Computer Just Stared Rebooting

[Lamsey]

OK, my computer's pretty old but it's not that bad...

AMD K6-2 500MHz
SOYO 5EMA+ m/board
256MB PC100 SDRAM
15GB HDD
3dfx Voodoo3 2000
SB Live!
Windows XP sp1


Just recently it has started rebooting (ie. as if I am pressing the reset button) when the computer is under heavy stress - eg. when gaming or converting mp3s.
Anyone got any ideas as to what's causing this? My first thought is overheating, but why would I start having problems now after years of running stably?

[aintgottime]

I have the same problem sometimes. Im running AMD 1000mhz and when it restarts understress. I thought overheating as when it got to 49 it restarted its self and I noticed its done it twice at that temperature. If you find a cure send it my way too please Lamsey!

[Somebody1234]

Go to Start>Control Panel>System>Advanced>Startup and Recovery - settings>Remove the check mark in System Failure [ ] Automatically restart.

Now when you load your system... It will not restart but it will give you an error message. You can then use that error message to diagnose the problem.

[Lamsey]

Thank you Somebody1234! Will try this later when it's not so very, very late!

[mutterings]

hi i have had this problem before after buying new h/d and motherboard (from recomendation of so called pc specialist :angry: )i found the problem to be the ram. :rolleyes: spent £200 on a £50 fix <_< good luck ;)

[Switeck]

Originally posted by Lamsey@3 June 2003 - 20:17
Anyone got any ideas as to what&#39;s causing this? My first thought is overheating, but why would I start having problems now after years of running stably?
The cpu and video card fans may have filled up with dust/grit over the years and it&#39;s making them less effective.

A good cleaning might help...

[WeeMouse]

kick the thing&#33;

Or make yourself a lovely shiny new computer and give that one to me&#33; (after you&#39;ve fixed it...)

:lol:

[balamm]

Three main causes for a spontaneous restart:

Ram failure- diagnose with DocMem from simtel. (posted in software today) A major source of blue screens in win9x

PowerSupply problem- Do you ever smell burning rubber or is there a lot of heat coming from the exhaust?

Extremely incompatable software- normally though you&#39;d get a dump message or blue screen with this.

[Lamsey]

OK, I did what Somebody1234 said, and I got a blue screen instead of a reboot.

Here is what it said:

Originally posted by The Blue Screen Of Death
A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

.....
.....
.....

STOP: 0x0000000A (0x0000031C, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x804F1542)

Contact your system administrator for details.
:blink:

[RGX]

ah my old enemy, the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL screen, I take it your using XP? Get yourself service pack one, worked for me, install and watch your prob float away......

[Wolfmight]

could be a hardware problem or a virus (if a hacker gets in your system... there are many ways to mess it up without antivirus warning)

[Lamsey]

I take it your using XP? Get yourself service pack one, worked for me, install and watch your prob float away......
As I already said, I have XP with sp1.



could be a hardware problem or a virus (if a hacker gets in your system... there are many ways to mess it up without antivirus warning)
It&#39;s not a hacker, as the problem started before this computer became online (which was yesterday).
Hardware? I still think it might be overheating. Must try to improve cooling...

Unless anyone else has any ideas?

[liquidacid]

I had this once before. It occurred after i&#39;d installed a modem driver which XP didn&#39;t like. Having rolled back all was ok once again.

Thinking back, there are quite a few ms knowledge base articles on it. It&#39;s to do with hardware/driver /XP compatibility. Are you sure you haven&#39;t installed any new drivers? Or maybe a windows update is causing a conflict.

If you want to rule out overheating take the side off your box, maybe turn it on it&#39;s side- heat rises.

Good Luck mate&#33;

[Lamsey]

I haven&#39;t installed any new drivers for a long time... don&#39;t see why it would suddenly start happening now if it was a driver issue.

I haven&#39;t cleaned my fans for a while, so I&#39;ll try that soon, see what happens.
Wouldn&#39;t turning the box on its side affect the workings of the drives?&#33;

[Somebody1234]

Originally posted by Lamsey+4 June 2003 - 16:41--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Lamsey @ 4 June 2003 - 16:41)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> OK, I did what Somebody1234 said, and I got a blue screen instead of a reboot.

Here is what it said:
<!--QuoteBegin--The Blue Screen Of Death
A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

.....
.....
.....

STOP: 0x0000000A (0x0000031C, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x804F1542)

Contact your system administrator for details.
:blink: [/b][/quote]
Sorry for the delay in answering you, Lamsey.

Go to Microsoft Knowledge Base with that information. Most likely you will find the solution there. Sorry that I have not gone to research it myself as I don&#39;t have the time right now.

If I have some time a bit later I will look it up.

Good luck. :)

[balamm]

AMD K6-2 500MHz
SOYO 5EMA+ m/board
256MB PC100 SDRAM
15GB HDD
3dfx Voodoo3 2000
SB Live&#33;
Windows XP sp1

I love those specs&#33; some of the best stuff I&#39;ve used and still do use occasionally.

Windows Update had a driver for the AMD K6-2 that they kept trying to install onto my AMD XP 2000+
I have No idea what that was all about but I just kept declining and I see now it&#39;s been corrected.

If it&#39;s a real driver update then it might help to look into it.

Have you run all the c:>chkdsk /f /r repairs yet?

If it&#39;s IRQ related maybe after running checkdisk, reset CMOS and start with defaults loaded or change the IRQ assignments in BIOS from auto? to something else, then restart and set them back to auto again.

If it&#39;s a CPU heat problem, usually it stops dead, shuts down, and maybe restarts (sometimes repeatedly) or it might wait a while. you won&#39;t see any thing on screen because it terminates all power at the critical point where it overheats.

[ooo]

itz the motherboard... itz a safe fail switch thing... happens to me too

i got a
umm

asus motherboard p4e75 <-- something like that
2.66 ghz procesor
512 ram
80gb hard drive
ati radeon 9000
windowz xp corporate

+ wen running alot of programs like

n64 emulator, winamp, photoshop, microsoft word <-- it just resets on me...

might be the video card :/ since it only resets when im using the n64 emulator with other programs

edit >> i have 6 fans&#33;&#33; so i doubt there will be any overheating... :/ curious...

[Lamsey]

OK... will try MS KB, then will tinker with BIOS.

Thanks for the help guys - will let you know how I get on...

[Somebody1234]

@Lamsey,

I wanted to say that I looked into the KB. Boy that&#39;s a f**ed up site at MS. :lol: Anyway I am still looking into that error code. I just found out that MS has a 9 CD set that is used to analize those codes. I&#39;m not sure what the CD set is called??? Looking into that too. :)

It may be easiest at this point to do a flash of your CMOS to the latest revision. Reset the CMOS and make sure all the settings are to the base settings for your hardware (No overclocking or pushing the RAM). Remove your RAM module(s) and clean their contacts with an eraser and make sure the slots are clean then reinsert them. Try it like that. If that doesn&#39;t work...

It might be easier to do a clean install of your Windows than diagnosing it with the KB. You could try that on a spare HD if you have one handy. That way you can test to see if it&#39;s a software or hardware based problem.

Hope this helps you.

[Lamsey]

I&#39;ve just been on that KB and I&#39;ve come to the conclusion that it&#39;s damn near impossible to find anything out from MS.

Will try cleaning up my case and the components. Then I&#39;ll see about mucking around with BIOS... :ph34r:

edited to say thanks for continuing help :beerchug:

[CornerPocket]

I&#39;ve always found MS TechNet ResourceKit site useful to diagnose errors:
Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prmd_stp_hwpg.asp?frame=true)

Step-1: Check Your Software (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prmd_stp_hyzf.asp)
Step-2: Check Your Hardware (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prmd_stp_hyzf.asp)


Have you ever wondered about these as well?
Common Stop Messages (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prmd_stp_hwpg.asp?frame=true)

[Terminal Boredom]

Hmmm...AMD does jack-all for heat protection so I don&#39;t think it&#39;s that. They overheat-they die is how AMD seems to go (I&#39;ve killed 3 oc&#39;ed procs when cooling failed). Try to run a walking ones pattern through the RAM, most of the diagnostic software packages can do it. It will determine if the RAM&#39;s dropping bits.

[deathman102]

Originally posted by Somebody1234@4 June 2003 - 02:31
Go to Start>Control Panel>System>Advanced>Startup and Recovery - settings>Remove the check mark in System Failure [ ] Automatically restart.

Now when you load your system... It will not restart but it will give you an error message. You can then use that error message to diagnose the problem.
thats ecxactlly what i did and instead of just reebooting i get one of those fatal brain dumps. did SORT of solve my problem. i lifted my pc an inch of the carpet that helped lol. try it it increases the airflow in the case, therefore reducing temperature.