Random Restart Problem.

[ubiquitousmorta]

Hey all,

I found this forum through searching at yahoo when i typed in "Random computer restart" and this was one of the first hits, however... the thread really didnt help me answer my question.

At random times, from, doing virus scans, web surfing, watching media, or playing games my computer randomly restarts on me, screen goes black no prompts or anything and restarts my computer normally as if it was off and i turned it on, when it gets back to windows.. no messages of errors or anything.

The ironic thing is i just built a new computer and i am having the same exact problem, the only shared parts of old and new computers are the Cd-Rom, Floppy (yes i still have one), and case. otherwise nothing is the same.

My new comp specs are:

evga 680i mobo (used to have Nforce 2)
intel core 2 duo 1.86 ghz (used to have AMD2400+
evga nvidia 8800 gts 320 mb pcix 16x(used to have radeon 9800 pro 128 meg agp)
2 gigs of OCX DDR2 800mhz ram (used to have pc3200 1 gig)
250 GB SATA (old one was IDE 80 gig)
600 watt psu, cooler master (my old one was a 350W)


I thought that the power coming into my corner of the room was initially the problem. so i bought a UPS backup. i bought an APC 900VA 540 Watt battery backup that has AVR Tech (which automatically goes to the UPS if the power isnt at an appropriate voltage).

I did not put in my old hard drive although i did put on some of the old files. after scanning pcdoctor and norton to make sure they were ok files and not corrupted..although maybe they missed something. I have since put on norton and scanned updated. and updated all my drivers and xp still get the same problem.

I am very baffled since it is happening with 2 different computer set ups. thats why i thought it was external power but maybe i'm just unlucky?

Thanks for your help guys anything you can do would be greatly appreciated!

UbiquitousMortal

... i was just thinking maybe its the connector from my computer restart switch to my motherboard..that wire. does that sound feasible enough to disconnect it and see if the problem goes away... also it seems to happen a lot more when i'm watchin vids on my computer. but i havent kept track of what i was doing since there is no apparent consistency.

 

[sllewe]

Hmm well this is a tricky one. You seem to have covered most things.
One Idea, maybe you are having a standoff issue with your case and mobo. Something could be shorting out. It is a little off the wall but its worth a try.

You could take out your mobo and run it out of the case. While your at it remove your Cd drive and floppy. If it still happens, you need to see a witch doctor.

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

Thanks for the suggestions. when i have some time i'll try them out man. appreciate it.

 

[Tedster]

test your RAM with memtest 86+ for 7 passes or more.

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

little update

the problem persists!

I have disconnected the restart lead from my case to my motherboard and the problem occurred.

I updated all programs that i use, winamp, aim, xp, antivirus.

After problem persisted i disconnected my cdrom and floppy (current config right now) and thought the problem was gone and it just happened again (a few minutes ago).

i'm baffled... I hesitate to test the ram because its 2 different types of ram that i had with the same exact problem. it seems very unlikely.
is there any system monitoring program that will log anomalies before the crash... i have no heads up from the crash when it happens so i'm not sure if its possible.

thanks!

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

Anything...anyone?

 

[beef_jerky4104]

It could be a power supply issue. Thats apretty high end PC with only a 600W PSU. Perhaps its under powered.

 

[Tedster]

if you're still getting issues, the problem lies with either ram or the PSU. It could also be bad drivers or a BIOS update is required.

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

Alright thanks, i was optomistically hoping the problem went away hadnt had a random until a few minutes ago for the past couple days. Is any kind of program that would monitor your ram and or PSU capabilities?


i'm going to try that memtest program tommorow and look for updates as well for hardware that i have.

thanks for the continued help!

 

[Tedster]

MEMTEST 86+ is used to test RAM. Use a floppy drive (recommended) or create a bootable CD. Run for at least 7 passes. Any errors are bad.

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

Thanks ted, btw are you really in iraq? i was in afghanistan a few months ago with AF.

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

I ran about 6.5 passes with no errors on the memory, i also tested it with the cheesy nvidia tester that is an option to test the memory when it boots up..

I think its the PSU, i have a cooler master and its only a 4 pin connector the motherboard and my mobo booklet says it "highly recommends" an 8 pin connector. also i'll buy a little nicer one this time, i thought ib ought a nice one but i'll switch up the brands and see what happens. But i'm pretty sure i have outruled the ram.

i'll keep you guys posted.

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

*** Update ****

Yeah, i installed a new PSU one that has a 8 prong connector the mobo and a better efficiency (79%) still a 600 watt PSU.

long story short the random restart happened again. this is after i tested the memory and hooked up everything.

i'm out of ideas and am considering taking it to a repair shop i know of.

anyone have anything?

 

[myequation78]

Hey try replacing the computer.
That might fix it.


Really, try booting in stripped down mode, aka safe mode or diagnostic startup.
Try having all the extras pulled out or unplugged before you boot too.
If you have on board video, take out your current card.

Strip things down,
and add them back until something crashes or reboots.

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

Hey equation,

Thanks for the idea, but thats essentially what i have done over the life of this problem, having replaced the psu twice cpu video card memory and hard drive already. i also use integrated sound and networking, which is a change from before having my own network card and sound card.

Also something new happened... I booted up my computer after doing that memtest that tedster recommended and when i booted next i got this screen that stops my boot up and says something like "Mediashare version "whatever", Locating Array.

i dont know why it says that but if i disconnect my cdrom it goes away... so whats that about?

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

Go and read this thread HERE and see if it helps you to identify the culprit.

If it doesn`t, attach 5 or 6 of your latest minidumps here.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

I am about to try to reset the page file....dont really know what that is btw. Also. I only have 2 minidumps in my directory there, its a new hard drive and computer, built about a month ago. So i also dont know what creates those or what those are.. but i'll throw them up here as well.

Anything on that mediashare deal, i want to rip my new led zeppelin cd so i can put it on my mp3 player.. gotta have the zep man.

Thanks for the advice!



Temperatures that everest gave me are the following...

GPU 56 Degree's C (133 F)

Then it say's WDC WD2500KS-00MJB0 (hard drive?) is at 33 degree's C (91 F)

I dont see a cpu temp in this program..

Here are my 2 minidumps. it has randomly restarted more than twice. so if minidumps are created only on system errors that are reported and give a log, this might not help, but i'm not familiar with this stuff so here ya be, thanks a lot for the help man!

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Both your minidumps crash at your graphics card drivers. Either update the drivers, or try and find a driver version that is stable on your system.

One of your minidumps has a bugcheck of EA.

0x000000EA: THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER

A device driver problem has caused the system to pause indefinitely (hang). Typically, this is caused by a display driver waiting for the video hardware to enter an idle state. This might indicate a hardware problem with the video adapter, or a faulty video driver.

As you can see, this might indicate a problem with the graphics card itself.

Try going down the driver route first and see if that helps.

Regards Howard

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

Hey hey thanks a lot man!

i'll do that tommorow right after work. let you know what happens (or hopefully what doesnt happen)

-bob

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

Hey guys,

the problem continues...


I updated my graphics drivers and i'm just not sure what i should do at this point... I almost think its some sort of wierd problem that i bought components that were geared toward vista and i'm still running xp so.... i dont know how worth it that operating system is but that option is beginning to lurk in the back of my mind.

 

[ubiquitousmorta]

Wanted to update you guys,

problem believed to be solved. and what i did was get rid of some old speakers i was using on the old computer and the new one. also i am using a soundcard and network card instead of those onboard features. Havent had a random restart yet and the bose speakers i bought work pretty fantastic.

It's nice not having it crash all the time. I don't know why the old speakers would have made my computer flip out though.

Thanks for all your help.