Random Reboots - Sorry.

[Slack]

Hi TechSpot,
As is obvious I’m having some technical difficulties with a new PC I’ve had a little over two weeks – and would appreciate any help possible.

I am currently running on;
3.2ghz Prescott Pentium 4,
1GB DDR RAM,
200GB hard drive,
disabled onboard graphics
and my own budget Radeon Atlantis 9200 128mb card.

I have been in discussions with the executive of the place where I got the computer from and it seems he’s sending me in circles, but having checked here other people seem to be experiencing the same ‘Random Reboot’ problem I am having.

From what I’ve read of others on here it could be the guy I traded the graphics card from, an old friend, hadn’t installed it correctly and has ruined it; could be drivers (which MS OCA says at times); overheating (Sys&Cpu temp –allegedly- 35/40degree’s)*; or that I blew the power supply by not using a surge protection adapter.

They are sending out a new power supply if I ring them later, firstly I’d like to get your input into this matter and see if you can narrow down the possibilities and lead me closer to being able to actually use the PC as I’m miles behind work deadlines as it is and currently at the end of my teather.

I am attaching 5 of the most recent dumps, and one anomaly which is for some reason bigger in file size just for fun. Please help…

Slack
xoxoxo

*They also think it could be overheating because the sensor may have been dislodged, and the temperature could be innacurate.

 

[Slack]

And something I forgot to mention -
I ran a memory test on the two sticks of RAM, finding that one had 7 'Results' found when using LRAND. I checked them individually, and the results were all on one stick. Should there be that many errors found when using a Standard Settings Scan?
On the other stick there were none, until I used the Extended version of the test... But apparantly you can't get "perfect" error-free components, so this is normal. Well thats what they told me.

Anyways,
Noob will await your analysis and advice.

Thanks.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

Your minidumps are crashing with various problems.

This could be a sign of faulty ram, or some other hardware issue.

What are you doing when the computer crashes?

Test your ram using the Memtest programme. You can get it from www.memtest.org

Please note that some faulty ram can pass Memtest.

If you don`t have a floppy drive, there is a pre-built iso version available that you can burn to cd, and then boot from that.

Let the programme run for at least seven passes.


Let us know the results from the Memtest programme.

P.S I didn`t see your second post untill I had submitted this one.

From what you say I deffinitely think you have a ram problem.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:

 

[Slack]

Could you please link me directly to the one where you don't need to use a Floppy? I tried the top .iso one ages ago, and now again, and its just bringing up "[DR-DOS]A:/" which is jibberish to me...

...And the reason why I used this one instead http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp .

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Yes no problem.

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

The one you need is ** Memtest86+ V1.65 (10/01/2005) **

Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)

Regards Howard

 

[Slack]

I did that. Burnt it using Nero6 > Bootable Disc. And its coming up with that at the bottom of the screen, [DR-DOS]A:/...

 

[howard_hopkinso]

What you need to do is this.

When you download the file unzip it.

Then open Nero burning rom, not nero express.

When nero first loads up, cancel the multi session window.

Now on the top menu toolbar click on recorder, and select burn image.

Browse to where you unzipped the file, and click on the image file, then click open.

Now click burn.

The resulting cd, will be bootable. Make sure your boot priority order is set in bios to floppy/cd-rom/hard drive.

With the Memtest cd in your drive, reboot your computer, and the Memtest programme should start.

Regards Howard

 

[Slack]

well i only let it run for 3 passes as i didn't see you wanted 7, i'll do it again if you need me to - but on "Test 5" it found 20714 errors in those 3 passes.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Now that you know what the problem is.

You can tell the people that you got the pc from that it has faulty ram.

Obviously your computer will still be under warranty, so you shouldn`t have any problems in getting it fixed.

Regards Howard

 

[Slack]

Thanks Howard, just one last question though...
You said there were various reasons? Was one of them Overheating by any chance... Because I'm having a new PSU dispatched on monday. And secondly, on one stick of RAM there are 80 errors and on the other is the rest of the 20k - The executive of the place I bought it from said its impossible for a component to be error free, so will the 80-stick be a reliable RAM or should their be no errors and he's having me on?

 

[howard_hopkinso]

I think he`s talking out of his backside. If you are getting ram errors with Memtest whether it be 80 or 80,000, the ram is bad.

This joker is trying it on.

Regards Howard

 

[Slack]

Thanks a lot for your time and efforts Howard, hope I can get this resolved be it over the phone or through citizens advice if he fails to co-operate. Please dont delete this thread... I may need it as I have no printer.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

That`s ok.

Threads don`t get deleted at Techspot, Unless there`s a very good reason.

Good luck.

Regards Howard

 

[patio]

Nice Work, Howard !

And let's hope this issue get's resolved from the vendor.

patio.