Windows XP Rebooting Randomly - Now Can't Re-install

My intial problem was random reboots. Very frustrating!

THings I tried:
defrag
system restore
re-seated ram
disconnected other peripherals
Cleaned power supply 350w
memtest (locked up, got black screen)
tried one stick of ram 1024

Now I tried to do a repair and it locks up every time at "installing network"
I cant remove the nic because it is using the one on the mother board.

Is my OS lost?

If memtest locked up my first suspicion is you've got corrupted memory.

ok

I shot-gunned it and tried three more things.

1. Swapped the one ram stick with the other
2. Disconnected the 2nd monitor
3. Re-seated the video card (EVGA)

Now it installs past the "installing network" message

Your guess as to what fixed it?

Still not sure initial problem is solved yet

My guess is that the switching of memory sticks did the job. Corrupted memory will wreack havoc in many ways and the symptoms are multiple. I speak from personal experience. :rolleyes:

Did the video card seem "un-seated" to you? Just curious.

Try connecting the second monitor and let us know if you still have stability.

You could also try swapping that other stick for the current one and see if crashes occur.

Let us know.

oh man i don't want it to crash again. I think 20 is enough for one week.

Another guess is power supply not enough for everything?

ran driver detective and noticed alot of drivers out of date too.

First, any more crashes since swapping the memory?

Two, list your system specs to see if the PSU is enough for your PC. And what is the make of your PC?

No more crashes since other single ram is used. Afraid to put other one back in.
The XP repair and driver updates might have done it too.
It seemed to crash last times when listening to streaming audio or mp3 files.

Specs , let me see if i can do this.

Built myself, always do.

Amd 2800 xp Athlon
Corsair 2 1gig Rams
SiS board ? not sure which one
SoundMax audio
Geforce 7300 agp
one tube monitor one flat screen
4 usb devices
reader
cam
usb hard drive
printer
hauppague video tv card
Slave hard drive
HP dvd writer
Allied 350w PS

Allied power supplies do not have the best of reputations. A good 400 - 425w psu by such reputable makers as Fortron would be a good choice.

what about antec?

I have run Antec in my old Pentium 3 system and I have one in my 939 but to be honest Antec's reputation has suffered in recent years due to subpar construction.

However, Antec has Seasonic making a number of their models and here is a link to what looks like a good buy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371006

I am getting blue screens now instead of shutdowns.

One time it was an Nvidea video card dll memory area.

Last time it was a PAGED_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA.

I have no idea if its the RAM, hd , MB or PS.

This is mind boggeling and I assume it will next be expensive.

There's more to this nightmare.

It crashes in safemode too.

Sometimes it wont even boot to the bios.

Just shoot me .

From auhma.org:

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).

Run MemTest.

Attach your minidumps: My Computer > C Drive > Windows Folder > Minidump Folder > Minidump Files. It is the files we need, not the whole folder.

I had that similar problem once, come to find out the pc would over heat and reboot, went through sticks of memory, 2 video cards, and one power supply to finally go down to re-seating the cpu and apply fresh thermal paste. Hope it works out for you.

A problem has been detected and windows has shut down to prevent damage to your system

Not even sure I can get to the dump files

It could be your power supply, but I am still thinking it is your RAM. Then again, knowing computers it can be something totally mind boggling because it doesn't fit the parameters of trouble shooting.

If you can eventually get into safe mode try to get those minidumps.

Also, if you can borrow a friends extra RAM try that. Have you tried your other stick of RAM?

You may want to transfer your HD to another PC and back-up all your important data and while you are at it run a full HD diagnostics.

I'm thinking ram at this point too.

I started getting corrupted system file messages on the blue screens, can bad ram do this?

so tried to repair xp but it wont install it keeps getting stuck on "Network Installing"

I had a boot utilities CD and started to do a HD test but I stopped it half way thinking it was a waste of time. will probably try that again.

I have seen error messages of all sorts from corrupted memory that don't seem to have anything to do with memory. I speak from personal experience. So, yes to your question.

HD tests are valuable. Even if my HD seems quite stable I will periodically run a test for maintenance as well as information.