To register for an Internet.com membership to receive newsletters and white papers, use the Register button ABOVE.
To participate in the message forums BELOW, click here
[RESOLVED] Bang! Random reboots. Once reliable computer acting up
Hello guys,
My main computer has been working impeccably for several years and now I have a problem. I canīt think of a solution short of replacing random components hoping for the best.
At random, while Iīm working, My screen will garble up showing weird pretty colors for a split second and then a reboot. A couple times it happened while pressing "save" in AutoCAD, but it has happened also while browsing the net. No clear pattern, just usage.
This is a P4 system:
Asus P4P800-E Deluxe Asus mobo
P4 3 Ghz Prescott CPU
4 sticks 512 Megs of PC-3200 DDR RAM (brand recommended by the Asus manual)
Radeon X1600
1 IDE hard drive and 1 SATA
Generic 460W PSU
Windows Vista
The problem started a few weeks ago but didnīt happen very often. Now it happens almost every day. It has worsened since I installed my second HDD. Things Iīve tried:
I run an automated virus test everynight. Nothing.
CPU tems are within normal range.
Iīve run diagnostics on memory and HDD.
Iīve done stress tests (prime95 & Heavyload). Nothing. This computer was never a good overclocker though. I replaced a 1.8@2.6 Northwood system with a 3 Ghz Prescott setup that wouldnīt overclock, duuh
Iīve tried disabling hardware acceleration in AutoCAD.
The events monitor gives me no hints.
Right now Iīm thinking my PSU is old, and this computer was continuosly on for several years. Trying to come up with enough juice for the second HDD may be too much. Iīm off to buy a new PSU and see if that helps. But I would appreciate any ideas!!
Too bad I canīt a afford a i7 920 system right now...
Is your pc randomly rebooting itself? You can go to
Control Panel->System icon->Advance tab->Startup & Recovery Settings button. UNcheck/disable the "auto reboot" option. Instead of rebooting you'll probably get a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) which can be searched on for a solution.
A new PSU is a good start, I think. Is your motherboard showing any signs of the capacitors bulging or leaking?
Interesting, I didnīt know a mobo could show physical evidence of "decay", except of course if you fry it. This mobo seems fine though. No visible damage.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve R Jones
Is your pc randomly rebooting itself? You can go to
Control Panel->System icon->Advance tab->Startup & Recovery Settings button. UNcheck/disable the "auto reboot" option. Instead of rebooting you'll probably get a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) which can be searched on for a solution.
New PSU didnīt solve this. But thanks to Steve R Jones now I get a BSOD instead of a reboot: STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0x81C7FF87, 0xA06CB7C0, 0X00000000)
A quick search of the STOP: 0x0000008E part showed multiple posibilities. This LINK I found intriguing:
Quote:
Another site was talking about posting minidumps for them to look at, so I looked into one of the minidumps and found:
Rustock rootkit v 1.2
Z:\NewProjects\spambot\new\driver\objfre\i386\driver.pdb
A little more Google revealed that this Rootkit, once installed is undetectable by anything, quite the amazing little piece of code...
Tomorrow Iīll be diving into the apparently fascinating world of minidumps.
Looking into reading mini dumps will take weeks....Most of the time...the next line down under the STOP Code will mention a file name....You cna use that as part of your search too....Often times you'll see file names that start with ATI and bingo - you know its related to your video card drivers.
Did a fresh install of Vista. In the process I discovered I had my new SATA HDD hanging from the wrong connector: a SATA RAID port under a Promise chip instead of the normal SATA port. And the SATA RAID driver under Vista had been an XP version. I was sure this was IT. Almost too embarrasing to post about it.
Nein.
I keep getting different flavors of the BSOD, once or twice a day. Now I get a IRQL_NOT_LESS error. From what I can gather, this is a hardware problem 99% of the time. Canīt find any virii. Thing is that CPU and memory donīt seem suspect because Prime95 doesnīt crash the system or cause an error (6 hour test). Load temps are about 65šC.
And when this thing crashes it usually takes with it the last few files I have been working on, even if the crash happens after having closed the corresponding applications. Not good for my job (self employed).
A new PC is coming my way. Maybe Iīm causing this. Maybe I want it to be unfixable. Maybe Iīm going nuts.
Started replacing components with older parts I have lying around. Since CPU and memory seem alright I though Iīd start with the video card.
Swapped Radeon X1600 with an old Radeon 9200 (fanless, 128 Megs) and Itīs been 9 hours no crashes! Just before the change I had had several.
Check the X1600 out though. TOP, BOTTOM. Look at THIS and THIS. Doesnīt it seem like a little heatsink should be there and isnīt? It does look like a small processor. Could it have been overheating or something?
Or maybe I just forgot to take my meds.
Keep you posted. Hopefully itīll be problem solved!
The problem has been reduced but not eliminated. With the older 3D card and a dedicated ethernet card instead of the on-board lan, this is what happens (everyday): I get up in the morning to find a black screen; fans humming along but the computer unresponsive. Seems like it crashes while scanning for virii or while doing my daily backup. Impossible to tell. At least it doesnīt happen while I work.
Go figure!!!
I donīt have any spare ram; donīt want to reduce memory as I need my 2 Gb to run Vista and do my work. And I donīt want to spend money on obsolete components. I could slap in my 1.8 Northwood and see what happened. I donīt know how big a hit performance would take downgrading from a 3GHz Prescott to a 1.8@2.6 Northwood.
What the hell. I am going to give that 1.8A one last glorious march!!
I know this might sound obvious, but have you checked the system properties/device manager to look for any yellow exclamations or glitches? Sometimes driver problems are lurking there even though you think everythings installed properly! Also, "pretty colours" on screen do sound like a graphics card on the way out.
Try running Memtest86 on your ram. It could be failing ram
This one has turned out to be the winner.
My RAM had passed a short two hour test (two Memtest86 passes), and this sent me off-track.
A few days ago I tested again, this time during an entire night. The computer froze after four hours. Iīve changed my BIOS memory settings (from stock PC3200 to PC2700) to ease the strain on my failing RAM and all the problems have vanished. My old PSU, CPU, 3D card etc, all were perfectly fine. It was the darned memory (or maybe something in the mobo that deals with memory?).
Thank you guys for all the advice. Even though I dream with a i7 920 setup, it would have been a terrible financial moment!
[RESOLVED] Bang! Random reboots. Once reliable computer acting up
Linear Mode
