XP Pro Reboots when Installing Java, MSN, Office for no reason?

[Bob]

Help! I have tried everything I know of. When trying to load Java, or the
MSN 6.2 upgrade, or when putting in a New install disk of Microsoft Office,
my computer just automatically reboots before I even get to the install. It
does it at other times too. I am running XP pro, with a P4-2.4, and have
1.3meg of ram installed. I don't have a clue as what is causing this and
have searched and tried other things. I have AVG software looking for a
virus, but so far have found nothing. Any Ideas???

Bob

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Reboot are usually cause by:

System over heating
System not having enough power

Bad RAM.

 

[Bob]

Overheating and bad ram are not the problem. I have checked that. It just
occurs when installing certain software such as java, msn update, etc. Any
other time the reboot doesn't occur. I can download, upload, and put a
heavy load on the system and the reboot doesn't happen. It's really weird
but I'm gonna go nuts figuring it out. I just reformatted and reinstalled
the operating system because of constant reboots on my other hardrive and
could not even get to a startup screen. Now this is happening! Any other
ideas out there???

 

[Kerry Brown]

I'm having a hard time following you but as I read it you've just done a
clean install because of a rebooting problem. Is this the same computer? If
it is then it is most likely a hardware or driver problem. If it is two
different computers then I would look for the common item between both
systems either software or hardware/driver. If there is nothing in common
the first toubleshooting step would be to make sure all updates to windows
and installed programs are done. Next would be to get the latest hardware
drivers. If the problem continues I would try to disconnect some of the
hardware that uses power, e.g 2nd hard drive, CDROM/DVD drives, etc. Unhook
all USB devices and everything except the boot hard drive. See if the
problem goes away. If it does the power supply is suspect. Did you replace
the ram with known good ram or just run some tests on the existing ram? I
have little faith in software ram tests. They often don't report marginal
ram. It could also be a combination of items, marginal ram coupled with a
marginal power supply. Another good test would be to substitute a known good
video card of another chipset. This will eliminate the possiblity of a
driver conflict. If this solves the problem you would have to do some
further testing to determine if the original card was bad or the driver was
causing a problem.

Hope this helps.

Kerry Brown
KDB Systems

 

[Bob]

This is on the same computer. I have removed all usb devices, and have all
the windows updates installed (except the msn 6.2, which is one that causes
a reboot) and driver updates also. I replaced the ram with know good ram,
etc. The only time this happens is with the programs, java, msn, office
2002, and those are the ones that cause the problem. Other program
installation works. This is weird!!! I am at a loss today!!!

 

[Bill]

Open control panel and then open the System applet. Click the advanced tab
and in the startup and recovery section click settings. In the system
failure section UNcheck the radio button that says Automatically restart. Ok
your way out. Now when your system crashes you will get a blue screen with
an error message instead of a reboot. Post back the EXACT error message as
it appears on your screen and someone here can better help you figure out
what's going on. HTH

 

[Kerry Brown]

This is on the same computer. I have removed all usb devices, and have
all the windows updates installed (except the msn 6.2, which is one that
causes a reboot) and driver updates also. I replaced the ram with know
good ram, etc. The only time this happens is with the programs, java,
msn, office 2002, and those are the ones that cause the problem. Other
program installation works. This is weird!!! I am at a loss today!!!

As you have done a clean install and a similar problem still exists it is
something comman to both installs, most likely hardware/driver related.
Could also be some 3rd party anti-virus/spyware/firewall/utility
application, something that hooks right into the system. Try Bill's
suggestion about unchecking the auto restart and let us know what happens.

Kerry Brown
KDB Systems

 

[Bob]

I have already tried to uncheck the box. I did that and it just reboots
like you hit a reset switch. There is no blue screen at all, just a restart
and then everything comes up fine.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Sorry, no more ideas. Looks like it needs a trip to the shop. The only thing
I can think of is do a format and clean install. Before going on the net or
doing any updates try installing office. If the problem still occurs it has
to be hardware/driver related. If not try updating/installing one thing at a
time and see at which point things start to go sour.

Kerry Brown
KDB Systems

 

[Bob]

Hey guys, thought I'd let you know that I finally fixed the problem. It had
to do with the windows installer and that would lead to a reboot all the
time. I reinstalled SP2 and that fixed it and I'm ready to go... Thanks for
your help.