Why is my PC crashing?

[JackHawksmoor]

This has been driving me nuts!

At work I?ve got a:

Pentium 3 1Ghz
Intel i815 motherboard
384MB PC133 CL-3 (2 sticks, both good Micron stuff)
Geforce 2 64MB
Pioneer DVD drive
Sound Blaster Live!
Quantum 20GB hard drive (5400, probably)
And through USB I?ve got a powered hub, CD-RW, and Handspring cradle (and mouse)

Powered off a dinky 235watt power supply-the PSU is also the only source of cooling in this thing, and it?s back is only a few inches from the back of a desk (though it really doesn?t seem super-hot in there).

Running Windows ME, XP.

It?s a hand me down that apparently ran stably for it?s previous user. I stuck the Sound Blaster Live!, Geforce 2, and one extra stick of RAM in it to make it more usable. In ME it crashes maybe 1-6 times a day, and in XP it?s maybe 0-3 times, but it?s still crashing.

I?ve tried pulling stuff out to see if there was a problem component. I started with all my USB devices except the mouse, and one stick of RAM. That seemed to run stably for close to 24 hours. I plugged the USB stuff back in, and it rebooted a half hour later, but has been running okay for a few hours now.

It didn?t occur to me until today, but I wonder if the issue is a lack of power? Twice now I?ve had XP spontaneously reboot (it?s set not to, so presumably it?s a hardware thing), but I haven?t had any ?regular? crashes/lockups since I?ve taken some of the stuff out.

Any ideas? I?d think overheating could cause ?regular? crashes, while not enough power could cause reboots?but can not enough power cause ?regular? crashes?

EDIT: Oh yeah, also I was running Zonealarm (whatever the newest version is), and quit using that when I started to try to trouble shoot. It's rebooted without ZA's help though

 

[LiLithTecH]

This may clear it up for you.

Computer Stops Responding When You Install Windows XP on a Computer with an i815 Chip Set Motherboard

 

[JackHawksmoor]

Thanks, but I think I figured out what the problem was...

I downloaded Intel's Active Monitor program (don't know why I didn't think of this earlier), and it turns out my CPU is running at 95C (203F)! That's about double what it's maximum run temp is supposed to be. Weird thing is, the CPU fan's working.

Needless to say I'm shutting it down as soon as I get my crap off of it.

Thanks for the response though!

 

[nolovenohope]

Somehow I doubt taht it is really running that hot. To my knowledge, the only chip to run even close to that hot and still function properly is the Tbirds and to my knowledge I don't even recall any getting that hot. I remember reading somebody hitting 80C with his and still function, but never more than that. So I don't even think an Intel would do that because when I had my Intel P3 1ghz setup about a year ago, it would automatically reboot at 65C nevermind staying on and hitting 90C....

 

[JackHawksmoor]

So the sensor could be wrong? Geez, just what I need, another complication.

 

[altonb1]

Try CPUCool to see if you get the same temps in it. Not that I think you even want to consider it, but CPUCool will also allow you to OC via software settings, but mainly, this app is good about telling you the various temps on your system Try it and compare with the temp readings you already got.

SiSoft Sandra is pretty good, too, and it will give you diags on the entire system, not just temps.