trying solving my random reboot mystery

[EgoFumPapa]

i just built and sold an older pc to a friend of mine. for reference, here are the specs.
soyo p4x400 dragon lite
p4 northwood 2.53 ghz (lapped)
geforce 4 440mx 64mb
western digital 80gb hdd
lite on 52x cd rw
lite on 16x dvd
1024mb pc2100 (2x 512 sticks)

the hdd and cd/dvd drives are brand new from new egg. ive used the mobo, vid card, and processor for months and they all work fine. when i put his system together everything was ok, but when he took it home and played some morrowind it restarts on him frequently and doesnt let him boot to windows. i got him into windows again once already, just resetting cmos and reconfiguring bios, but its happened again. the only thing in question here is the case and psu i put this in. its just some generic case with a 400w no-name psu i got for dirt cheap off of ebay. could it be this crappy psu thats restarting his computer? i have not ever used it prior to building his pc.

 

[bert202]

Possible, my A+ book says that if you get random reboots that the first guess is the power supply, maybe trade him powersupplies with your system for a week and see if the problems follows the power supply. Or just plain replace it

 

[mdcomp]

Is it running windows xp? If so, we can probably generate a BSOD error. It will be helpful because then we can use the information in it to figure out whats wrong. To enable the computer to report this error instead of just automatically restart try this...
Right-click my computer
Properties
Advanced Tab
Startup and Recovery Settings
Uncheck automatically restart and make sure everything else Under System failure is checked

Also check the event viewer, some information might be in there, too. If you do get a BSOD copy down what it says. Thats very helpful in solving problems. The PSU could be the issue, but lets rule out any software, ram or hard drive issue, first, by generating an error. Good luck!

Matt

 

[glock19owner]

Check the PSU as mentioned...also...check the memory timings and memory...make sure your friend isnt messing with the BIOS settings when they get home...

 

[diehrd]

I would look at the event log if it is XP O/S to start.I would then make sure the drivers for the video and sound were the latest if he is crashing while playing a game and I would also make sure the heatsink is set right and the fan is cranking up..If all this is ok try to swap the PSU..

 

[EgoFumPapa]

when i built it for him, i installed a brand new oem version of xp home, i know he hasnt been in the bios, because he is pretty computer illiterate. i downloaded all windows updates and the latest versions of the drivers he needed too. ill go over and check the error reports later this weekend and report back here. but i was wondering, if it is the power supply thats upsetting the hardware, can that at all be dangerous to damage anything?

edit: i havent yet seen it since he told me his latest problems, but aparently its caught in the loop of restarting indefinitely.

 

[bert202]

Could possible hurt something, it doesn't take a huge voltage spike to kill something but i would be supprised if it did. My guess is that it is losing voltage to make it crash which shouldn't hurt anything (other than possible file corruption)

 

[Yuriman]

i downloaded all windows updates and the latest versions of the drivers he needed too.

I have stability and speed issues with windows updates, where windows is constantly laggy and occasionaly reboots randomly, I find it a lot better to just install a virus and anti-spyware program than to update. My friend has had similar results. I would suggest a reformat and skip the updates.

 

[340Duster]

If it helps, I random lockups with an Antec 400w psu replacing a cheap 300w no name one.

 

[EgoFumPapa]

well i went over there today, and looked at it. it powered on and posted, but wouldnt load windows. it just hung at a blank screen after post. so i booted from the xp cd, and did a repair and now it works fine again. i checked the idle cpu temps in the bios, and they are a bit high. it was at like 43c. since the cpu is lapped though, and its on a coolermaster hsf rated at 3ghz, i dont see why. i applied new thermal gel last week too. when the computer shut itself off it did while playing morrowind. so the load temps may be too much. but either way, im not sure what to do next if this happens again other than what i have been doing. i could try a new cooler, or a new powersupply, but i dont want to if i dont have to. he just said he wont play morrowind anymore.

 

[Outlaw Wizard]

memory

you might download mem86 and run it to see if there is a problem with the memory .

 

[CeeDeeJay]

Suggestion

Maybe you could try to use a system restore.You might have to go into the safe mode to enter but it might help you isolate the problem --- in the mean time I would be pricing power supplies.

 

[Asteras]

why did you sell it to him man. you could have done a good pc.
bad thing

 

[XunknownX]

You got the FSB set correctly for the CPU? I pushed mine to far then i got loopign reboots. Even when I put it back to stock settings.

 

[EgoFumPapa]

yeah the fsb is at 133 where it should be. one thing about this board/processor combination though, if the vcore is set at default, nothing will boot. its not enough for the cpu. i have to set it at around 1.5v or more manually to get the cpu to boot. i think i will just pick up a new psu just because, either way i really dont trust the one he has. its a 400w and is called "sunshine" soooo, yeah its bantha fodder.

any good suggestions for a $40 or less psu?

 

[Outlaw Wizard]

THIS IS A GOOD PS FOR ABOUT 40

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-104-966&catalog=58&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0

 

[AlucardCasull]

Is it running windows xp? If so, we can probably generate a BSOD error. It will be helpful because then we can use the information in it to figure out whats wrong. To enable the computer to report this error instead of just automatically restart try this...
Right-click my computer
Properties
Advanced Tab
Startup and Recovery Settings
Uncheck automatically restart and make sure everything else Under System failure is checked

Also check the event viewer, some information might be in there, too. If you do get a BSOD copy down what it says. Thats very helpful in solving problems. The PSU could be the issue, but lets rule out any software, ram or hard drive issue, first, by generating an error. Good luck!

Matt

how do you read the .dmp files in that dump?

 

[Paiynn]

Im leaning towards memory... you never did mention where it came from. You said so-and-so was new and so-and-so was used... the memory was nowhere in there.