HELP!!! System reboots for NO REASON. ANY IDEAS??!?!

[xerocool]

this doesn't happen that much anymore, but it used to happen alot on my old system. i'm running WinXP Pro on a P4 3.06b with Soyo SY-P4I 845PE V1.0 with 2GB dual pc2700 mushkin. my old system was a AMD 1700+ T-bred on a FIC AN-11 with 1x 512MB Kingston 1x 512MB Crucial PC2100 also running WinXP Pro. neither of these systems are overclocked and both use a Radeon 9700 Pro.

my old system (AMD) used to crash ALOT, like i'd be doing something then suddenly i'd hear this *CLICK* sound and my system would restart. no blue screen, no error, it was never the same application or anything, it could be standing there idle and then suddenly *CLICK* and it'd reset. i haven't reformatted or reinstalled XP on this machine in like half a year.

my new system (P4) doesn't crash as much, but the same stuff applies- the clicking sound and everything. however, it does hang up alot more, like for no reason it'll just stall and nothing I do (control-alt-delete) will work, so i'm forced to reboot. i just recently (2 weeks ago) reformatted and reinstalled XP.

if anyone has ever had similar problems and were able to resolve them, please let me know!

 

[lansens]

There are many things that can be the cause. What PSU are you using. What drives are you using? What programs do you have running?

I had a major problem running AVG7 on my machine. Choked the hell out of it. I went back to AVG6 and the problem is gone. My point is it could be just about anything. We need to pinpoint what you are doing exactly when the reboot happens.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Are you using the same memory from your old system?

 

[markjs]

I had one system that froze up because of exploded caps. Just a thought....

 

[novice]

When I had stability issues with my new Nforce 2 motherboard and overclocked XP1700+, I replaced the power supply (generic 320W to an Enlight 420W) and it helped some, but didn't cure it. Replaced the two cheap PNY Optima ram sticks (spektek chips) with a single Kingston Valueram 512 mb stick with winbond CH-6 chips, and it has been rock solid ever since. The first two things I would suspect are the power supply and ram, in that order. What kind and what is the rating on your power supply? Your ram should be okay, as Mushkin, Crucial and Kingston are all pretty decent brands. I would suspect power supply, if it is a 300W generic, or 250W cheapo. Those Radeon 9700 cards draw a lot of juice, as does a P4 or XP with DDR ram. Curious what your power supply is, it may be on the brink.

 

[xerocool]

i'll refer to AMD system as 1 and P4 system as 2, so that'll make things a bit quicker.

on 1 and 2 i'm using an Antec 350W PS. the drive on 1 is a 20GB IBM deskstar 7.2k 2MB cache and 1x BTC 16x DVD drive and 52x LiteOn CDRW. 2 has 2x 160GB Maxtor Diamondmax9 Plus 7.2k 8mb cahe and 1x 200GB Western Digital Caviar 7.2k 8mb cache and a Samsung 16x48x DVD/CDRW combo drive. apps on 1 are kazaa-lite, aim, nortonsystemworks 2k4, ebay toolbar, google toolbar. apps on 2 are aim, google toolbar, java.

memory on 2 is different than 1 because it's 2GB of mushkin pc2700 whereas 1 is 1gb of crucial and kingston pc2100.

i don't know about anything else, i thought for a while it might be the PS, cuz i had ALOT of shiet plugged into 1 (all HDD's on 2 were in 1 previously) but Antec is a pretty good PS, and 350W should be enough. i was considering for a while getting a UPS just to make sure, but they run about $100 so i'm not ready to buy one just yet.

i don't think anything is blown in my computer, my previous comp before 1 had it's CPU fry cuz i didn't notice the fan went bad, so i'm a cooling maniac now- 1 has 9 fans and 2 has about 10 fans.

any ideas? (thanks for your help btw!)

 

[novice]

Well, the Antec power supplies are supposed to be among the best. I assume you have the SL-350, which is rated at 16A on the 12V rail. That should be enough, but you are working your #2 system pretty hard with 2 GB of PC-2700 ram and those 3 7200 rpm hard drives, not to mention a CPU and power hungry video card. I would also presume you are running multiple cooling fans to keep the temps within range. My Enlights are rated at 18A on the 12 volt rail, and I have a Sparkle 350W unit that is only rated 15A on the 12v rail, and haven't had issues with either power supply, but then my systems aren't as loaded as yours. I know it may not help, but it would be interesting to try a higher rated PSU just to see if it makes a difference. I guess you could also try unplugging a drive or two again, just to see if it made any difference. I would also research different forums to see if anyone else is running a similar system, with that much ram. Maybe an issue with the motherboard's ram slots and not enough voltage available? Anyone else?

 

[redbeard1]

You might turn off the automatically reboot feature in the system properties\startup-recovery section. This may get you a blue screen message, instead of the instant reboot.

 

[xerocool]

Originally posted by: redbeard1
You might turn off the automatically reboot feature in the system properties\startup-recovery section. This may get you a blue screen message, instead of the instant reboot.

i will try that. if i do get a blue screen, is there any easy way for me to interpret what the origin of the problem was?

and if i don't get a blue screen does that mean it is definitely a hardware issue?

 

[lansens]

Originally posted by: xerocool

Originally posted by: redbeard1
You might turn off the automatically reboot feature in the system properties\startup-recovery section. This may get you a blue screen message, instead of the instant reboot.

i will try that. if i do get a blue screen, is there any easy way for me to interpret what the origin of the problem was?

and if i don't get a blue screen does that mean it is definitely a hardware issue?

Google is your Friend! I Google everything.

 

[snidy1]

Probably Power supply or heat issue.

 

[ViciouS]

My brother and one of my good friends both had amd processors, both systems crashed while playing Warcraft III in the middle of a game for no apparent reason. No errors message just a crash. My friend who just built his computer exchanged the parts for Intel parts his computer hasn't crashed since. Amd has great performance but as for stability its INTEL all the way. As for me and my personal experiences I'll take stability over a slight performance increase ANY DAY. I know this is going to p-off a bunch of AMD Hardcores out there, but hey I?ve used both and seen the difference. I?m not talking from reviews and bench marks I?m speaking from personal experience, and this is coming from a guy who builds and supports computers for a living.

 

[xerocool]

Originally posted by: ViciouS
My brother and one of my good friends both had amd processors, both systems crashed while playing Warcraft III in the middle of a game for no apparent reason. No errors message just a crash. My friend who just built his computer exchanged the parts for Intel parts his computer hasn't crashed since. Amd has great performance but as for stability its INTEL all the way. As for me and my personal experiences I'll take stability over a slight performance increase ANY DAY. I know this is going to p-off a bunch of AMD Hardcores out there, but hey I?ve used both and seen the difference. I?m not talking from reviews and bench marks I?m speaking from personal experience, and this is coming from a guy who builds and supports computers for a living.

yeah, i understand what you're saying but my system 1 is AMD and my system 2 is Intel and they BOTH crash for no apparent reason. though i will admit the AMD crashed FAR MORE than the Intel, but also the AMD had everything the Intel has plugged into it AND i haven't reformatted the AMD in months.

i'm think i'm going with Snidy1 on this one, about the power supply issue at least. I can't really see any other reason, because my cooling solutions are through the roof- 9 fans in AMD 10 fans in Intel, i mean you really can't stuff any more in the box. though it's very strange because both PS's are Antec, and they have a good rep for stability. so maybe i should upgrade to a higher wattage then?

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: ViciouS
My brother and one of my good friends both had amd processors, both systems crashed while playing Warcraft III in the middle of a game for no apparent reason. No errors message just a crash. My friend who just built his computer exchanged the parts for Intel parts his computer hasn't crashed since. Amd has great performance but as for stability its INTEL all the way. As for me and my personal experiences I'll take stability over a slight performance increase ANY DAY. I know this is going to p-off a bunch of AMD Hardcores out there, but hey I?ve used both and seen the difference. I?m not talking from reviews and bench marks I?m speaking from personal experience, and this is coming from a guy who builds and supports computers for a living.

I too have used both (still do - AMD desktops, Intel laptop) and I don't see a difference in stability, with the notable exception of those induced by overclocking, which I am quick to alleviate, either with slower speeds or more voltage. My AMD's get worked harder than the P4 in my laptop, but they do a fine job.

 

[Zinn2b]

I read most the articles here I would look real hard at the P/S that well cause the problem that you described as for the AMD crashing easier I find that hard to believe as far as I know P4 are a little more power hunger than AMD thats why they run hotter

 

[xerocool]

Originally posted by: Zinn2b
I read most the articles here I would look real hard at the P/S that well cause the problem that you described as for the AMD crashing easier I find that hard to believe as far as I know P4 are a little more power hunger than AMD thats why they run hotter

i can only say what i see about the crashing. however i will reiterate that my AMD has been used alot longer and harder (it had everything the Intel has now plugged into it in addition to what it's currently using when i was using it) and i hadn't reformatted in half a year. i'm not sure the formatting matters, but at least in terms of power usage i will say the AMD system ate alot more than the P4.

well i guess i should look at getting a new PS, anyone have any good suggestions for 420 or 500+ watt PS's?

 

[Zinn2b]

I have been using the Aspire ATX-AS500W 12V in alot of customer machines and they work fine $65 at new egg

 

[sharq]

Here's a solution that a friend of mine discovered, something I'd never have thought of, so you could look into it.
Check all the wires to make sure none of the power wires are frayed(sp?) or cut slightly. In my friends case, the wires that come from the power button were slightly frayed, and whenever the frayed parts touched, the computer would reboot. So check the wires for the PS and the case.
If wires are fine, then my suggestions are as good as anyone else who's posted

Edit: Another thing you could try, if not already done, is disable the feature in windows to automatically reboot each time something goes wrong (might even be software). You do this by going to "System Properties" -> Advanced -> Startup and Recovery. You will see that under "system failure" default setting is to reboot. Not each time is the windows interpretation of a system failure fatal.