Windows XP Rebooting even after disabling auto restart....

[codyobrien124]

I know this subject is everywhere in the groups, but I'm on my last
straw and maybe we can all culminate answers to find an ultimaye
solution. I running Windows XP on AMD 3200 with 1 stick of 512 RAM all
on an ASUS board with a GeForce 6200 attached. I had been using this
setup for quite some time, enjoying new games, and playing my heart
out. About 3 or 4 months ago my PC started restarting on it's own in
the middle of anything I was doing. I looked here for salvation and
turned off my auto-restart. It worked for awhile then it began
restarting on it's own again. It is also having the simultaneous
problem of not being able to turn up my graphics card all the way. If I
do I get a super bad slow down when playing videos, and I have to watch
taskmanager draw itself out just to kill the video. Now I don;t even
use my PC due to the fact it restarts every five minutes or so, never
the same amount of time. Please help me and everyone else with this
problem. I want my computer back!

 

[Sans Pam III]

Man, do I know how you feel!! Somehow you need to capture the phantom! In
addition to Kemco's suggestions (temp seems a very likely cause!), here are
some things to consider (in no particular order):

Do virus scan, Spybot S&D scan, and Ad-aware scan. Those nasties can cause
this!

It could be bad memory. Get & run Memtest86+ v. 1.65:
http://www.memtest.org/ Run it overnight. However, I wonder if you have
sufficient memory for games, etc. Memory is cheap.

Do not overlook the possibility of incoming power glitches. I had this
problem years ago and just about went crazy trying to solve the problem. It
was totally unpredictable. I just could not isolate it to anything.
Someone suggested I look at using UPS. I installed an APC UPS system and no
more restarts! It turned out that voltage sags were the problem. A surge
protector is useless in this situation.

Do not overlook the possibility of an overloaded power supply resulting in
low voltages to the MB, etc.. You should have ample capacity to handle your
system and components.

More recently, I had random restarts and was able to trace it to mp3 files
played by WMP10. I could cause a reboot just by playing mp3 files. The
reboots would occur at other unexpected times, like when closing the browser
or a program. All are audio or sound effect related events. I learned that
MS upgraded the codecs that included the one that handles mp3. I
reinstalled WMP10 to insure I had all the new codecs. Still the same. It
finally dawned on me to upgrade the drivers to my sound card (Creative Labs)
and that solved the problem.

You mentioned the video card. Upgrade drivers to video card?

See if you can get an indication of what is going on by checking the Events
Log: Administrative Tools, Event Viewer, System. (I don't know if this is
available on XP home version or not).

Look in Device Manager to see if you have anything with yellow explanation
marks.

Review each and every startup item! Start-Run-msconfig You may want to
consider using the Diagnostic Startup on the General tab.

I was recently told that a poor BIOS battery could cause unpredictable
things like reboots. I do not know if that is true or not, but it wouldn't
hurt to install a new BIOS battery. Change with power disconnected.
However, before you do anything make sure you go into BIOS setup and save
settings (Print Screen) because you will loose settings.

Keep notes on what you do.

Hope this helps!

SP3

 

[Rock]

I know this subject is everywhere in the groups, but I'm on my last
straw and maybe we can all culminate answers to find an ultimaye
solution. I running Windows XP on AMD 3200 with 1 stick of 512 RAM all
on an ASUS board with a GeForce 6200 attached. I had been using this
setup for quite some time, enjoying new games, and playing my heart
out. About 3 or 4 months ago my PC started restarting on it's own in
the middle of anything I was doing. I looked here for salvation and
turned off my auto-restart. It worked for awhile then it began
restarting on it's own again. It is also having the simultaneous
problem of not being able to turn up my graphics card all the way. If I
do I get a super bad slow down when playing videos, and I have to watch
taskmanager draw itself out just to kill the video. Now I don;t even
use my PC due to the fact it restarts every five minutes or so, never
the same amount of time. Please help me and everyone else with this
problem. I want my computer back!

Ultimate solution for you or for everyone? If the latter there is no such
thing. Each system is different.

First you need to determine if this is a hardware or software problem.
Start with hardware. It could be the power supply failing, overheating, bad
ram, failing motherboard, failing graphics card, etc. Hardware
troubleshooting often times involves switching out parts for known good
ones. Have you run a memory diagnostic on the RAM?

Here is a link with info on how to troubleshoot hardware issues.
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html

Another option is to take it in to a competent repair shop.

 

[Chevelle1313]

Thanks Sans Pam, for the extremely detailed help. Later tonight I'm
going to run that memory test, and see if that finds it. Thank to
everyone else too. All of this information combined should definately
help. As far as it being a hardware problem I have done a couple things
to try and determine what exactly is mucking everything up. I switched
out my video card with a cheap, weak generic video card and the same
thing occured. Then I took our every card except for the video card
(due to the lame fact that my motherboard doesn't have intergrated
video), and once again the same thing. So here's hoping it's either
memory or the power supply. I'll keep eveyone posted on the progress,
and hopefully nip this pest in the ass. In the mean time anymore advice
is greatly appreciated, and thanks again for all the help provided up
to this point. I knew this was the place to come.

 

[Sans Pam III]

More comments . . .

What recent changes have you made to the system? Have you installed new
programs, upgrades, etc.?

Are you running anything like CPUIdle or any of the software cpu coolers?
It can cause the spontaneous reboot problem. It's not needed anyway with
Win XP. Does it happen when you move the mouse? Are you using any kind of
fancy animated cursor?

See if it is incoming power issue. Try moving your system over to a
friend's house -- or maybe a different part of your house, although a
friend's house would be better -- and see how it runs. Highly recommended.
Is your incoming power connected through a surge protector? It could be a
source of power glitches. Bypass it for now.

Does it happen when you start using the machine (games, etc.) or does it
happen when the machine is idle? Try starting and letting it run without
touching the mouse or anything. If it runs without a restart then it is
may not to be a hardware issue (maybe!).

Try booting into Safe Mode and let it run. If it runs without a restart
then, again, it is may not to be a hardware issue. It will be interesting
to learn if the machine ran the memory test through the night without a
reboot! That would be a pretty good indicator that it is not a hardware
issue.

When you first fire it up in the morning, does it run longer without a
reboot? Try running a screensaver like aquarium (or any other with a lot of
video action) to load the CPU. This will raise its temp and if the problem
is temp related then this may be an indicator.

Turn off the machine (after running awhile) and touch the CPU heat sink
(make sure you are grounded to computer chassis) -- it should be warm. If
it is not, then the heat is not being removed from the CPU. If you are not
familar with cleaning the heat sink, CPU, and using the proper grease
(critical!) for maxium heat transfer -- take the machine to a computer shop.

SP3

 

[Chevelle1313]

Update ladies and gentlemen. So I get prepared to go in and run the
memory scan that Sans suggested (before I began I got into BIOS and set
it to the defaults), and are you ready for this... it starts, and dies
in under 3 minutes. Nothing new there right, well when it started
booting up again (after it's self-propelled restart) it got stuck. No
feed to the monitor, as in the monitor acted like the cable to my video
card was unplugged, and the fans and hard drive were running, but
acting as though they were being checked (all the lights flashing like
mad). I powered it down after waiting a bit, and now when I push the
power button, my power supply lights up, all the fans start running,
and everything sounds normal... for about half a second then it all
dies. This is all my PC does now. Push power, normal "mechanical"
sounds, then nothing... darkness in my tower. Plus no error beeps or
anything. Please tell me this is somewhat normal and all I need is a
stronger power supply or something. Please help me overcome this
burden. I miss my PC.

 

[Sans Pam III]

" I wouldn't buy anything less than 450 Watts" - Kemco

Yup. He's on the mark! Sure sounds like the PS. I agree with Kemco.

Post back the results!

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

SP3

 

[Chevelle1313]

Thanks Kemco, I'm going to give it a shot. I this doesn't work, I'm
going to have a pretty heavy paper weight on my hands.

 

[Chevelle1313]

Alrighty, so after a long trial and error process, it seems like the
power supply was not the issue. I went out and bought a new power
supply, replaced my old one with it, said a prayer to the computer
gods, and hit power. Same thing happened. I went back to Fry's,
returned the power supply, and found someone who knew a decent amount
about PC's. Looks like I'm in the market for a new motherboard. Woo hoo.