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MickS
16th November 2006, 06:22 PM
Hey guys,

My PC has, for the last day or so, been just shutting down and re-booting by itself. Usually when we're in the middle of something (internet/email/word).

When it restarts, there is usually a message saying "a serious error has occurred" and logs the error.

All my virus software is up to date, I've done a full scan and it comes up OK.
When it reboots, it says "system health OK" and all the other normal start-up stuff.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks
Mick

Bytemrk
16th November 2006, 06:35 PM
Hi Mick,

I am assuming you are running windows XP.... if not let us know and we may have other ideas.

First right click on your my computer icon, select Properties.

on the box that opens go to the advanced tab and click the settings button near the bottom under startup and recovery.

In the middle under System Failure, there is a tick box marked Automatic restart.

Take the tick out of this box and click ok until the boxes close.

Often when there is a major issue, Windows will "bluescreen" - this screen has error info on it.... but by default windows is set to auto reboot.
With many machines this happens so fast most users never see the blue screen.

What I've suggested above will NOT stop the issue - but if you now get a blue screen - you will be able to post the error info and someone should be able to help...

Cheers Mark

MickS
16th November 2006, 06:44 PM
Mark

Thanks mate...you're a genius. Just did all that you suggested and shall wait to see what happens. :)

Mick

Bytemrk
16th November 2006, 07:32 PM
Mick,

If and when it blue screens... a lot of what is there will look like gobble-de-gook..

probably like this:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2006/11/95.jpg


Write down and post the bit above that starts *** stop:
and the file name - above it is the ati2dvag.dll

This will give us a hint what is happening.

If it just reboots still - it might be a hardware issue rather than software:mad:

Time will tell.

Cheers Mark

incisor
16th November 2006, 07:33 PM
what occurred just prior to this behaviour occuring? new usb device? or new software installed ?

what is the specs of the system

how much ram? how many hard drives and cd's etc and how many watts is the power supply rated at?

if you have a multimeter check the voltage of the power supply.

the above symptoms are classic signs of low voltage.

check it at a molex plug with the system going

red wire and black beside it

and

yellow wire and black beside it.

they should be greater than 12v and 5v

p38arover
16th November 2006, 07:54 PM
I had similar problems with a previous PC of mine. The fan had failed so the processor was overheating and shutting down.

Ron

MickS
16th November 2006, 08:43 PM
Ok guys. I was half through a reply when it crashed again. The blue screen came up and amongst all the gobble dee gook said:

The problem seems to be caused by the following file

win32K.sys

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

STOP: 0X00000050, 0XE1CD1000, 0X00000000, 0XBF82CD8E, 0X00000001)
win32k.sys - address BF82CD8E base at BF800000, date stamp 43446958.

Inc, it's running windows XP professional 2002 service pack 2, 1.81ghx, 512 mb ram......has 2 cd/dvd drives, just a bog standard desk top PC about three and half yrs old which I'm about to throw into the pool!

MickS
16th November 2006, 08:58 PM
what occurred just prior to this behaviour occuring? new usb device? or new software installed ?

Mate it happens anytime. Browsing the internet, checking emails, working in word etc. You hit a key and bang, shut down/restart.

I haven't added any new hardware or software other than a new mouse last saturday.

Now, when I'm online, I try to click onto a website and it refuses me access, even my homepage. I have to restart it to get my browser working again.....:mad:

abaddonxi
16th November 2006, 09:20 PM
Could be your hard drive going bad. If so, save anything important immediately.

Do that anyway.

Cheers
Simon.

Bytemrk
16th November 2006, 09:21 PM
Hi Mick,

Watch other blue screens and see if different files are listed.

Did the issue start after you installed the new mouse?

If so... can you change back to the old one and see if anything changes. ( may need to roll back the mouse driver from device manager. - hit the windows key and Pause/Break together > from the box that opens select Hardware tab>device manager button. find the mouse>right click and select properties>select the driver tab>Roll back driver)

I have not seen a mouse cause this - but that doesn't mean it can't - often these errors are caused by a driver file for some hardware - also I have seen this with faulty Ram. ( don't run out and change your ram just yet though..)

Is there any possibility anyone has changed any settings in the bios? ( changing memory speeds can cause this too.)

Try and think when it started happening.... then think about what changed in the day or so before that - new mouse may be it... or installed a program - did an update ( particularly drivers from Microsoft) - changed a bios setting, plugged in any usb device...

Often if you can work out what changed- that can be the key.

How confident are you inside a PC?...

Mark

MickS
16th November 2006, 09:24 PM
Could be your hard drive going bad. If so, save anything important immediately.

Do that anyway.

Cheers
Simon.

Thanks Simon, I did that today.....

MickS
16th November 2006, 09:29 PM
Hi Mick,

1. Did the issue start after you installed the new mouse?


2. Is there any possibility anyone has changed any settings in the bios? ( changing memory speeds can cause this too.)


3. How confident are you inside a PC?...

1. Yes it did. I'll put the old one back in.
2. No, the missus is more computer illeterate than me, and the kids haven't done anything to it.
3. Next question......no I'll give it a crack!!!....

Thanks mate.

abaddonxi
16th November 2006, 09:30 PM
Have you got a spare power supply that you can swap out?

Mine went with a huge bang a couple of months ago. Seems like HDD and power supply are the most common to go.

Said that, my main computer - old P3 - is running with a toasted floppy and a network card that drops out every few minutes, that just went from once a week or so to more frequent in the last couple of days. I'm just not yet willing to believe that my network card is toast, seems so unlikely.

Lucky I picked a couple of P4s out of the chuck outs on the weekend.

Don't throw it in the pool for a something that's probably not that large a problem.

Cheers
Simon.

MickS
16th November 2006, 09:44 PM
Have you got a spare power supply that you can swap out?

Mine went with a huge bang a couple of months ago. Seems like HDD and power supply are the most common to go.

Said that, my main computer - old P3 - is running with a toasted floppy and a network card that drops out every few minutes, that just went from once a week or so to more frequent in the last couple of days. I'm just not yet willing to believe that my network card is toast, seems so unlikely.

Lucky I picked a couple of P4s out of the chuck outs on the weekend.

Don't throw it in the pool for a something that's probably not that large a problem.

Cheers
Simon.

Simon

I replaced the PSU a couple of months ago after it died. I just put the old mouse back, rebooted in safe mode, checked the device manager and restarted in normal mode....I'll see what happens now......thanks mate.

MickS
16th November 2006, 10:01 PM
If so... can you change back to the old one and see if anything changes. ( may need to roll back the mouse driver from device manager. - hit the windows key and Pause/Break together > from the box that opens select Hardware tab>device manager button. find the mouse>right click and select properties>select the driver tab>Roll back driver)



Thanks Mark

I did this, and a message came up "no driver files have been backed up for this device".

Mick

MickS
16th November 2006, 10:02 PM
and it crashed 3 times whilst trying to post!!

abaddonxi
16th November 2006, 10:08 PM
Mick

Have you error checked the hard drive - sure you already have.

Have you cleared the page file. Now it would be good if I could recall how, but I'm sure google will tell all.

Like this. (http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/469189.html)

Cheers
Simon

Captain_Rightfoot
16th November 2006, 10:12 PM
Mate it happens anytime. Browsing the internet, checking emails, working in word etc. You hit a key and bang, shut down/restart.

I haven't added any new hardware or software other than a new mouse last saturday.

Now, when I'm online, I try to click onto a website and it refuses me access, even my homepage. I have to restart it to get my browser working again.....:mad:
I'm not sure how old your PC is but there was a intel technology for mounting the processor on a board called "slot 1". All these machines suffer the random re-booting thing as they age. If your's is one of these you need a new one. Our PC with this problem was June 2000. I guess there wouldn't be too many of these left around now.

Ours used to just reboot all by itself... you would hear it beep from the other room... lol.

HangOver
17th November 2006, 12:22 AM
Hi

It's bad news, stop errors can be caused by lots of things.

The best way to diagnose is to do the stuff that will cost you nothing first.
You said you ran a scan disk, (error-checking) on you HDD and it didn't get erros, good, that's one down.

Make sure all your fans are running and the heat sinks aren't full of dust.

Download a program called doc memory from here:
http://www.simmtester.com/page/products/doc/docinfo.asp

it's free :)
You will need a blank floppy disk, it takes hours to test but will reliably test your system ram.

Presuming that's passed all test's run a windows update and download and install all the latest drivers you can.
If it doesn't update any drives at least update your video card driver.

Presuming it still crashes you could restore your PC to it's last known good configuration.

It's still buggered ????
Not much luck here for you looks like a hardware error.
The next thing is to try swapping out components to find the faulty hardware. If you can borrow these great if you cant spend a few bucks and get one of these "flat fee" PC repair people from the local paper.
Unless you have a friend with PC know how and parts.

The cheapest option is to remove all none essential components, Network card, CD drive, floppy drive, any USB devices, (not you mouse or keyboard) modem, if you have two sticks of RAM remove one.
So you will be left with power supply, motherboard, video card, hdd, ram, mouse, keyboard, monitor.
Then see if it still crashes.
If it does remove remaining ram stick and swap with the other one, (or use another one).

From here on it will cost you so I would do a reformat first on the off chance it is a software error.

Still crashing !!!! ?
try swapping the video card, (buy a cheap used card from the paper).
Get your Power supply tested at a local shop, (a tester costs about $30 so don't let them charge you too much).
Still buggered...................well it's got me!

Let us know how things go at each stage and if the error message changes.

good luck
steve

MickS
17th November 2006, 07:58 AM
Thanks for all the advice gents. Much appreciated. I'll see how I go....and will advise the result. :)

abaddonxi
17th November 2006, 08:08 AM
Don't know if anyone mentioned this before, but have you started in safe mode? That should tell you if driver is the problem.

Cheers
Simon.

Captain_Rightfoot
17th November 2006, 08:40 AM
Thanks for all the advice gents. Much appreciated. I'll see how I go....and will advise the result. :)
Is it a slot one board?

George130
17th November 2006, 09:42 AM
Good luck with sorting it. I have had to do a total rebuild on our system this week. Dam thing now crashes at infrequent times.

Aussie
17th November 2006, 09:53 AM
PC reboots or restarts like the one you describe and most commonly caused by a PSU on its way out. The PSU is unable to constantly supply the voltage rails and therefore when it dips the pc assumes you have hit the reset button and restarts. Cheap replacement and it will fix your problem

loanrangie
17th November 2006, 03:17 PM
A similar prob is caused by overloading a power board although it just re boots not the blue error screen.

Bushie
17th November 2006, 05:35 PM
I'd be starting by making sure I had the latest video drivers, the first BSD you posted seems to relate to the video driver.


Martyn

MickS
17th November 2006, 08:56 PM
I've been mucking around with it today...it keeps crashing. I went through the event viewer and checked for errors...there are heaps. A bloke I know is coming out tomorrow to have a look. He doesn't think it's something that can't be fixed. So fingers crossed...hopefully should be sorted tomorrow..

MickS
17th November 2006, 08:57 PM
Thanks again to all for your help!!:)

George130
18th November 2006, 08:10 AM
Depending on the age of your machine I have found mine seems to have improved no end after changing the memory setting in the bios from pc100 to pc133.

abaddonxi
18th November 2006, 08:23 AM
Depending on the age of your machine I have found mine seems to have improved no end after changing the memory setting in the bios from pc100 to pc133.

And I thought my computer was old.:D

After all the enthusiasm on this thread I stayed up half the night building Frankencomputer from bits picked up off the street last week. P4 motherboard from across the road, P4 2.4 256mb ram and case with dead motherboard and power supply from other side of Leichhardt, power supply from a P4 1.5 from same street as P4 2.4. Good week for junk off the street.

The old P4 came with 512mb ram. Pity it was only 133.


Cheers
Simon

MickS
18th November 2006, 04:30 PM
The PC is fixed. Turned out it was the mother board. Everything seems to be working OK at this stage.

Thanks to everyone who posted with advice and comments. Much appreciated.

Frankencomputer eh? Sounds interesting!!

George130
18th November 2006, 09:05 PM
And I thought my computer was old.:D

After all the enthusiasm on this thread I stayed up half the night building Frankencomputer from bits picked up off the street last week. P4 motherboard from across the road, P4 2.4 256mb ram and case with dead motherboard and power supply from other side of Leichhardt, power supply from a P4 1.5 from same street as P4 2.4. Good week for junk off the street.

The old P4 came with 512mb ram. Pity it was only 133.


Cheers
Simon
This one is my bitsa. The good one is also dead. Medion computer about 2 years old with a suspected mother board. Won't power up and I have replaced the power supply.
The one I'm using is an AMD 750mhz
655 MB ram.
20gig Hdd
cd burner, CD rom
and it now has a working floppy.

Rovernaut
24th December 2006, 12:00 PM
Time to switch to Linux ---- we don't have any 'Blue Screens of Death' :) It's a Microsoft thingy:twisted:
LOL

HangOver
26th December 2006, 02:10 AM
Time to switch to Linux ---- we don't have any 'Blue Screens of Death' :) It's a Microsoft thingy:twisted:
LOL

hmmm you try to get drivers for a 10 year old laser printer though ;)

Captain_Rightfoot
26th December 2006, 07:22 AM
hmmm you try to get drivers for a 10 year old laser printer though ;)
No worries. Gimp drivers :)

Bushie
26th December 2006, 09:44 AM
Time to switch to Linux ---- we don't have any 'Blue Screens of Death' :) It's a Microsoft thingy:twisted:
LOL

Obviously dont have bung MBs under Linux either. ;)


Martyn

101RRS
6th February 2007, 10:51 PM
The PC is fixed. Turned out it was the mother board. Everything seems to be working OK at this stage.

Thanks to everyone who posted with advice and comments. Much appreciated.

Frankencomputer eh? Sounds interesting!!

Been having similar issues as you - computer will not run more than 20 minutes before crashing - cannot even do a backup bacause the system crashes before it is done.

What was wrong with the board - was a new one required?

Cheers

Gazzz

abaddonxi
6th February 2007, 11:17 PM
Sounds like a heat problem to me. Are all of your fans working?

Try taking the side of the case off and stick a desk fan to blow into the case. Might just keep everything cool enough to back the data up.

HDD
Video card
Power supply
MB

Not in any order. Only way to find out - if it isn't fans - is to substitute parts with a working computer.

Cheers
Simon.

incisor
7th February 2007, 07:19 AM
1) check none of the capacitors on the motherboard are domed. if they arent flat, you have problems.

2) check the heatsink on the cpu is not full of fluff and crap. clean with small paint brush and vacuum cleaner noozle held nearby to grab the fine dust.

3) check voltage at the molex plugs, anything under 12v or 5v is unacceptable, plenty of pinout charts on the net. low voltage causes heat.

4) if you have multiple case fans make sure they are pushing into the system so the air is being forced out thru the powersupply, can work wonders at times...

101RRS
7th February 2007, 08:31 PM
Thanks for the info - there is dust in the computer but not enough to cause an issue but cleaned anyway. CPU heatsink and fan clean and working, motherboard fan all OK, video car fan OK, have two sucker fans in the box all ok - they suck out over the CPU - just realised I didn't check the power supply fan - will do.

Mother board/CPU temps are within specs - under 50 even though it is hot weather.

Normal CPU usage (3 ghz twin pretend CPU) normally operates at under 10% usage but does spike up too 100% and the HDD does run more than is reasonable.

I suspect it is a windows stability thing or a RAM issue (dual channel 1 gb in 2 sticks). As most of the work I don't need that amount of ram I will take out a stick at a time and see what happens - other wise it might be off the the fixit man - but they know how to charge just as much as a landy stealer.

Cheers

Gazzz

MickS
7th February 2007, 09:07 PM
Gazz

Yes, a new motherboard and she's been fine ever since.

Cheers
Mick :)

BradM
9th February 2007, 05:41 PM
Hi, Do a google search on 0x00000050 as this is the stop code.

pretender
20th February 2007, 01:47 AM
For the type of problem in the original post the first thing to do is remove all cards and RAM (and CPU if it is a slot 1). Then, using a pen ink eraser, lightly rub all contacts on the cards and RAM to ensure they are clean (do not touch the contacts with your fingures).
Check all slots for corrosion and dust, reinstall the cards and RAM and then clear the heatsinks of dust and fluff.
Then see if it runs any better.
If not the next step is to then run the system removing components one at a time as was mentioned before.
Free checks that may save you money.

DarrenR
21st February 2007, 09:21 PM
Been having similar issues as you - computer will not run more than 20 minutes before crashing - cannot even do a backup bacause the system crashes before it is done.

What was wrong with the board - was a new one required?

Cheers

Gazzz

Gazzz, if your still having issues, post your computer specs (age, os, cpu, mem etc etc).

If XP / Win2k, look in Event Viewer (Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer). Look under "Applications" and "System" for any errors (red cross) and to a lessor extent Warnings, post here.

If there is too many Errors or you are unsure which ones maybe relevant, right click on "Application" and select "Clear all Events", then select "No" when asked to save log, do the same for "System".

This will clear the logs allowing you to better see errors when the system crashes again (as in match the error times to when it crashed). You are also welcome to send me the above logs.

Best regards
DarrenR

101RRS
21st February 2007, 09:52 PM
Gazzz, if your still having issues, post your computer specs (age, os, cpu, mem etc etc).

If XP / Win2k, look in Event Viewer (Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer). Look under "Applications" and "System" for any errors (red cross) and to a lessor extent Warnings, post here.

If there is too many Errors or you are unsure which ones maybe relevant, right click on "Application" and select "Clear all Events", then select "No" when asked to save log, do the same for "System".

This will clear the logs allowing you to better see errors when the system crashes again (as in match the error times to when it crashed). You are also welcome to send me the above logs.

Best regards
DarrenR

Hi Darren - yeh still having problems - last time I had this a clean install fixed it for about 4 months - so am assuming it is a OS related issues - P4 3ghz (one of the pretend dual CPU things that is really just a normal CPU) - 512mb ram (dual channel) - XP professional with whatever updates it has loaded - latest ver of IE and Firefox (FF crashes more than IE).

I know about event viewer and the crashes do list but all "greek" to me.

Gazzz

DarrenR
21st February 2007, 10:44 PM
Hi Darren - yeh still having problems - last time I had this a clean install fixed it for about 4 months - so am assuming it is a OS related issues - P4 3ghz (one of the pretend dual CPU things that is really just a normal CPU) - 512mb ram (dual channel) - XP professional with whatever updates it has loaded - latest ver of IE and Firefox (FF crashes more than IE).

I know about event viewer and the crashes do list but all "greek" to me.

Gazzz

The beauty of XP/win2k is the amount of information in the Event Viewer.

Your welcome to email the log files to me, in Event Viewer, save the log files, "Application" & "System" (right click on each one and select "save log file as" (name each one Application, System respectively)) and email to drobinson at dlink.net.au

The P4 3.0GHz HT is actually not a bad processor and should not be discounted as average.

Best regards
DarrenR

DarrenR
21st February 2007, 10:55 PM
I know about event viewer and the crashes do list but all "greek" to me.

Gazzz

No they are all "geek" lol... now that was funny...

it was funny wasn't it.....

Best regards
DarrenR

101RRS
22nd February 2007, 08:47 AM
No they are all "geek" lol... now that was funny...

it was funny wasn't it.....

Best regards
DarrenR

Darren - your a laugh a minute:lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

knuts2au
27th February 2007, 01:34 PM
An Adaware/Malware scan is a good thing nowadays. Your Antivirus doesn't usually cover this, even innocent surfing can pick up enough garbage to bring a machine to it's knees in no time.

101RRS
16th July 2007, 07:03 PM
Hi Darren - yeh still having problems - last time I had this a clean install fixed it for about 4 months - so am assuming it is a OS related issues - P4 3ghz (one of the pretend dual CPU things that is really just a normal CPU) - 512mb ram (dual channel) - XP professional with whatever updates it has loaded - latest ver of IE and Firefox (FF crashes more than IE).

I know about event viewer and the crashes do list but all "greek" to me.

Gazzz

Since I posted this I have done a clean install and then right away all problems were fixed - however now a few months later with all the windows upgrades etc being done it is again crashing - clearly it is not hardware but windows - a pita.

What other OS can I instal - eg lunix - where do I get them from and what are issues with other software such as oulook express, outlook, MS Office, oziexplorer etc.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Garry

Garry

kaa45
17th July 2007, 06:03 AM
Do a clean install
Turn OFF updates (if it ain't broke, don't fix it).
Make sure install disk is a SP2 edition (installing XP then installing SP2 over it always causes trouble)
If you have a specific problem then get the update manually (search knowledge base for info)

Do all my customers machines this way, never any problems (mmmm...bad for business???) maybe I should install updates so they call me more.

Danny

Rovernaut
17th July 2007, 10:13 AM
Trash Windoze and install Linux.... Linux is like Viagra, it keeps it up and won't let down.

Never have to worry about Premature Blue screening again.
LOL:D:D:D;););)

101RRS
17th July 2007, 12:50 PM
Do a clean install
Turn OFF updates (if it ain't broke, don't fix it).
Make sure install disk is a SP2 edition (installing XP then installing SP2 over it always causes trouble)
If you have a specific problem then get the update manually (search knowledge base for info)

Do all my customers machines this way, never any problems (mmmm...bad for business???) maybe I should install updates so they call me more.

Danny

Will Windows install from sp2 downloaded from the web - I have it on a seperate disk. I have been through the issue of making a combined boot disk that has SP2 inbedded in it but I don't have the right version of Nero to make a boot disk and I am not paying the $170 to buy it. P38Rover and others gave all the low down on this the other week and went all through it up to the process of making the boot disk but my nero express cannot do it.

Where do you get Lunix anyway - download or buy from a shop - I know nothing about it - will all of my other windows compatible programs run on it?

Thanks for the advice

I appreciate it

Garry

kaa45
17th July 2007, 03:35 PM
No, not all windows programs will work with Linux. (not even with VMware or similar).
Which version Of XP is your install disk?

101RRS
17th July 2007, 07:02 PM
No, not all windows programs will work with Linux. (not even with VMware or similar).
Which version Of XP is your install disk?

XP Professional SP1 and has heaps of issues.

My laptop has XP home (as installed by Toahiba) and has no problems.