A Boring Problem

A have this booring problem on my computer, sometimes it just reboots without me doing nothing. It sometimes happen when i start my computer, and sometimes when i'm just doing something on it. This happens no matter what OS i am using. I have tried both Linux and Windows, and the same probs in both of them. It even destroyed mey Linux drive becasue it ahppened when i was starting it

I have this small feeling that it is the hdd, because it seems to reboot when i am saving a lot of work, or ust opening lots of programs. Anyone have any ideas?

And here are mye computer specs:

-Asus P4B266 Motherboard

-Intel Pentium 4 1.7

-512 MB DDR

-Nvidia Geforce 4 MX 420

-IBM hdd 80 gig

Did i forget anything important?

Hope you guys can help me

#34721

It sounds like your not getting enough power.

How big is your Power Supply? I was using a 250W, and it kept rebooting, and upgrading to a 350W solved the problem.

#34730

maybe its overheating

try buying some cheap stickers that tell you how hot something has got...

other than that i don't know... sorry

#34732

I agree with Contra. I have also had this problem. Look into the power supply. Look here: http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/scan/f...tml?id=4kyKgHN5 They are pretty quiet to.

#34737

I have to agree with contrasutra and MetalMusicAddict.. same probs here, and upped my generic 250W powersupply to an enermax 350, no more random reboots :surfer_dude:

#34890

Actually, it be virtually anything...

from a broken capacitor on the mainboard to any bios-setting like CAS-latency or AGP-bus-speed... Welcome to the configuration-hell of Intel

To be serious, the power supply is a good guess, though. Before buying anything new, check if it really is the power supply. Strip down your system: only one memory stick, no optical drives, only the necessary HDDs, no soundard, etc.

If the problem stays, exchange the memory stivck (in case you do have two).

Boot the bios with fail-safe settings (almost every board offers to set the setting to something like that). Write down your present setting before, though.

If you can, try to let your CPU run at a slower rate.

If any of the steps removes our problem, try to go back - try out bios settings one by one, add hardware, and so on - one by one!

If nothing helps, get a new power suppy.

If still nothing helps,

get an iMac!

Have fun,

McTrinsic!

#34891

Thanks you guys! i will starte testing things tomorow.. Only one thing, the reboot dont happen so often, so i will have to live with testting for a long time =/, 2 or maybe 3 weeks with each adjustment.. I will first of all try a new hdd, because my dad can lone me one. If that doesnt work, i will have to try the things you guys said . Oh, and by the way, i think i have 350 w powersuply, so i dont think thats the problem..

#35035

Did u Install the via 4 in 1 drivers ??????????

#35214

for me it sometimes reboot out of the nothing, and it does always when playing games. Try this, go to:

1. Control Panel

2. Administrative Tools

3. Event Viewer

4. System

It will appear a list full of events, there search for the exact time when it rebooted and it will show the problem, for me it says ACPI, and I cant find a way to fix it, you might be able to see what problem it might be.

#35265

Hey! thanks! i dont actually remember the exatc time it did this last time, so i will have to wait until next time, but thanks :D:D

#35529

I had the same problem, for me it was the powersupply

#35916

Originally posted by cho008@Jun 24 2003, 12:48 PM

for me it sometimes reboot out of the nothing, and it does always when playing games.

I have this SAME EXACT problem with my gateway box!! Every time I am in the middle of a game the frickin thing just reboots itself. It ticks me off soo much when I'm in the middle of an online game. I talked to a technician and he suggested it was overheating and to get a new fan.

So I went out and bought a brand new fan that cooled up to a 2ghz processor. (I have 900mhz) So it should have been plenty. Tried out a few games, was so pissed didnt fix the problem. So now I'm stuck. Basically it could be anything as McTrinsic said. I'm basically just giving up on it.

I also brought the thing into the gateway shop for repairs one time, and the guy just reformatted the disc and reinstalled the os. Well that didnt help me much. Besides I could have done that myself. (I've done it many times already because of other problems) But anyways, it kinda sucks, but I guess these are the things you have to live with.

#35960

to make things worse, the game itself might be the problem.

I remember playing Pool of Radiance II from SSI. My PC drove me nuts and I did unbelieveble things to my config in a desperate attempt to keep it (and the PC) from crashing.

Well it turned out POR II was progged like crap and buggy as explorer (soor couldnt resist the pun hehe).

So it was the game crashing my PC. Windows can do little to prevent that (ok, they could make it stable enough to just let the game crash and not the whole system, but that wouldnt really hep you).

On the other hand, if youre desperate about gaming, it might be worth to setup a stripped down Win98SE parallel to your WinXP and have GameOS GE as a shell (http://www.voodoofiles.com/3435).

Have fun,

McTrinsic

#35998

The thing is McTrinsic is that, it doesnt just happen with one game. It happens with ALLLL my 3d games that need high end graphics. Its not my graphics card either, I have replaced it several times, same problem. So, it cant be the game. Most of my games are from large gaming corporations that wouldnt put out bad software anyways.

#36056

i had this, and my problem was the memory chips. Just had to exchange them for new ones and the issue was solved. :boob_shake:

#38687

Originally posted by B3nd1k@Jun 24 2003, 01:03 AM

...Oh, and by the way, i think i have 350 w powersuply, so i dont think thats the problem..

That doesn't matter. A good 250W powersupply can be more efficient than a sucky 400 W.

#38690