Strange problem

I have been getting problem since yesterday on my p-4 desktop.motherboard is Via,1gb sdram.
It is rebooting itself when ,
1- i go to one application from other,
2- transfer files from cd ram to desktop,
3- transfer file from usb to desktop.
4- making a copy on cd writer.
5- it just go and reboot itself,while working on pc.
I have formatted hard disk a few times and installed windows xp .had same problem.I di virus and antispy,rootkit scan three times.ok.I changed mouse,key board,sdram,but no difference??
then formatted and installed windows 2000 with service pack same problem.
I was told this is due to either drivers or hard disk or penitium processor or usb ports????
I have to buy the defective part so wanna know what part is giving this problem to buy.thanks

 

From what you say it sounds very much like a hardware issue, use this to check your memory- http://www.memtest.org/
Use this to check your hard drive- http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools
Its also possible and likely you have a failing power supply. Also an overheating hard drive can occasionally cause this shut down effect- http://private.peterlink.ru/tochinov/.html
and also an overheating CPU can cause it.

 

Yeah I would guess first at overheating , probably HDD or CPU.
I have a friend who had a very similar prob to this with a P4, she brought it to me and first thing I done was check the heat sink for clogging, sure enough the cpu heatsink was clogged with dust , on removal I found the thermal paste had burnt away. I cleaned out the heat sink, cleaned the residue off the heat sink and CPU, reapplied some new thermal paste and assembled the unit.
Fixed the problem.

Simply a matter of the lack of heat distribution led to overheat shutdown upon any medium duty tasks.

But as the above poster said, it could be HDD temps or could be a failing component, diagnosis is always the hardest part.
You need a temp prog like Everest so you can watch your temps while doing these tasks.
I don't think Everest is free though, I'm not sure what other progs will do the same that are freeware.

 

Unfortunately I can't recommend a motherboard health monitoring program as I don't use one I have a temperature probe intended for checking component temperatures and multimeter for checking the voltages. This type of software is at the mercy of the mobo's health monitoring chip and can be very economical or totally over optimistic with the truth. It's ok to give a rough idea but shouldn't be taken as fact.

I think it's possible the power supply is on the way out as it seems to be restarting when more demand is made on it but wouldn't rule out CPU overheat. take a look at this other post with similar problems.
Another thing that often gets over looked is the north bridge chip on your motherboard, this can cause freeze ups restarts etc... if it's heatsink is clogged with dust or the fan has failed.

 

See if this works.

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Motherboard-Monitor-Download-6213.html

 

Thank you for valuable tips.
First of all I wanna check and replace power supply.
Please let me know how can i check the power in my pc manually and do i need to replace if faulty??
How will I replace with a new power supply??
From where i get a power supply set??

 

First check the temps of your cpu before spending money.

To check the power supply, I don't actually know of any progs that do that but sniff it, if it smells like burnt bacon then it's toast,also check the fan is working and feel it to see how hot it is, it should be no more than luke warm really. replacing it is easy but to choose one we will need full specs of your pc hardware.
Mobo, cpu, ram, video card, HDD's, CD/dvd drive etc
Also you can post the power values of your current PSU, there should be a sticker on the side that tells you wattage, voltage and amperage.

Oh 1 more thing, what country are you in, so we know where to look for parts.

 

I tested hardware,sdram and temeperature ok. Now could it be due to old power switch ???
All power wires are looking good connected fesh

 

Power switch? To be honest I've never heard of a faulty power switch causing reboot while under pressure, I doubt it.

You said it reboots while you are doing something like burning or transfering files. I don't really see how it would be the switch under these circumstances.

Your original theory of of the PSU could be the issue if all other hardware is running well and you're sure you have no bugs.

Still can't help but think it's a heat issue though, you said your temps are fine, you checked these temps while putting it under some pressure?
The temps while idle or in BIOS could read fairly low but can go up dramatically when under pressure (I just went through this with a GPU)
What temps were you getting on the CPU?

 

As stated above, clean out all the heatsinks, fans and such and make sure no fans have stopped spinning. As for testing the PSU, I use a digital multimeter, you can pick one up usually for around $20 or so. They make PSU testers, I have never used one, you would probably get more use out of the multimeter.

Also, memtest was linked to above. If you have not already done it, get the one that boots your PC from a CD and test your RAM. Eliminate the stuff you have to spend little or no money first, then go from there! Perhaps you have a friend you can borrow a multimeter from?

 

I rebooted the Bios twice .I also disabled the auto reboot .
Thank you very much for all your nice advices.I checked hard drsk,ddr ram,modem chip,mouse,key board,processor,heat sink and power supply ,using an other desktop parts and found all these parts to be working.I have geniune driver cd(came with pc) and installed driver from their.But problem exist.Now when i install win xo it stop when it reach to 39 percent installation.Is any thing wrong with mother board.How can i fix it???
I wanna know what is mobo chipset and how I use it???

 

"I checked hard drsk,ddr ram,modem chip,mouse,key board,processor,heat sink and power supply ,using an other desktop parts and foun...."
Do you mean you tried parts from another computer in yours or tried parts from yours in another computer?

If you tried your power supply in another computer was it older than your computer?