Random Restarts? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Scorpion23 · 08-21-2003, 04:28 PM

I have my girlfriend's computer here in front of me, and it likes to restart randomly. Although it seems to do it more when a load is placed on it. It was infrequent at first but now it barely gets past bootup, if even that far.

It does the same thing when I boot from a knoppix cd, so it's not the OS. And I've replaced the ram, with no results. I've even tried three different power supplies but nothing appears to be working. I'm afraid there's something wrong with the motherboard or cpu but I wanted a second opinion before I break the news to her.

Here are the stats:
PIII-450 (Slot 1)
Abit WB6 Motherboard
13Gb HD
160Mb Ram
Currently a 400W PS but I've also tried a 350W and 300W

I know it's not much to look at but it's all she needs for school. Anybody have some ideas on what could be wrong?

The_Dude · 08-21-2003, 04:46 PM

processor overheating??

check the temp's of the thing when it loads up.

Scorpion23 · 08-21-2003, 04:52 PM

No, it stays around 80-90F on boot, and the few times that it stayed on long enough a HW monitoring program showed an average of 110F.

parafoil · 08-21-2003, 07:14 PM

I had the same problem with a p3 450 slot one... I tried everthing and nothing changed until I put new 100mhz speed memory (128 meg. or smaller) in and everthing worked perfect again....
I used a pc-100 128meg chip and a pc-100 64 meg chip..................
I found out the memory had to be pc-100 and no bigger than 128 meg chips...................

Scott · 08-21-2003, 08:50 PM

Download and test the memory with memtest from http://www.memtest86.com/ . If the machine is only rebooting, chances are it's not the motherboard or processor. It's a power problem (which you switched out the power supply) or a memory problem. If your memory checks out ok, what I'd do next is bump up your voltages on your cpu and memory just a little and see how that works out, but if you haven't much experience with that, you can damage hardware doing that, so do so at your own risk. Good luck.

Scott

prairefire55 · 08-22-2003, 06:08 PM

my computer is doing the same thing too. it is a bluelight.com computer from kmart. the only thing i have done to it is added 128mb ram memory. it has a 7gb hard drive if that helps. it was fine b4 i got up to school. as soon as i installed my ethernet card software and hooked up to the knox college network it started to freeze up and restart randomly. sometimes i'm on for a while other times it doesn't get past the start up. do i have to get more ram for it? i need some help

Scorpion23 · 08-22-2003, 07:22 PM

Hmm, I had tried just one stick of Ram at a time (128Mb & 32Mb) but it still did it. I'll try the mem test program when I get back in town. Thanks for the link.

Ashton · 08-23-2003, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by prairefire55
my computer is doing the same thing too. it is a bluelight.com computer from kmart. the only thing i have done to it is added 128mb ram memory. it has a 7gb hard drive if that helps. it was fine b4 i got up to school. as soon as i installed my ethernet card software and hooked up to the knox college network it started to freeze up and restart randomly. sometimes i'm on for a while other times it doesn't get past the start up. do i have to get more ram for it? i need some help

Pull out the new ram stick and run your computer for awhile....... sometimes a different brand of ram won't work properly with the stick you already have, I had one 256 then added another 256 of a different brand...... then developed a bunch of problems, I replaced the ram with two new 256 sticks of the same brand and now my PC runs smooth as silk

cradeg · 08-23-2003, 12:34 PM

1) to weak power supply

2) heat problem

3) ramchip (get yourself a programm called memtest)

4) software problem

check one after another and you will find for sure the problem

Wyodiver33 · 08-23-2003, 06:29 PM

I recently had the same problem. It turned out that one of my monitors was pulling too hard on the video card connector. I rearranged a bit so that my cables had more slack and all is well. So, maybe just reseat the vid card. Worth a try.

StealYourFace · 08-23-2003, 09:13 PM

it could be one of worms going around because some friends of mine had the same porb and when the dled the security update it corrected it.

Realizm · 08-23-2003, 10:49 PM

Have you tried different plugin outlets? Maybe it's a problem on the circuit you are on..

Scorpion23 · 08-24-2003, 12:33 PM

I thought of it might me a worm or the OS until I booted with a knoppix cd and it still did it. And i've tried it at 3 different houses so it's not the power. The video card is also integrated into the motherboard. I'm going to try the memory test program when I get back in town tonight.

08-21-2003, 04:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
Scorpion23 Psycho	Random Restarts? I have my girlfriend's computer here in front of me, and it likes to restart randomly. Although it seems to do it more when a load is placed on it. It was infrequent at first but now it barely gets past bootup, if even that far. It does the same thing when I boot from a knoppix cd, so it's not the OS. And I've replaced the ram, with no results. I've even tried three different power supplies but nothing appears to be working. I'm afraid there's something wrong with the motherboard or cpu but I wanted a second opinion before I break the news to her. Here are the stats: PIII-450 (Slot 1) Abit WB6 Motherboard 13Gb HD 160Mb Ram Currently a 400W PS but I've also tried a 350W and 300W I know it's not much to look at but it's all she needs for school. Anybody have some ideas on what could be wrong?

08-21-2003, 04:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	processor overheating?? check the temp's of the thing when it loads up. __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

08-21-2003, 04:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
Scorpion23 Psycho	No, it stays around 80-90F on boot, and the few times that it stayed on long enough a HW monitoring program showed an average of 110F. __________________ "Empirically observed covariation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for causality" - Edward Tufte

08-22-2003, 07:22 PM	#7 (permalink)
Scorpion23 Psycho	Hmm, I had tried just one stick of Ram at a time (128Mb & 32Mb) but it still did it. I'll try the mem test program when I get back in town. Thanks for the link. __________________ "Empirically observed covariation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for causality" - Edward Tufte

08-23-2003, 12:34 PM	#9 (permalink)
cradeg Insane Location: Austria	:) 1) to weak power supply 2) heat problem 3) ramchip (get yourself a programm called memtest) 4) software problem check one after another and you will find for sure the problem __________________ *************************** For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is always wrong. ****************************

08-21-2003, 07:14 PM	#4 (permalink)
parafoil Insane Location: Ohio	I had the same problem with a p3 450 slot one... I tried everthing and nothing changed until I put new 100mhz speed memory (128 meg. or smaller) in and everthing worked perfect again.... I used a pc-100 128meg chip and a pc-100 64 meg chip.................. I found out the memory had to be pc-100 and no bigger than 128 meg chips...................

08-21-2003, 08:50 PM	#5 (permalink)
Scott Tilted	Download and test the memory with memtest from http://www.memtest86.com/ . If the machine is only rebooting, chances are it's not the motherboard or processor. It's a power problem (which you switched out the power supply) or a memory problem. If your memory checks out ok, what I'd do next is bump up your voltages on your cpu and memory just a little and see how that works out, but if you haven't much experience with that, you can damage hardware doing that, so do so at your own risk. Good luck. Scott

08-22-2003, 06:08 PM	#6 (permalink)
prairefire55 Upright Location: a small town in the midwest	my computer is doing the same thing too. it is a bluelight.com computer from kmart. the only thing i have done to it is added 128mb ram memory. it has a 7gb hard drive if that helps. it was fine b4 i got up to school. as soon as i installed my ethernet card software and hooked up to the knox college network it started to freeze up and restart randomly. sometimes i'm on for a while other times it doesn't get past the start up. do i have to get more ram for it? i need some help

08-23-2003, 06:29 PM	#10 (permalink)
Wyodiver33 Just here for the beer. Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Floriduh	I recently had the same problem. It turned out that one of my monitors was pulling too hard on the video card connector. I rearranged a bit so that my cables had more slack and all is well. So, maybe just reseat the vid card. Worth a try. __________________ I like stuff.

08-23-2003, 09:13 PM	#11 (permalink)
StealYourFace Upright	it could be one of worms going around because some friends of mine had the same porb and when the dled the security update it corrected it. __________________ peace

08-23-2003, 10:49 PM	#12 (permalink)
Realizm Insane Location: A fuzzy cloud.	Have you tried different plugin outlets? Maybe it's a problem on the circuit you are on..

08-24-2003, 12:33 PM	#13 (permalink)
Scorpion23 Psycho	I thought of it might me a worm or the OS until I booted with a knoppix cd and it still did it. And i've tried it at 3 different houses so it's not the power. The video card is also integrated into the motherboard. I'm going to try the memory test program when I get back in town tonight. __________________ "Empirically observed covariation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for causality" - Edward Tufte