Random Reboots

[thelord]

I have been facing a strange problem of late.

My PC used to be rock stable & could run 2-3 days at a stretch without any problem. But for the last few weeks, if I keep it running for more than a day, it randomly reboots. There is no specific software that I load, or any specific process for the reboot. It just happens randomly.

I have tried new RAM, fresh Win install, a different PSU, even a single core processor. But still no luck.

Here's the config

-----------
X2 3800+ , A8N-E, Transcend 2*1 GB, Antec TP 2.0 480, 6600 GT
Hitachi 1*250 GB, 1*160 GB SATA II

Couple of PCI cards, (3 yrs old)
Creative - SB Live 5.1, Pinnacle TV Tuner Card
-----------

Now I am aware of the fact that troubleshooting is a tedious task especially when the 'trouble' appears after a day of continuous usage.

So how should I proceed to solve this problem.

Some additional info.

- The problem surfaces only after 24-30 hours of continuous usage.
- The motherboard is around 1 year old. Average usage around 16 hours per day. Latest BIOS version loaded.
- No OC'ing, temperatures are normal, Cabinet is clean.
- I have set 768 mb for pagefile size
- Am using TuneUp Utilities software. In Memory Management, I have set virtual memory option to "Always keep in memory".

I just did a fresh windows install, so lost all previous dump files. But almost all of them had something to do with "Page fault in non paged area"

Looking forward to your replies
Thanks

 

[mikescorpio81]

I have recently encountered the PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA BSOD twice on separate client PC's and it turned out to be faulty RAM.

To stop your PC randomly rebooting do the following:

CONTROL PANEL - SYSTEM - ADVANCED - Under start-up and recovery: SETTINGS - Make sure the "Automatically Restart" checkbox is un-ticked.

 

[cpc2004]

Disable auto restart is not the solution. If it is hardware error, PC will still reboot automatically. If it is software problem, windows displays the blue screen and wait for response.

Refer this document

 

[MrNemo]

I would be interested in seeing how it performs with the cards taken out.

 

[mikescorpio81]

Disable auto restart is not the solution. If it is hardware error, PC will still reboot automatically.

Sorry but that is wrong. PC's will not restart if it is a hardware problem. It will restart if the default "Automatically Restart" setting is enabled, regardless of a hardware of software problem.
I have encountered hardware failures many times, RAM and Video cards more often than not, and the testing I do to force the BSOD does not restart the PC, even though it is found to be faulty hardware.

By disabling the auto restart option I didn't expect his problem to be fixed ... I said that I have encounterd the same problem and it turned out to be faulty RAM. He can go from there ...

 

[cpc2004]

I make a mistake at my comment. It should be severe hardware problem, windows will reboot automatically even though automatic restart is disabled. For minor hardware problem and software problem, windows will display the blue screen and wait for reply. The proper problem determination procedure is dump analysis to find out the culprit.

Sorry but that is wrong. PC's will not restart if it is a hardware problem. It will restart if the default "Automatically Restart" setting is enabled, regardless of a hardware of software problem.
I have encountered hardware failures many times, RAM and Video cards more often than not, and the testing I do to force the BSOD does not restart the PC, even though it is found to be faulty hardware.

By disabling the auto restart option I didn't expect his problem to be fixed ... I said that I have encounterd the same problem and it turned out to be faulty RAM. He can go from there ...

 

[thelord]

Thanks for the replies, guys.
I had the Automatic Restart Option disabled.

Now I was testing the system after removing the Pinnacle PCI card. Worked well for 18-20 hours & then again the dreaded BSOD.

The main error message was same

Page Fault in Non Paged Area
Probably caused by Sandbox.SYS (Sandbox + 3ad2d)

Sandbox.sys is associated with Outpost Firewall, I've uninstalled it for now

Am attaching a dump file, if you guys can find any clue, please update me with this thread. I'll attach more dump files if the problem persists.

Thanks

 

[cpc2004]

One minidump is insufficient to confirm the root cause. Attach the latest 5 to 6 minidumps and attach the zip files here. Your version of outpost firewall is almost the latest. The previous version of outpost firewall causes a lot of blue screen. I don't know whether your version of outpost firewall is stable or not.

b621c000 b621f0c0 HTTPFILT HTTPFILT.DLL Fri Jan 19 19:46:42 2007 (45B0AFA2)
b6220000 b62237e0 PROTECT PROTECT.DLL Fri Jan 19 19:47:01 2007 (45B0AFB5)
b6224000 b6226200 FTPFILT FTPFILT.DLL Fri Jan 19 19:46:59 2007 (45B0AFB3)
b6228000 b622b780 MAILFILT MAILFILT.DLL Fri Jan 19 19:46:51 2007 (45B0AFAB)
b622c000 b622e520 POP3FILT POP3FILT.DLL Fri Jan 19 19:46:49 2007 (45B0AFA9)
b6230000 b6233580 DNSCACHE DNSCACHE.DLL Fri Jan 19 19:46:39 2007 (45B0AF9F)
b6234000 b6236aa0 HTMLFILT HTMLFILT.DLL Fri Jan 19 19:46:44 2007 (45B0AFA4)
b7a76000 b7ac4d40 Sandbox Sandbox.SYS Tue Jan 23 22:31:10 2007 (45B61C2E)