Random Reboots

[GTaudiophile]

My dad's machine, within the last week, has started experiencing random reboots. At first, it only happened when Internet Explorer was opened on the second time, and I tried fixing that by installing Firebird, but the problem persists in other ways now.

I have run Norton AV, Adaware, and Spybot, and all three have come up clean. I have run Defrag and Disk error checking too, and those two came up clean. His machine runs ASUS PCProbe, and I have monitored the logs. His fan speeds and power currents are all normal.

After rebooting, WinXP (SP1) gives this "Serious Error":

C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini090804-02.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER2.tmp.dir00\sysdata.xml

BCCode : 1000008e BCP1 : C0000005 BCP2 : 8051D9CF BCP3 : B6488CAC
BCP4 : 00000000 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 1_0 Product : 256_1

Event viewer consistently lists these errors:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: System Error
Event Category: (102)
Event ID: 1003
Date: 9/8/2004
Time: 10:20:01 PM
User: N/A
Computer: XXXX
Description:
Error code 1000008e, parameter1 c0000005, parameter2 8051d9cf, parameter3 b6488cac, parameter4 00000000.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 53 79 73 74 65 6d 20 45 System E
0008: 72 72 6f 72 20 20 45 72 rror Er
0010: 72 6f 72 20 63 6f 64 65 ror code
0018: 20 31 30 30 30 30 30 38 1000008
0020: 65 20 20 50 61 72 61 6d e Param
0028: 65 74 65 72 73 20 63 30 eters c0
0030: 30 30 30 30 30 35 2c 20 000005,
0038: 38 30 35 31 64 39 63 66 8051d9cf
0040: 2c 20 62 36 34 38 38 63 , b6488c
0048: 61 63 2c 20 30 30 30 30 ac, 0000
0050: 30 30 30 30 0000

---------------------------------------------------------

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Dhcp
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1007
Date: 9/8/2004
Time: 10:19:10 PM
User: N/A
Computer: XXXX
Description:
Your computer has automatically configured the IP address for the Network Card with network address 444553544200. The IP address being used is 169.254.241.150.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 00 00

---------------------------------------------------------

Event Type: Error
Event Source: DCOM
Event Category: None
Event ID: 10005
Date: 9/8/2004
Time: 10:19:38 PM
User: XXXX\Administrator
Computer: XXXX
Description:
DCOM got error "The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. " attempting to start the service ImapiService with arguments "-Service" in order to run the server:
{520CCA63-51A5-11D3-9144-00104BA11C5E}

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

---------------------------------------------------------

I personally am guessing it's a RAM issue.

Any suggestions? TIA!

 

[mechBgon]

What are the system's specs, including brand/model of RAM and PSU? Could you have him download the Memtest86 floppy-diskette maker, make a Memtest86 floppy and run it overnight? Also, is it protected by a firewall (hardware and/or software) and has it been fairly well patched? I see it doesn't have SP2 yet...

 

[Feep]

I would reinstall windows. If the problem persists then worry about your hardware. Of course some people seem to make a bigger deal about reinstalling the OS than it needs to be. For me i have two HD, so back up is a breeze. Its always nice to have a fresh version anyway.

On another note: never trust asus probe

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
What are the system's specs, including brand/model of RAM and PSU? Could you have him download the Memtest86 floppy-diskette maker, make a Memtest86 floppy and run it overnight? Also, is it protected by a firewall (hardware and/or software) and has it been fairly well patched? I see it doesn't have SP2 yet...

Mobo: ASUS CUSL2
CPU: Intel PIII-866
PSU: Enermax 350
RAM: 2x 256MB Corsair (PC133 SDRAM)
Video: ATi Radeon 7500
OS: WinXP PRO SP1a

Other then SP2, it has all the latest MS critical updates. Same goes for Norton Antivirus.

I'll do the memtest deal.

 

[mechBgon]

Got firewall? Even on dial-up, my ZoneAlarm was seeing, ohhh... a bit of action Mostly 'noise', I'm sure, but...

I know if my WinXP started randomly bombing, I also wouldn't hesitate to reinstall from scratch or just do an Automated System Recovery using my ASR Backup file, and SP2 is very nice too IMHO. If neither of you has the bandwidth to download the full SP2 installer, order it on CD from Microsoft, my CD came in about three days.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Got firewall? Even on dial-up, my ZoneAlarm was seeing, ohhh... a bit of action Mostly 'noise', I'm sure, but...

I know if my WinXP started randomly bombing, I also wouldn't hesitate to reinstall from scratch or just do an Automated System Recovery using my ASR Backup file, and SP2 is very nice too IMHO. If neither of you has the bandwidth to download the full SP2 installer, order it on CD from Microsoft, my CD came in about three days.

He's on DSL with a hardware (D-Link) router/firewall. Downloading SP2 would not be an issue.

I'll run memtest and upgrade to Adaware SE.

Obviously, if the machine reboots during the installation of WinXP after a low-level format, the problem would be hardware.

 

[GTaudiophile]

So running memtest86 yielded no errors and the machine had no reboots during the 1 hour or so it ran the test.

Starting to think now that it is a software issue.

 

[Feep]

Reinstall. What have u got to lose?

 

[Oyeve]

My main pc would occasionally reboot if I launched AOL with my broadband. I figured it was AOL just being AOL but the problem went away after I installed SP2. I still dont know what caused it.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I am going to format and reinstall this weekend.

I looked at it again this morning and installed Adaware SE. SE found about 60 errors that the previous version did not find, I deleted those errors, but the reboot issues continued.

 

[mechBgon]

As a best-practices thing, when you do reinstall, I'd set up the system with an Admin-class account that is used only when Administrator privileges are necessary, and a Limited-class account for Dad to actually use in day-to-day work. This will be a huge stumbling block to any spyware he might inadvertantely click on (although with Service Pack 2's blocking of ActiveX junk, that'll be less of a hazard). Give the Admin accounts strong passwords while you're at it, not to thwart users so much as to thwart share-hopping worms that are hoping for a weak or blank password.

I also favor disabling System Restore since it's consistently got to be disabled anyway to get rid of malware. Why let it be used as a hiding place in the first place? Heh, I had a co-worker bring in her Dell Dementia 4600 that had a Trojan and spyware... it had something like 35GB of System Restore files. Outta there! :evil:

 

[cy7878]

causes for random reboots that I can think of are:

1.overheating / bad CPU
2.bad RAM
3.Virus
4.bad HD cables
5.MB going bad
6.PSU going bad

What makes people think reinstalling Windows will do any good?

 

[beatle]

Also make sure there isn't a card in a slot that it doesn't like. If you've recently installed a card or moved cards around, it might be time for a change.

I'm having similar reboot problems right now - my comp will just reboot (as if I hit the reset button) 2-3 times a day. This usually happens when there is no load on the cpu. Rarely does it happen in a game. This happened before because of a card issue. I have no idea what's causing it now.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Nothing has been installed recently on his machine.

The 2 account deal (Admin + Dad) is something I've considered before. Will consider it some more.

Like I said, I ran memtest86 for an hour: no memory problems and no reboots.
I've ran NAV, Adaware SE, and Spybot: all clean.
I've ran Disk Defrag and Error Checking tools: no problems found.

I guess that leaves me with either bad Windows, bad PSU, bad mobo, or bad CPU...

 

[beatle]

Run memtest86 overnight at least.