PC Crashing

[Bumblebee Tuna]

My PC is crashing on me. As I'm working on stuff in the GUI, (XP), the pc crashes and restarts. I've tested the HDD, and the utilities come back saying that my HD is ok. What else would cause the pc to crash like that? I just did a reinstall because of this. Everything seemed to be working fine, but as I started to install udated drivers from the internet, the computer crashed again, and now all I get is the windows splash screen, and then it crashes and reboots.

 

[SYL\X/3K]

do a virus scan with a GOOD anti-virus

 

[Bumblebee Tuna]

It's a fresh install, there is nothing on the hd but the OS. Everything I have backed up is on another HD that's not connected to this one. I scan the pc regularly with 3 different online virus scans, including 8 other spyware scanners, including rootkit scans etc. It's not that

 

[SYL\X/3K]

as in crashes do u mean Freeze?

if so run a microsoft memtest on system boot and see if there are any problems with ur RAM.

if no problems i would start looking at the Graphic card driver

 

[Nitestick]

but as I started to install udated drivers from the internet

i think we've found the problem

 

[schusterjo]

i think we've found the problem

Yes i would say that is the issue as well.
Start,run,type dxdiag,under each tab run test if it has one to run.

 

[bmxfreakrider]

are u using windows update, or ar u just going to some site like (dont go to it) www.free-driver-download.com ?

 

[Bumblebee Tuna]

I get my drivers from the manufacturers websites. The problem is, the video card may be about a month old. I'll try the dxdiag this afternoon. If everything passes, then it shouldn't be the vid card should it? At least it's under warranty if it is, lol. When I'm saying my pc crashes, I mean, it shuts down by itself and reboots.

 

[Bumblebee Tuna]

Now I can't even get the windows splash screen to come up. It goes through the POST, and then the screen goes blank. I'm wondering if it's the motherboard. The fan for my chip set took a nose dive, so I replaced it with a heat sink. I can have to pc on for a few minutes and the heat sink is so hot, that it'll literally burn you fingers. I have a hard time believing that a video card could crash the system and windows would be so corrupt that it wouldn't load properly.