server about 3 years ago. Had MS Server 2000 installed on the machine and all was good. it sat there and did it's thing like a good little boy. Then the HD crashed and the system was replaced by another machine slightly more powerful. The server was then taken home with the new HD installed and Server 2000 re-installed for use at home. I know - but that was the only OS i legally had lying around.

Then 6 months ago, i decided to windows update the machine as per normal. After patching holes i decided to also bite the bullet and install IE6, OE6 & WMP9 - i think it was WMP9, it might not have been. Anyway, all was good for a while. Then the weirdness.

Every once in a while the system would just up and quit. The screen would go black, the system would just disappear, and then reappear as if someone had basically just unplugged the power cord and shoved it back in. So we were getting a full cold reboot - no shutting down, no nothing. Just BLINK and there it goes. Since this machine was now being used mostly for web surfing and email, it would always happen when IE was open. Needless to say this was very annoying as it wouldn't do it on a particluar page, etc.

I downloaded everything i could think of ... updated drivers, pulled out unnecessary devices (modem, 2nd serial port, etc.). This didn't help. Finally enough was enough as it would reboot 2-3 times per session, we'd pull our hair out and lose all patience with the machine and shut it off. Occaisionally when we stuck with it, after a reboot or two, it would seem to be ok. As i am a semi-IT pro, i tried a lot of different things ... the event log was no help. UnSelecting the auto-reboot mode in the system menu was no help, etc etc etc. I searched out a lot of help on the internet but there didn't seem to be any answers.

So then i bought WindowsXP Home. Format C, install windowsxp -- all is good. For like a month it was great. No hang-ups no blink-outs no nothing! It was glorious!!! Then about a week ago. BANG it happens again. Again i go through the whole thing. Updated the chipset graphics drivers. remove all unnecessary devices, etc. This is a bare-bones system. there really isn't much that could possibly be wrong with it. The only thing i notice is that after it happens once (and sometimes twice) after that - it purrs along as if nothing ever happened. it's almost as if i need to warm up the system before using it. it's quite perplexing.

The only thing i can think of now is bad memory. could the memory be doing this to the machine. would the unit seriously blink on and off like that if the memory was bad? wouldn't i get blue screens or other freaky errors? i downloaded sandra and it told me the memory was ok.

So what's the deal? Can anyone offer me any suggestions or advice? Is it the Mobo? Would/could this error have anything to do with IE6?

So that's my story - any help is greatly appreciated.

Have a day!
yt

 

[~A_Sammy]

My guess is it's hardware. In order of suspected parts:
Power Supply
Motherboard
CPU
Memory


I had a similar problem once and it turned out to be the power cord.
duh...

 

[YT]

not power supply - changed it with a friend's higher powered PS and it just happened a few seconds ago. how do i go about checking Mobo?

Thanks in advance...
yt

 

[Malke]

Ok here is the WHOLE story. Sit back. Relax. Grab a cuppa tea.

System in question:
Mobo: Abit SE6
Chip: PIII 800 MMX
1 stick of 256 MB PC100/133
1 NIC
1 Quantum FB 13G
1 CD-ROM

The story:
Bought the system to use as a basic server about 3 years ago. Had MS
Server 2000 installed on the machine and all was good. it sat there
and did it's thing like a good little boy. Then the HD crashed and the
system was replaced by another machine slightly more powerful. The
server was then taken home with the new HD installed and Server 2000
re-installed for use at home. I know - but that was the only OS i
legally had lying around.

Then 6 months ago, i decided to windows update the machine as per
normal. After patching holes i decided to also bite the bullet and
install IE6, OE6 & WMP9 - i think it was WMP9, it might not have been.
Anyway, all was good for a while. Then the weirdness.

Every once in a while the system would just up and quit. The screen
would go black, the system would just disappear, and then reappear as
if someone had basically just unplugged the power cord and shoved it
back in. So we were getting a full cold reboot - no shutting down, no
nothing. Just BLINK and there it goes. Since this machine was now
being used mostly for web surfing and email, it would always happen
when IE was open. Needless to say this was very annoying as it
wouldn't do it on a particluar page, etc.

I downloaded everything i could think of ... updated drivers, pulled
out unnecessary devices (modem, 2nd serial port, etc.). This didn't
help. Finally enough was enough as it would reboot 2-3 times per
session, we'd pull our hair out and lose all patience with the machine
and shut it off. Occaisionally when we stuck with it, after a reboot
or two, it would seem to be ok. As i am a semi-IT pro, i tried a lot
of different things ... the event log was no help. UnSelecting the
auto-reboot mode in the system menu was no help, etc etc etc. I
searched out a lot of help on the internet but there didn't seem to be
any answers.

So then i bought WindowsXP Home. Format C, install windowsxp -- all is
good. For like a month it was great. No hang-ups no blink-outs no
nothing! It was glorious!!! Then about a week ago. BANG it happens
again. Again i go through the whole thing. Updated the chipset
graphics drivers. remove all unnecessary devices, etc. This is a
bare-bones system. there really isn't much that could possibly be
wrong with it. The only thing i notice is that after it happens once
(and sometimes twice) after that - it purrs along as if nothing ever
happened. it's almost as if i need to warm up the system before using
it. it's quite perplexing.

The only thing i can think of now is bad memory. could the memory be
doing this to the machine. would the unit seriously blink on and off
like that if the memory was bad? wouldn't i get blue screens or other
freaky errors? i downloaded sandra and it told me the memory was ok.

So what's the deal? Can anyone offer me any suggestions or advice? Is
it the Mobo? Would/could this error have anything to do with IE6?

So that's my story - any help is greatly appreciated.

Have a day!
yt

I enjoyed your story along with my cuppa. Yes, I'd look at the memory
first. You don't really want to use a Windows app like Sandra to test
the memory. Rather, download Memtest86 from www.memtest86.com. You want
the precompiled Windows binary, and will make a bootable floppy from
it. Boot with the floppy and let the test run for a long time, all day
or overnight, unless of course you get errors right away. The next
thing I'd check would be the hard drive. Do this with a diagnostic
utility downloaded from the drive mftr. To test motherboards, I use
TuffTest Pro, but most often bad hardware is RAM or hard drive.

Good luck,

Malke