Randomly Restarts

My computer restarts randomly, sometimes more frequent then others, I dont know whats wrong at all

 

Need more info.

Read and follow: Before You Post Asking For Help, Please Read This

 

i dont know what to do

 

Follow the directions in the link provided by theefool and get one of the free programs suggested to get your computer hardware specs 'if' you don't know what they all are. If you do know the specs, just post them along with examples of what happens when you get the random reboots. Is it while using certain programs? Performing certain tasks, etc.? Or, does it just happen no matter what you are doing? Does anything show up in your event log re: warnings or errors? If you're not familiar with the event log go to your control panel > Administrative Tools > Event Log.

 

WinXP Professional Sp2
IE 6.0 Sp2
DirectX9.0c
AMD Athalon XP, 1253 MHz
nVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400
512 MB

nVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440

do you need the any more info?

i already have EVEREST Home Edition...its completely random, a lot of the time its when im saving like a picture to my pictures like ill be looking at bodykits and save a picture of one, then it restartes and then usually when its running the chkdsk thing it usually says something about it being "truncated", sometimes ill be on firefox then out of no where, its restartes then it has this real long list on the chkdsk thing saying something about allocations and truncated. Like just now, i just went to take a shower then i cam back it was at the password boot screen.Yesterday i was just on GNC.com then it restarted, its completly random

 

1.25 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP

80.00 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
6.43 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

 

You say, randomly restarts. Do you get a blue screen of death? If not, press the following keys:

Windows key + Pause/break

or just right click on "my computer" and select properties.

or just click on start, run, control panel, then doubleclick the system icon.

or my favorite way:

Click start, run, the type in:

RunDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL sysdm.cpl,,3 (press enter) (note: this will take you directly to the advanced tab)

We want to go to the Advanced tab, then select the SETTINGS button under "Startup and Recovery".

Next you want to uncheck "Automatically restarts" under "System Failure".


Next time your computer restarts it should give us more information.

Also, click on Start, run, then type in:

%SystemRoot%\Minidump (press enter)

Do you have any files listed under here?

 

yes, i have a whole lot

 

If you can post the most recent one, we (or I) may be able to help you on your situation.

Post as an attachment.

 

i have from Mini021105-01.dmp all the way to Mini090505-01.dmp

 

this is one of the blue screens

stop: 0x0000008E ( 0xc000001d, 0xbf8610a1, 0xf1a3ace0, 0x00000000

win32k.sys - address bf8010a1 base at bf800000, datestamp 422511a2


i think thats it, my handwriting is kind of sloppy

 

another one,



stop: 0x00000000 ( 0xc0000005, 0x0badbeb4, 0xed910c48, 0x00000000)

i hope those are right

 

Was this always happening, or did this start now?
How was your PC put together? Did u do it yourself, is it a brand name, custom, etc?

 

another one,

i think i wrote the numbers wrong so i didnt write them

usbehci.sys - address base at f8816006, date stamp 41107d62

i hope thas right

 

no it didnt always happen, my uncle put it together but he doesnt live too close

 

a new one it just happend today
this one is different because it said registry error at the top


Registry-Error

stop: 0x00000051 ( 0x00000003, 0x00000001, 0x00c8a000, 0xe19fa8a0 )

 

Could the system be overheating? Maybe if you take the computer apart and clean all the dust out it may clear up the problem. Lemme know if this helps.
-the new tech guy

 

this is the problem, i never opened up a computer before, but i can see the dust because my case has a see thru side

 

Well try cleaning it and see what happens and report back here with results.
-the new tech guy

 

just get a vacumn cleaner and suck all the dust off the components and hardrive and... everything else that is dusty. If you take a part out, just put it back the way it was in before and your computer should be off when you do this and the computer wont notice a thing. And the system should run cooler anyway without the dust.
-the new tech guy

 

im going to try this first tomorrow morning since its night time, hopefully everything turns out well

 

this one just happend few min. ago

stop: 0x0000008E ( 0xc0000005, 0xbe80582b, 0xeeb9f60c, 0x00000000

win32k.sys - address bf80588b base at bf800000, datestamp 422511a2

 

Here's the problem... i experienced the same thing a couple of years ago.

Your motherboard is not grounded properly, and/or is faulty. Replace, it or rebuild the system from scratch, preferably get a pro to do it.. I ended up replacing my mobo and it works like a charm. Never had random restarts again.

 

so i have to buy a new one?
if i do, it has to be the same one or a different one

 

Try something different and more reliable. Check reviews.
Also, i forgot to mention, what you're experiencing is called "infinite loop". Look for it google.

 

Sounds to me that you could have a faulty memory stick.Do a mem test.Download program here.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/MemTest_d350.html

 

i cant find anything on it, just other things containing infinite loop, and where can i look at the reviews?

 

how long does take because its been testing for a while its on 1058.4% now

 

its still going, its at 2250.3% and found 2 errors

 

That's fine,let it continue to run for now.

 

You definitely have a hardware issue, and it could be many different things. Some of the more common things it might be:

Bad RAM - The easiest way to troubleshoot this is to either replace it with a known good stick if you only have a single stick. If you have multiple sticks, try removing one at a time until you either isolate the bad one, or verify the problem doesn't seem related to any of them. You can try using the various RAM tester programs available, although they can be very time consuming.

Poor heatsinking of Microprocessor - A little more advanced, but fairly easy to check. Ensure the heatsink is sitting properly first of all. Remove it & check that the thermal heatsink compound (goopy white stuff) hasn't dried out and that there's enough of it. If in doubt, put some more on. If you just see one of those cheap little rubber pads, put some thermal compound on to help ensure proper heat transfer.

Defective or underpowered power supply - It's possible you could have a cheap 250-watt power supply when you really need a 300 or 350-watt. If that's the case, replace it right away. Or it has just plain gone bad. Unless you have some specialty tools such as a digital voltmeter to test with, your best bet is to try another.

Defective hard drive - Generally, if it can pass a thorough scandisk procedure (including physical surface scan), then it's likely ok. If bad sectors pop up, it's likely on it's way out...the more you find, the worse it is. You can also pop the hard drive in another computer if you have one available to try it in.

Defective video card - Hard to verify unless you have another to try in it's place, but it can definitely cause your problem.

Defective MOBO - Thankfully doesn't happen often, but it can happen. If you can verify everything else first, then it's time to try a new MOBO.

CD/DVD drive - I've only seen this once myself, and it was only when you tried to use the CD drive, but the computer would lock up & eventually give a blue screen of death whenever you tried to use it.

 

while it was still testing, it restarted

this is what it said

Driver_IRQL_NOT_LESS_EQUAL

usbehci.sys - address f88594df base at f8856000, date stamp 41107d62

 

wow, thats a lot

 

It sounds a lot but what he has pointed out is due to your problem being a hardware issue (most likely) he has listed all the items you have and only 1 of those items will be faulty..

But maybe try a fresh clean install just to see what happens..I had problems such as those when i was on 98se a few years back and back then i was useless and knew nothing so i got a reinstall done and it was fine from then..

If it is hardware it is hard to know which item without chacking each one..If you have a friend who knows what he is doing, get him to check your memory first of all, then your graphic card aswell as over heating..But like i say try and do a clean intall.

Good luck bro..

 

ok chk out here for info on Driver_IRQL_NOT_LESS_EQUA
Technically, this error condition means that a kernel-mode process or driver tried to access a memory location to which it did not have permission, or at a kernel Interrupt ReQuest Level (IRQL) that was too high. (A kernel-mode process can access only other processes that have an IRQL lower than, or equal to, its own.)

http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm and here
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prmd_stp_hwpg.asp
After reading this i'd recommend doing a clean install

 

Check out http://www.tomshardware.com/index.html for hardware reviews, news and comparisons. Also, visit different manufacturers websites. they usually have "awards" sections for their products.

jujet, i don;t think clean install is going to help. it is more likely a hardware issue. If you got time and patience, then do it.

 

Seems to me and I'm not being cute about this but seeing his first posting I don't think he's that comfortable on doing that.
He can do a recovery instead of a repair,that way he doesn't lose any of his files etc.

 

I stand with my decision that the system is overheating because the system will automatically restart or shut it self down without warning to prevent damage and the blue screen may be because the system is running too hot and when systems run too hot they tend to get weird like that. I stand with the cleanout idea. Have you tried that yet valic?

 

well i know i havnt posted in a real long time but i kind of gotten used to it until resently when i was typing an 12 paged report and it was only saved on the 6th page, by the time got to the 12 it restarted. now im agrivated, i kno i should clean the computer but when i was starting to open it, once i seen all those screws, it intimidated me because i feel once i unscrew everything i wont be able to put it back together, and i noticed when i was unscrewing on of the screws i looked to the see through glass side and it looked like i was unscrew something on the inside so i stoped. right now i dont mind buying a new video card because this is too much if i get something i want it like on the GeForce 5600 or raedon 9xxx level, but i wanna spend less then 150 and i want something thats actually compatible with my computer because i dont really know if ATIs are compatible with an ASUS (dumb me) so i was only looking at nvidias so if an ati is best bet then thats fine with me. And i need to stay away from MX series and i have access to compusa, bestbuy, and circuitcity

 

Maybe try to sort out the casual agent of your problem before buying a new video card.

If it is an overheating problem a video card can contribute to this and may lead to a signifcant increase in the sys restarts and thus make your problem even worse.

Hope your making backups of any important data! As you quoted you lost 6 pgs. from a 12 pg report.

 

tomorrow im going to write my files to some cdrw cds so i hope nothing happens in between that time

 

Make sure you use Nero or another copying prog like that and stay away from using the XP installed InCD, clicking,dragging and dropping files onto formated CD's:

".....(CDs created with InCD are only ever guaranteed to be readable in CD Writers that are the same model as the CD Writer in which the CD was created – it is not unusual not to be able to read a CD created via InCD, in another CD-ROM drive)."

from:

http://www.answersthatwork.com/

In otherwords data that you save from your system may not possibly be read on other systems unless they have the same make and model of CD writer. Trust me I have experienced this!! It sounds you have to much else to worry about without suffering from this as well.

 

Bold Eagle is right. Just get the system cleaned out. If you pay attention to what you unscrew and where you will be fine. I take mine apart into a million peices every once in a while and my system is all screws holding it together. But a new graphics card would cause more heat and if its not cleaned out soon you may burn up your mobo and if that happens your well...screwed all together. You dont have to crazy just take a can of compresssed air and only take out your side panel then blast out the gunk through the vents. Let us know if that helps.
-the new tech guy

 

Sounds like the power supply is the culprit. Had that happen to two PC's.
changed the power supply and problem went away

 

Nah before we spend money on somthing we possibly do not need i would like to see if heat is the problem.
-the new tech guy

 

do you mean change the power cord thing because i have a bigger one

 

if i have to get a graphics card then once i buy it the same person that will put it in for me i can have clean it out, its just i dont want to have to go to them unless its be upgrading something

 

I am not going to read all the previous posts but have you got a sys diagnosis app installed so that you can monitor CPU, Mobo, HDD temps., fan speeds, voltages, etc while you are using your sys. This allows you to run other apps and push your system a bit then note these above parameters! It maybe obvious if it is overheating. EVEREST HOME is a great app for this:

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

just click on Computer > Sensor and it will display all your sys sensors would be interested in the results. You can also print out a sys report, look at your motherboard, memory,etc. This will give you important baseline data from which inferences can be made.

 

Just read post 5 sorry.

 

So Valic if i understand this correctly, you want to upgrade your graphics card? But if your gonna do that as a norm upgrade while the computer's open i would clean the dust out using the methood i told you.
-the new tech guy