Pc Keeps A Rebootin

[bobgo2728]

OK gang here is a doozy for you all. Recently I had my PC that worked just fine decide eh I am not going to do that now and keeps rebooting. I ran a memtest on it and it failed but could not figured out which of the 3 sticks it was. So I have pulled them all out and running tests on them by them selves. Also, before I ran any of these tests my PC would not boot and would beep.....beep.....beep at me. So I that is when I finally got it show me a message that stopped in the POST with Verifying DMI Information or something like that.

I also thought maybe my HDs were and issue so I ran the tests that seagate offers on them and they all passed even the memory one. I noticed one time the FS partion test on the HDs did not pass for both. controllers, etc all fine. Said the drives were good just not the File Structors. so I did a low level format on them both.

So I am stuck here with a PC being a pain and running memtests. BTW, 2 out of the 3 chips here are kingston. Do they not have a lifetime warrenty?

Also, here is wackyness to boot. I use logmein.com and noticed when I try to login into a remote PC my PC reboots itself. Could my video card be the problem or what? I am thinking more memory then anything. PLEASE PLEASE HELP a Brotha out.

[shanenin]

I would start with the most probable, the memory. Were you able to figure out what stick or memory slot might be bad?

[TheTerrorist_75]

Kingston memory sticks do have a lifetime warranty. Try running just those two sticks together and check them with memtest. That file structure problem and the rebooting could be caused by a failing power supply.

[bobgo2728]

I am going to try moving the slots around. I tried them all in the same slot. If they give me errors in all 3 slots, then what? I have to get a new motherboard? I mean the PS is less then a year old now. I would hate to replace it again.

Kingston memory sticks do have a lifetime warranty. Try running just those two sticks together and check them with memtest. That file structure problem and the rebooting could be caused by a failing power supply.

[TheTerrorist_75]

What brand is the power supply and what wattage? Cheap power supplies can go bad in a short time. Yes I would try each stick of memory separately in each slot to see if it's just a bad stick or slot. If all slots are bad then a new mobo would be in your future.

[bobgo2728]

I got the 350 watt PS from http://www.ditcorp.com since they are a local store here. ALLIED 350 WATTS ATX POWER SUPPLY is what I bought.

What brand is the power supply and what wattage? Cheap power supplies can go bad in a short time. Yes I would try each stick of memory separately in each slot to see if it's just a bad stick or slot. If all slots are bad then a new mobo would be in your future.

[TheTerrorist_75]

Allied is on the not recommended list at Aluvus' site. I think you'll find that it is probably dying.

The Big Power Supply Guide - Brands

[bobgo2728]

Never heard of them. It was what I could afford if that is the case that it is dying.

Allied is on the not recommended list at Aluvus' site. I think you'll find that it is probably dying.

The Big Power Supply Guide - Brands

[martymas]

with my own compt i found restarts

are caused by hardware issues

like display and sound card drivers

or virus

or hijack

many posters do not include these issues when they post

my suggestion

go to device manager

and uninstall those video and sound card drivers

then reboot

as windows will find the drivers

then go to start-control panel -sys -advanced-

sys recovery-settings -

and uncheck automatic restarts

this will stop the restarts

or is suppose to

but you need to find out why it has been giving this trouble

and at a guess i would say 3 reasons

hardware- virus -hi-jack

marty

[bobgo2728]

No video card is ok or I would not be getting any video. That is the only thing that I think would not go out. Sound card is is on board so why would I miss with that. I am thinking that the Power Supply that I bought back in May is taking a dump on me and if it is I will just replace it. If not I think it is time for me to get a new PC of some type. I would like to get a MAC that I can play on with Windows. so it will have to be an intel machine. any thoughts.

with my own compt i found restarts

are caused by hardware issues

like display and sound card drivers

or virus

or hijack

many posters do not include these issues when they post

my suggestion

go to device manager

and uninstall those video and sound card drivers

then reboot

as windows will find the drivers

then go to start-control panel -sys -advanced-

sys recovery-settings -

and uncheck automatic restarts

this will stop the restarts

or is suppose to

but you need to find out why it has been giving this trouble

and at a guess i would say 3 reasons

hardware- virus -hi-jack

marty

[martymas]

are you able to disable the onboard sound card

and try a sound card in the pci slot then see if it gives problems

i think sound cards are cheap

here in new zealand sound cards are $5 for a sixty mg

that is good enough for testing

did you disable the automatic restarts

and does your compt restart in safe mode

if it does it is a hardware problem if it dosent

it is a software problem

or thios is how you trouble shoot

marty

[shanenin]

did you have any luck with the memory in a different slot?

[bobgo2728]

Moved memory to a different slots and ran memtest and it said all is good. Now I think the IDE slots are bad. I say this as I tried to reinstall windows and got blue screened with the DOS setup. I tried to move the drives to a different IDE slot and same result. So I am thinking that the IDE is broke. But I ran tests and things from Seagate on them and all ran just fine on the drives and the MOBO sees the drives. I am getting a something POOL error each time I try to install. Is this meaning HD, Video, or what?

did you have any luck with the memory in a different slot?

[TheTerrorist_75]

What is the exact error?

[bobgo2728]

Well I know one thing was "_POOL"

What is the exact error?

[TheTerrorist_75]

0x000000C2 BAD_POOL_CALLER? Try it again and write down any errors exactly.

[martymas]

has your hdd been formatted

which will cause blue screen

and make sure you have the main drive set as master

go to

www.bootdisk.com

and make a win98 bootdisk floppy

set your bios to boot from the floppy

insert it then reboot

once opened

fdisk and format it

then try installing windows

make sure to reset the bios to read from the xpcd

marty

[BenR]

Let's put this in perspective folks...

He had reboots whenever he remote accessed another pc.

So he tried testing his RAM, and one stick tested bad once. (If I'm wrong, PLEASE correct me immediately!)

He tested his drives, they tested fine but had file structure issues...

He low lvl'd 'em, and try to reinstall.

Blue screen.

Okay... this sounds to me like at least one of the following:

Motherboard is failing

If the network card is onboard, and the IDE/SATA is onboard (wich one u using?), then perhaps the motherboard is failing.

Power Supply is failing

It was mentioned it was cheap. It could cause all of these issues, and potentially cause PERMANENT damage.

Ram is failing

It *did* fail a test at least once.

My suggestion to you:

Try a live linux cd. I suggest this for a few reasons.

1. linux should very well use the hardware at its fullest potential, much like Windows.

2. it won't damage your hard drives (bad power could kill 'em)

ALSO DON'T FORGET TO UNPLUG ANY EXTRANEOUS DRIVES!!!

If it could be the power supply failing, lessening the over all load could buy you more time.

Good luck!

[bobgo2728]

OK here is the current status.

1) moved RAM into different slots and ran memtest and all OK after 2 passes+

2) took Power Supply back to dealer for testing and all checked ok according to them.

3) HDs are fine with the tests I have run from Seagate off the ultimate boot CD

4) have low leveled them a few times now

5) tried new cables as in IDE

6) taken out one of the HDs to see if it is a drive issue, no because it works in another system.

Not sure what else I can do to fix the problem. I will try a linux install CD but I want to have this thing work and not have to purchase a new MOBO, RAM, CPU, and Video Card.

Let's put this in perspective folks...

He had reboots whenever he remote accessed another pc.

So he tried testing his RAM, and one stick tested bad once. (If I'm wrong, PLEASE correct me immediately!)

He tested his drives, they tested fine but had file structure issues...

He low lvl'd 'em, and try to reinstall.

Blue screen.

Okay... this sounds to me like at least one of the following:

Motherboard is failing

If the network card is onboard, and the IDE/SATA is onboard (wich one u using?), then perhaps the motherboard is failing.

Power Supply is failing

It was mentioned it was cheap. It could cause all of these issues, and potentially cause PERMANENT damage.

Ram is failing

It *did* fail a test at least once.

My suggestion to you:

Try a live linux cd. I suggest this for a few reasons.

1. linux should very well use the hardware at its fullest potential, much like Windows.

2. it won't damage your hard drives (bad power could kill 'em)

ALSO DON'T FORGET TO UNPLUG ANY EXTRANEOUS DRIVES!!!

If it could be the power supply failing, lessening the over all load could buy you more time.

Good luck!

[TheTerrorist_75]

How did he test the PSU? Did the dealer check each leg for voltages within spec? List the hardware in your computer (CPU, drives, graphics card and etc.). A cheap 350W power supply couldn't even begin to run my 5 year old AMD XP 2400+ system.

I would still like the complete actual error(s) when you try a new install of XP.

[lefty1953]

Try only one stick of ram the video card and only one HDD. Make sure it is set to Master. Then try formatting and installing Windows. Disconnect everything else. Make sure the inside of the case is clean. Use a can of AIR to clean it out. Never touch the contacts of the memory or any other PCI AGP card with your fingers.

You might also want to set the BIOS to the default settings.

Edited September 4, 2007 by lefty1953

[BenR]

The point to pulling *everything else* out of the case is to lower the load on the power supply.

A generic power supply tester simply checks for voltage on the pins- not the limitations of load on before mentioned pins.

I suggest a live linux cd to simply test the hardware in a controlled environment- most live linux distros run without hitches out of the box, and a major problem trying to use one would point to more specific hardware issues as Linux is more low-level than Windows.

You can use a live cd to push your hardware... without putting it at risk. You can also remove your hard drive(s) entirely with this method, thereby lowering the power requirements overall... making it that much more of a valuable troubleshooting route to take (you can remove more hardware from the equation before you begin.) After booting off the cd, just play one of the included games... if it works, somehow your Windows itself is getting messed up during initial install. I would keep using the live cd day by day until the pc froze and gave a more descriptive error... it isn't pretty, but it works and is free...

***ALERT***

If your hard drive(s) **EVER** have soft errors from power issues (soft errors are issues scandisk can fix usually), it can PERMANENTLY DAMAGE the drive(s) from continued use! You are playing with fire if you keep trying to use this machine- you may trash the drive(s) beyond software repair!

BEGIN POWER SUPPLY RANT--->

(All views expressed in this rant are mine, and you are entitled to share or refuse my views. To the best of my knowledge, my views are correct in the technical sense. If wrong information is given, it is totally an accident. Read the rant, maybe I made an ass out of myself and proved I had no idea.)

Honestly, no matter what *anyone* ever tells/told you:

Just short of a specific custom low-power build, most PCs will require 500watts or more- KEEPING IN MIND you *never* want to run a power supply at anywhere near maximum capacity!

And if you have case fans... you better add at least 25 watts for every fan to be safe.

And if you are running dual video cards, you better have *AT LEAST* a 750watt to be safe.

Personally, I won't use less than 500watts on *anything*; if the machine isn't a 'basic' build, I'll put a 750watt in it or a 1500watt depending on build.

END POWER SUPPLY RANT--->

It is *very* likely all of your issues are caused by too little current on your power supply. Removing as much hardware as possible before beginning your troubleshooting is just good sense.

Intermittent hardware issues almost always points to power supplies.

Almost always.

Almost.

Always.

So, we are all sorry to be driving this point home so hard... it is just that important and usually the issue. Combined with the brand of power supply, all obvious evidence points to power supply.

If you could list the hardware in this machine, we can definately tell you if that power supply could technically even run that board. An under-powered psu can struggle along for months before the user asks too much finally and trips it. Once it is tripped the first time, every trip afterwards is easier at that load- hence the reason for removing as much hardware as possible BEFORE troubleshooting any farther.

Good luck, and

*remove any 2nd or 3rd harddrives/cd/dvd devices, usb devices, and added internal devices not included* before even plugging it in!*

[BenR]

and a live linux cd is faster than getting 85% through installing windows to have it freeze with no descriptive errors.

seriously, I love live OS distros... *very* useful.

[bobgo2728]

OK here is my PC

2 kingston 256MB RAM chips

1 Generic 512MB RAM chip

1 AMD 2800 XP+

1 Seagate 120GB HD

1 CD/CDR burner

1 DVD Burner

1 BIOSSTAR M7NCD Pro Mobo

and the PS mentioned already. I have 3 case fans

and a live linux cd is faster than getting 85% through installing windows to have it freeze with no descriptive errors.

seriously, I love live OS distros... *very* useful.

[TheTerrorist_75]

That is similar to my setup except I have two hard drives. I bought a Sparkle 350W PSU that is quite capable of running my setup. I tried an el cheapo no name 400W PSU and it wouldn't even start the system. Cheap power supplies can cause all kinds of errors. The people who sell them will tell you they are good as long as they test "close" to the voltage specs. Many of those 300/350W rated el cheapos don't even put out half of what they state under load.

OK here is my PC

2 kingston 256MB RAM chips

1 Generic 512MB RAM chip

1 AMD 2800 XP+

1 Seagate 120GB HD

1 CD/CDR burner

1 DVD Burner

1 BIOSSTAR M7NCD Pro Mobo

and the PS mentioned already. I have 3 case fans

and a live linux cd is faster than getting 85% through installing windows to have it freeze with no descriptive errors.

seriously, I love live OS distros... *very* useful.