Vista Seemingly Random Reboots

[Lewis M]

I have been trying to figure this out for a few weeks now and it feels like I
am just hitting my head against a brick wall.

I have a new build system I have been working on for a while now. I started
off with Vista Business 64 and it worked mostly fine. I bought a new mouse
(Logitech MX Revolution) and installed the drivers, then Vista started
rebooting itself when it felt like it, sometimes when installing stuff from
my sata dvd drive, sometimes when just installing stuff. Also the shutdown
time increased dramatically, so I just chalked it up to 64bit teething
problems. After installing RivaTuner and another program that installed
drivers, Vista wouldn't even start up in safe mode, so I decided to install
Vista 32bit.

At first, the install went along fine, no problems, hdds were formatted, the
files were extracted safely and it restarted normally. When the install
process got to "Completing Installation", the system would restart every
time. I tried many times. I finally coaxed vista to install, after using DBAN
(hdd scrubbing program), and the system still restarts itself. It also loses
the video signal occasionally, but it might not just be the video stopping,
but vista hanging as well.
The system runs fine in safe mode and linux. My ram is compatible with the
motherboard (Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R), I have removed everything from the case
and refitted all the components to make sure I didn't make any mistakes and I
have run the vista memory test.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[MICHAEL]

I have been trying to figure this out for a few weeks now and it feels like I
am just hitting my head against a brick wall.

I have a new build system I have been working on for a while now. I started
off with Vista Business 64 and it worked mostly fine. I bought a new mouse
(Logitech MX Revolution) and installed the drivers, then Vista started
rebooting itself when it felt like it, sometimes when installing stuff from
my sata dvd drive, sometimes when just installing stuff. Also the shutdown
time increased dramatically, so I just chalked it up to 64bit teething
problems. After installing RivaTuner and another program that installed
drivers, Vista wouldn't even start up in safe mode, so I decided to install
Vista 32bit.

At first, the install went along fine, no problems, hdds were formatted, the
files were extracted safely and it restarted normally. When the install
process got to "Completing Installation", the system would restart every
time. I tried many times. I finally coaxed vista to install, after using DBAN
(hdd scrubbing program), and the system still restarts itself. It also loses
the video signal occasionally, but it might not just be the video stopping,
but vista hanging as well.
The system runs fine in safe mode and linux. My ram is compatible with the
motherboard (Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R), I have removed everything from the case
and refitted all the components to make sure I didn't make any mistakes and I
have run the vista memory test.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

What external devices are you using? More than likely, it's some
conflict (driver) with one of those. The most logical course is to
remove any device that you installed and then noticed a problem.
Have you tried making sure you have the latest drivers for all your
hardware? The ones on the Vista install disk are not the newest
most of the time, and many times, neither are the ones on the
hardware install disk. Your best bet is to always get the latest
drivers directly from the manufacturer's website, not from
Windows Update.


-Michael

 

[Lewis M]

What external devices are you using? More than likely, it's some
conflict (driver) with one of those. The most logical course is to
remove any device that you installed and then noticed a problem.
Have you tried making sure you have the latest drivers for all your
hardware? The ones on the Vista install disk are not the newest
most of the time, and many times, neither are the ones on the
hardware install disk. Your best bet is to always get the latest
drivers directly from the manufacturer's website, not from
Windows Update.


-Michael

I only have a keyboard and mouse connected at the moment, though I do have
an internally connected panel that connects the power supply to the
motherboard, I shall try without it. I have tried installing all the newest
drivers for the hardware, though there are a few left to install I intend get.
I will also try install Vista SP1 RC1 today, see if there are any
improvements that help the stability.

Thanks
--Lewis

 

[MICHAEL]

I only have a keyboard and mouse connected at the moment, though I do have
an internally connected panel that connects the power supply to the
motherboard, I shall try without it. I have tried installing all the newest
drivers for the hardware, though there are a few left to install I intend get.
I will also try install Vista SP1 RC1 today, see if there are any
improvements that help the stability.

Lewis,

If this is your primary machine, I wouldn't install SP1 RC1.
Unless, you have all the backups you need and are prepared
to reinstall the OS.

Update all your drivers first, see if it helps.... then, maybe try SP1.

Please post back and let us know how things go.


-Michael

 

[Lewis M]

Lewis,

If this is your primary machine, I wouldn't install SP1 RC1.
Unless, you have all the backups you need and are prepared
to reinstall the OS.

Update all your drivers first, see if it helps.... then, maybe try SP1.

Please post back and let us know how things go.


-Michael

I have updated my 8800GT drivers to 169.21 beta drivers, got all updates
possible from Windows Update, installed the lastest drivers for everything
that needed them. Still no luck.

Thankfully this isn't my primary machine since it hasn't actually had the
chance to be stable enough.

I'll try SP1 and see if there is any difference, otherwise I have no problem
with formatting the hdd and trying again.
I have also tried turning off the automatic reboot in the advanced system
properties, but no BSODs appear still which I thought was odd.

 

[mvjunkie]

Your not alone, just built a machine using this board. I am have the EXACT same problems as you ( random reboots, display going out, turning off auto reboot , but still rebooting ). Ive had enough with this board, im just going to RMA it.

Ive tried everything you have, drivers, bios ... and I cant get it to work!

 

[Lewis M]

Lewis,

If this is your primary machine, I wouldn't install SP1 RC1.
Unless, you have all the backups you need and are prepared
to reinstall the OS.

Update all your drivers first, see if it helps.... then, maybe try SP1.

Please post back and let us know how things go.


-Michael

SP1 doesn't seem to have been the magic bullet I hoped it would be. It got
up to 100% of stage 3 of 3, then said the service pack had not installed and
would revert changes.

I've got a copy of seatools on a cd and I am seriously considering wiping
the hdd completely and starting again from scratch, I that doesn't help, I'll
take a sledgehammer to the motherboard.

--Lewis

 

[mvjunkie]

Lewis,

I think I figured it out. Gigabyte just released a new bios update ( F9 ).
I updated to this and I have had 0 random reboots now! Going on 2 days now with no problems. The new bios update fixed a CPU compatibility issue.

Try that and good luck!!