Spontaneous reboot

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I hope there is someone here with the patience to help a newby with his first computer build project. I really have two issues which may or may not be related. Here are my specs:

Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 motherboard
nForce3 Ultra chipset
AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache, Socket 939 64-bit Processor
(2) 512MB PC3200 184pin DDR DIMM Memory Modules (dual channel)
Hitachi 250GB, 7200RPM, Internal SATA/150 Hard Drive
Verto GeForce FX 5500 Video Card, 8x AGP, 128MB DDR
NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Model ND-3520A BK
Mad Dog Multimedia SurePower 600W BTX/ATX Smart Cable Power Supply
Antec Super Lanboy case

The more significant problem is that the computer will spontaneously restart every few hours or so. It usually happens when opening a new application or website (via DSL) but sometimes will just happen when the machine is sitting idle. I first thought it must be a CPU heat issue but the Gigabyte utility shows it running between 29 and 32 degrees celsius. I did use thermal paste in a thin layer between the CPU and stock cooling fan. When it shuts down I get a very brief flash of what looks like a BSOD but there's not enough time to read it. I am running Windows XP Pro, SP2 and Norton antivirus. I have heard there is a way to turn off the auto restart feature so at least I could get a look at the BSOD, but I'm not sure how to do it.

One other piece of info may be helpful. When I look in the Gigabyte utility, it shows me two warning fans signals for system and power fans. The motherboard has the capability to control these fans I think. I didn't have any three pin connector wires so I just hooked the case fans directly to a four-pin molex connector, which seems to work fine but the speeds aren't controlled. Could this be confusing the motherboard?

The other problem really has me stumped. When I use the CD/DVD to load a program or something, it reads the first fine. Then when I remove that CD and put in the next one, the computer still sees the one that has been removed. Is there a Windows setting or something that controls whether the optical drive clears its cache? Is the optical drive just bad? Could this be related to the rebooting issue?

I loved the experience of building my own. If only I can get past these last two "minor" issues I will be in love with my new baby. Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to shed some light on these issues.
 
Right click My Computer click properties click on advanced tab then click Startup & Recovery Settings

Under system failure untick Automatically restart I think that should help

Ryan :)

Ps I think the problem Is where the motherboard thinks theres no fan so it Reboots
 
Check out the Event Viewer in the Administrative Tools control panel. If you see some warnings/errors there that may point you in the right direction. If you see some and you don't know what it means post here with them.
 
Thanks for the replies. I unchecked automatic restart and waited for the blue screen. It actually seems to be happening less frequently now and took a few days. The message was:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows update you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select advanced startup options, and then select safe mode.

Technical information:
*** STOP: 0x00000050 (0x953463CO, 0x00000001, 0x806D0753, 0x00000000)

Beginning dump of physical memory


Any thoughts?
 
The bluescreen could be a couple of things. If you go to c:/windows you should see a folder called minidumps. See if you can attach those files in this post and i'll help you figure it out. :)
 
Hello and welcome to Techspot.

You obviously hadn`t noticed that this thread is well over two years old. ;)

It`s ok, I did exactly the same thing myself when I first joined Techspot, until someone pointed it out to me lol.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:
 
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