Windows XP Home Reboots Unexpectedly

[craig-o]

Greetings all.

I've got a homebuilt PC with Windows XP Home Edition that is unexpectedly rebooting. It's a P3 with 256 Mb. of RAM. I don't know the brand motherboard off hand, but it does have an Intel chipset for what that's worth.

I've opened the case and checked the temperature of the heatsink (with my finger) after running for a while and it's not even close to being hot. I've also removed the side of the case and had a fan blowing in it just to be sure. All the fans (cpu, case and power supply) are running.

I've removed and reseated the RAM, tried new RAM, removed and reseated the video card, and tried a different video card.

The PC boots fine, runs for a while (15 - 20 min. - sometimes a little longer or shorter) and reboots. I tried running a scandisk and it locked up, but didn't reboot. It's got Norton on it and has been updated regularly, so I don't suspect a virus. It also does not give a shutdown message as you would expect with a worm like Blaster. I've also run Adaware regularly so it's clean of spyware/adware.

I've also removed the battery to reset the BIOS.

I turned off automatic rebooting on error but the problem persists with no error message or blue screen. There is also no message being written to the system log files when this happens.

I'd apprecaite any insight or suggestions on what else I can try.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ShoobieRat]

Does it make any sounds before rebooting? Like beeps or whines?

Could be an overheating problem, or faulty RAM. Start up the machine and after about 10 minutes check the temperature. Open the case and leave it open, and see if you last longer that way.

If you take the cover off, and the machine lasts longer that way (like 30-45 minutes instead of 15-20) then it's definately a heat problem.

 

[ChaosBlizzard]

What are you exactly doing when it reboots? Also, does your WinXP installation have any service packs?

 

[derrmc]

Greetings all.

I've got a homebuilt PC with Windows XP Home Edition that is unexpectedly rebooting. It's a P3 with 256 Mb. of RAM. I don't know the brand motherboard off hand, but it does have an Intel chipset for what that's worth.

I've opened the case and checked the temperature of the heatsink (with my finger) after running for a while and it's not even close to being hot. I've also removed the side of the case and had a fan blowing in it just to be sure. All the fans (cpu, case and power supply) are running.

I've removed and reseated the RAM, tried new RAM, removed and reseated the video card, and tried a different video card.

The PC boots fine, runs for a while (15 - 20 min. - sometimes a little longer or shorter) and reboots. I tried running a scandisk and it locked up, but didn't reboot. It's got Norton on it and has been updated regularly, so I don't suspect a virus. It also does not give a shutdown message as you would expect with a worm like Blaster. I've also run Adaware regularly so it's clean of spyware/adware.

I've also removed the battery to reset the BIOS.

I turned off automatic rebooting on error but the problem persists with no error message or blue screen. There is also no message being written to the system log files when this happens.

I'd apprecaite any insight or suggestions on what else I can try.

Thanks in advance.

uninstall norton and try another av like avast

 

[suker]

Does it make any sounds before rebooting? Like beeps or whines?

Could be an overheating problem, or faulty RAM. Start up the machine and after about 10 minutes check the temperature. Open the case and leave it open, and see if you last longer that way.

If you take the cover off, and the machine lasts longer that way (like 30-45 minutes instead of 15-20) then it's definately a heat problem.

I agree!

you can check your PCI card (i.e : NET card , modem ) for be an overheating problem!

 

[craig-o]

Finally licked this. I removed the modem and all my problems went away. No loss, it's on a broadband connection & the modem wasn't even hooked up to a phone line. Any ideas why the modem was causing this problem?

Thanks for all the input!!

 

[IAM_7154]

Modems can cause IRQ conflicts with other devices but Ive never seen your problem be caused by a modem before.

 

[Pavlyk]

Does it make any sounds before rebooting? Like beeps or whines?

Could be an overheating problem, or faulty RAM. Start up the machine and after about 10 minutes check the temperature. Open the case and leave it open, and see if you last longer that way.

If you take the cover off, and the machine lasts longer that way (like 30-45 minutes instead of 15-20) then it's definately a heat problem.

^^ agreed:beard: