Windows XP system keeps rebooting itself

[slb]

Hi- My 2yr old Windows XP professional system keeps rebooting itself,
whenver I'm in MS Word or Photoshop (basically anything except just
web surfing). It seems to happen usually while I'm using
it, most often when I have photoshop or winamp open, and a few apps
open at once. After it reboots, it says Windows has recovered from a
serious error, and reports:

STOP: 0x0000009C (0x00000004, 0x00000000, 0xb2000000, 0x00020151)

It links to:
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 329284
SYMPTOMS
You may receive the following Stop error message:
STOP: 0x0000009C (0x00000004, 0x00000000, 0xb2000000, 0x00020151)
"MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION"
The four parameters inside the parentheses may vary.
CAUSE
This behavior occurs because your computer processor detected and
reported an unrecoverable hardware error to Windows XP. To do this,
the processor used the Machine Check Exception (MCE) feature of
Pentium processors or the Machine Check Architecture (MCA) feature of
some Pentium Pro processors. The following factors may cause this
error message:

* System bus errors
* Memory errors that may include parity or Error Correction Code
(ECC) problems
* Cache errors in the processor or hardware
* Translation Lookaside Buffers (TLB) errors in the processor
* Other CPU-vendor specific detected hardware problems
* Vendor-specific detected hardware problems

Anyone know how to tell if this is an overheating or a CPU problem?
The reported CPU temperature is usually 68 degrees each time it
reboots itself. I have a Soyo SY-KT400 dragon ultra motherboard and
Athlon XP 2100, which has been very stable up until now. I have
already tried:
-reimaging with Win XP pro SP1
-new power supply installed
-new memory installed (Crucial)
-new VIA 4 in 1 drivers installed
-new BIOS version

One other note: I haven't seen any problems in Fedora2 on this system
(I dual-boot), so I still wonder if it's a Windows XP thing.

Thanks for any tips.

 

[Ron Martell]

Hi- My 2yr old Windows XP professional system keeps rebooting itself,
whenver I'm in MS Word or Photoshop (basically anything except just
web surfing). It seems to happen usually while I'm using
it, most often when I have photoshop or winamp open, and a few apps
open at once. After it reboots, it says Windows has recovered from a
serious error, and reports:

STOP: 0x0000009C (0x00000004, 0x00000000, 0xb2000000, 0x00020151)

It links to:
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 329284
SYMPTOMS
You may receive the following Stop error message:
STOP: 0x0000009C (0x00000004, 0x00000000, 0xb2000000, 0x00020151)
"MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION"
The four parameters inside the parentheses may vary.
CAUSE
This behavior occurs because your computer processor detected and
reported an unrecoverable hardware error to Windows XP. To do this,
the processor used the Machine Check Exception (MCE) feature of
Pentium processors or the Machine Check Architecture (MCA) feature of
some Pentium Pro processors. The following factors may cause this
error message:

* System bus errors
* Memory errors that may include parity or Error Correction Code
(ECC) problems
* Cache errors in the processor or hardware
* Translation Lookaside Buffers (TLB) errors in the processor
* Other CPU-vendor specific detected hardware problems
* Vendor-specific detected hardware problems

Anyone know how to tell if this is an overheating or a CPU problem?
The reported CPU temperature is usually 68 degrees each time it
reboots itself. I have a Soyo SY-KT400 dragon ultra motherboard and
Athlon XP 2100, which has been very stable up until now. I have
already tried:
-reimaging with Win XP pro SP1
-new power supply installed
-new memory installed (Crucial)
-new VIA 4 in 1 drivers installed
-new BIOS version

One other note: I haven't seen any problems in Fedora2 on this system
(I dual-boot), so I still wonder if it's a Windows XP thing.

Thanks for any tips.

68 degrees is a bit outside what I consider to be a comfortable zone
for running an Athlon CPU. I would be much happier if it were
running at 60 degrees or slightly less.

Try replacing the CPU cooling fan with a new ball bearing model that
is specifically rated for use with your Athlon XP 2100. And make sure
that you get the fan properly seated and that you use a good heatsink
compound or a heatsink pad between the CPU and heat sink. Most good
quality new fans come with a pad.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

 

[slb]

Thanks! I bought a new Vantec Aeroflow fan and will see if that helps.