Help needed, computer restarts alone

[thehobbitech]

Hi, I have a problem here. It happens when our computer is turned on in the morning; sometimes it is on for a while, and then it restarts, just like if someone would have hit the reset button, the screen just goes black, and then it starts up again immediately. It usually restarts 2 or 3 times, sometimes one right after the other, and sometimes it waits a while and then does it. After that, if we leave it on, it works fine all the rest of the day. I should mention that it started happening about 3 days after I cleaned it out on the inside, it might not have any connection, but I thought maybe that would help. I have tried a few things, but it doesn't help, it just happens again. What could it be? It has Windows XP, a 1.7GHz AMD Duron processor, and 512mb. of RAM. Could Anybody help me? Thanks, thehobbitech

 

[Route44]

This sounds like a heat issue but then again you say it stays on for the rest of the day after several restarts.

What is the make, model, and amount of watts of your power supply? How old is your system?

 

[thehobbitech]

The computer is assembled here in Costa Rica by some friends we had in town that used to have a computer shop. So it doesn't have a model or make, but I can give you the brands of the hardware. The motherboard is an MSI Mainboard, the hard drive is a C-Gate, the power supply is (I forgot to check the brand, but if I remember correctly it is X-Tech) I do know that it is 400Watts, 50-60Hz. And I repeat, it has a 1.7GHz AMD Duron processor, and 512Mb of RAM. To tell you the truth, we have had this computer for about 7 years. As my brother said, it's asking too much for it to still be working, but it has worked for us amazingly well. Another thing, this morning it gave a message after turning off, that said (among other things) something about "Win32K.sys......... PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_ AREA" on a blue screen. Anyway, I hope this helps. Thanks, thehobbitech

 

[Route44]

Here is your error defined -- 0x00000050: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Requested data was not in memory. An invalid system memory address was referenced. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause this Stop message, as may other hardware problems (e.g., incorrect SCSI termination or a flawed PCI card).

As you can tell there can bea plethora of reasons for your system crash.

1. Have you run Memtest on your RAM to see if it is still good?

2. Go to Seagate's website and download their free SeaTools harddrive diagnostic utility. Run the following tests: S.M.A.R.T., Short DST, and Long DST; especially the Long one.

3. Go to Majorgeeks.com and download the free Video Memory Stress Test and run it.

 

[ThorMMVI]

To prevent your PC from restarting on a system failure, do this:

Right Click on “My Computer” and goto “Properties”. Then goto the “Advanced” tab and under the headline “Startup and Recovery”, press the “Settings” button. Untick the “Automatically Restart” box and press Ok. This generally helps in troubleshooting.

 

[thehobbitech]

Thanks, guys, When I have time I'll try and see if I hit on anything, I'll let you know how it goes. I haven't tried the RAM, so that probably will be the first step, Thanks again, thehobbitech

 

[thehobbitech]

We tried the Memtest, and there were no errors found. We'll se how it goes with the other tests.

 

[thehobbitech]

could it be software?

I ran all 3 tests you mentioned, and it passed all of them. There were no RAM memory errors, no video memory stress test errors (in the DirectX test type), and no hard drive errors. I just remembered something. The first time I remember it restarting was a few days back. I selected the "Remove Hardware Safely" for a D-Link Wireless USB adaptor , and it restarted (like I described) immediately. The wireless network stopped working for no apparent reason just before that, and hasn't worked since. I just though, could it be software?, I doubt it myself but............

 

[thehobbitech]

Hey, what happened in the end was that it crashed completely and it wouldn't give the bios beep or anything. We were looking for a used processor to see if that was the problem. But then my brother came along (and I'm not recomending this to anybody.) and got the motherboard out, took everything out, (memory, processor, etc.) and sprayed it full of contact cleaner. He dried it with a hair dryer because in this country, since the contact cleaner evaporates so fast, sometimes condensation forms on the part you are cleaning, because there is so much humidity in the air; Causing you to be worse off than before. Anyway, he put it back together and it works fine from then on. It crashed alone once since that(that we know of), about day before yesterday, and he fixed it about a month ago. It seems to have solved the main problem. (again, I'm not recommending this to ANYONE. If you try it, it's at your own risk, and if you do, I just have one thing to say, don't get the hair dryer too close, because you could melt something.)