Just Shuts Down

[hifi]

Hey all, not sure if this is common or not, but my newest system has a little "glitch" (an unpleasent one at that). I can be in the middle of surfing around on the web, downloading, burning (hasn't happened while I have been gaming for 6 hrs though??? ) and my system just decides to reboot!!!! I have been told by a friend who builds quite a few systems (out of his home) that he runs into that frequently for the first couple of weeks once he has a new 'puter up and running. It then "works" out the bugs (by itself apparently) and never has the issue again. I just wonder if this could be a possiblity (I have my doubts ) Or if I should be looking in another direction. I have replaced the mobo for a bad dimm, replaced a bad vid/card (Don't buy the GeForce 4 mx 440's by the way, replaced w/Geforce 3 ti200) and the memory (went from 2x 256 DDR's to 1 512mb DDR). So I am thinking either software??? or possibly power supply? Just looking for some tips as to how to go about trouble shooting this. (Just in case it doesn't "work" itself out )

Thanks in advance!!
hifi

AMD Athlon XP 1900+ @1612
ASUS A7V266-E w/onboard 6 ch sound
Volcano 6 Cu + Heatsink w/60cfm fan
Seagate Barracuda IV 40gb/7200rpm
A-Open GeForce3 Ti-200 w/aluminum htsnk on ram
350w Enermax (whisper) pwr sup. w/diode control heat sensor
512MB PC2100 DDR (Nanya)

[hifi]

oh yeah...I am running Win 2kpro (just in case someone thinks it may be software related) and have reformated 2x with all the latest service packs etc.....

Thanks

[EvilRick]

My first guess would be the power supply is loose in the case. I've heard of this a lot actually. Make sure it is installed real good.

[jman01pa]

I 2nd the power supply. You may want to open your case and make sure all your connections and screws are tight. You could have a flaky ground or a loose cable. I doubt it is OS related...

Good luck...

J

[Kuasimodem]

My aunt had a similar problem with her system, until I was over there one day troubleshooting it. I was just downloading the latest drivers when it rebooted by itself, I also noticed that the fridge started right at the time of the reboot.
She was experiencing a voltage drop because the fridge was on the same circuit as her computer in the house. We went to Best Buy and got her a UPS since she was using the only available plugin in the room. Her problem went away.

You might want to check the source voltage to your computer if you live in an older house, "brown outs" can cause your computer to reboot.

[Polygon]

NO, it is not normal for a new system to just randomly reboot. And no it will not just work itself out. Most of the time Win2K will reboot rather than just lock up. There could be many issues causing this. Software, or perhaps some bad RAM, mobo, or CPU. Most likely some software is causing it to reboot.

[hifi]

I really hope that it isn't hardware related. I will check the power supply. It is so random too! It's not like the machine has to be warmed up or anything. I have experianced "lock ups" too where everything just freezes and the only option is to reboot...hmmm....maybe I have two problems here....

[hifi]

Anyone know of any good troubleshooting free/shareware???

[dragonb]

I agree with Polygon, not normal to do this, and it will not work itself out.

I've been having a similar problem for a week or so. I did suspect power supply, but it's not a new built system, and had been fine.
Running XP, all latest patches, and I'm talking immediate reboots, like you just turned off the power strip and flipped it back on.
Anyway, checked my event log, and a program called True Vector Engine was the culprit. Finally figured out that that was Zonealarm. Turned it off, no more reboots.
Morale of the story...I thought for sure it was hardware, cuz the reboot was so instantaneous, like loss of power. And, it wasn't. So, sorry, it could be anything. Check the logs, check the power, check the heat, run some burn-in or benchmarking programs. Try the free download of sisoft sandra.
good luck,
dragonb

[ocit]

if you have your fsb too high it will randomly restart, or if there is a heat problem sometimes.