Win 2k random reboot problem

[geecee]

Strange. My secondary system (Asus P4B533-VM w/1.7 Celeron, Kingston VR 512MB PC2700, 9800, 80GB WD HD 7200 8MB, Liteon DVD reader) started randomly rebooting. Viewing the event logs, I get a Event ID 1001 and a "The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was yada yada memory location yada". I can't make much out of the dump log either. Googling and searching MS's knowledge base have not turned up a definitive answer. So I set out to eliminate the obvious problems. Virus scan using AVG with latest signature file showed nothing. A run of memtest86 for 5 passes yielded no memory errors. Replaced the power supply - 300W Antec SL300 with a generic 300W from another system, but still got random reboots. No chkdsk probs on the HD either. I have since turned off automatic rebooting and am waiting for a blue screen to see what it says.

Now this is the weird thing, the machine had been humming along nicely for the last year or so until a week and a half ago when I got in on a Staples 4X DVD burner deal. I replaced the Liteon reader with that (OEM Optorite DD0201) and burned a test disk which came out OK (using Pinnacle InstantCopy). The next disk I tried to burn resulted in a reboot. I updated firmware on the burner and tried again with same result. Thinking something was wrong with InstantCopy, I installed the copy of DVD Shrink I had dl-ed two months earlier (still latest version I think). I also installed the latest version of DVD Decrypter so that I could burn the .iso created by DVD Shrink. Tried another test disk - rebooted during DVD decrypter image burn (COASTER!). At this point, I just figured that the burner was crap so I returned it and put my Liteon back in. But the random reboots have continued. At least 1 every two days or so, and sometimes once or twice a day. I did not install any new software other than DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink. Oh, I DL-ed an updated Instantcopy burner list and an Instantcopy patch/upgrade. Then I tried the things listed above. Anyone see anything like this before? Any advice before I do the tedious 4 hour format and OS/Service Pack/Patch/App re-install? 🙁 TIA folks.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that temps don't seem to be a problem either. I've been running Asus Probe (monitoring utility) and the CPU temp idles around 34C and gets up to about 44C max under load. MB temp is always low to mid 30s. I'm using the stock Celeron fan/heatsink. No OC-ing either. One Antec 80mm fan blowing out the back of the case. Fans all seem to be spinnning. Hmm....

 

[imported_raybay]

As a second check against the AVG, I would download the stinger program from McAfee or the recent virus removal tools from Symantec. It sounds like some kind of virus or worm to me. Stinger doesn't cost anything other than download time, and will do a full survey of your hard drive. On Symantec, you can select removal tools in a number of prorities.

I am not familiar with "bugcheck" but the report that you got on memory addresses could have given you the information you needed. Try re-running it, then do a search on Google with the numbers it reports. You could have a simple, but expensive, memory problem or a related hardware problem. The "address" info that these programs give you tell where and what the problem is... helped by a google search.

 

[geecee]

Thanks for response Ray. I'll give the 2nd opinion virus scan and the memory location search a shot. I'm wondering if I should let memtest86 run continuously for a while. I ran it for 5 passes last night (about 1/2 hr) and all seemed fine. It couldn't be DVD Decrypter or DVD Shrink could it? I don't think so as both progs have good reps and seemed to work well. Maybe I should try uninstalling them? I'm just reaching now...

UGH. Maybe I'll just use this as an excuse to get a new CPU/MB with a little more horsepower. 😛

 

[PingSpike]

Damn man, I swear I had that same bugcheck problem awhile ago...but I can't for the life of me remember what caused it or how I fixed it. Let me think about it and hopefully I will remember.

 

[Sianath]

What are the bugcheck details? You can find them in your system event log (or write them down when it occurs).

Make sure your machine is configured to capture a memory dump (get a mini dump for me to look at, 64k, and then configure it for a kernel mode memory dump).

If you get a mini dump, feel free to mail it to me at sianath@hotmail.com.

 

[geecee]

Thanks Sianath. I'll take another look at it later when I can and if nothing comes out of it, I might take you up on your generous offer. BTW, I scanned with McAfee also (from their site) and got nothing wrong as well.

It crashed again last night. Didn't reboot (I turned that off) but didn't get a BSoD either. Just a blank screen. I did step away from the machine for a while though (half hour or so). I left it doing some video encoding so I guess that's what it was doing when it died.