This is my first attempt to troubleshoot this problem online - I hope I have it in the right place!
I'm aware of the large number of restarting issues with windows XP but am yet to find any that quite match up to my own.
The system:
Windows XP Home (SP2)
Pentium 4 HT 3.4ghz
1gb DDRAM
ATI RADEON 9800 (256mb)
FIC Motherboard P4M 800M/T2
DVD RW, DVD ROM, Ethernet Adapter, WIFI Card, PCTV Card.
Power supply - 300w, (3.3v-28a, 5v-30a, 12v-15a)
I bought the machine about a year ago with the intention of pushing its high power - mainly through gaming, video editing etc. Sadly, however, this is where the problem lies.
It runs fine through the day - I have no problems with the thing at all - until I push it, either by playing a game (usually in saving or starting or even randomly in the middle of something like DOOM3, Rome:Total War etc) or attempting to save a video file - the computer will just restart suddenly.
When saving video files (using Adobe Premiere or even Moviemaker) it usually occurs in the same place, about 7-10% in. (I've been trying to save the same file for about 3 months now!) This will occur when just started up or having been running for hours.
It really is very very frustrating - I have read a great deal of similar problems and attempted to fix this through advice found on the net.
Firstly - I unchecked the box marked 'Automatically restart' in system properties so that I could read the error message on the blue screen.
However - this has made no difference at all - the computer still cuts out without warning.
-I have performed several system restores using the disk it came with. (The system did not come with an XP Home disk but a drivers restore disk with XP on it)
-I defragged it (as it was heavily fragmented) - no change.
-I took the side casing off to help cool it and put a fan heater right next to it blowing cold air into the tower.
-I bought a replacement Power Supply with increased wattage (450w) but this has made no difference.
Since I am unable to make the computer stop at the blue screen I assumed that it was a hardware issue - perhaps a safeguard to prevent damage?
Any suggestions for further action would be really appreciated.
Also: look in your Event viewer: rt. click My Computer then click Manage then Event Viewer.
Or: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or Start/Run/eventvwr
Open the system as well as the application tabs & look for X errors. Click error line for details.
Post back the source & event id especially of errors that seem to coincide with a crash.
Also:
Go to start | search (type in) .dmp
Note the location of your latest .dmp file.
Then:
1) Download and install the Debugging Tools from Microsoft
2) Download and install this debugwiz
3) Open the Wiz & Browse to, or paste in the path to, your latest .dmp file.
4) After the Wiz creates a Text document attach it back to this thread.
Thanks for the quick response!
Have updated my Catalyst drivers to the current version - (I then checked to see if it would crash - and it did, right on schedule. )
I bought the computer from Tiny.com (what I thought would be a reputable company - rather ironically they went bust about a month ago. I'm looking into whether my warranty will be refunded.)
The machine is a x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~3386mhz
Looking in the system and application tabs in event viewer immediately after the crash showed no red Xs or errors. The only commands are accompanied by the 'I' Information bubble and 'Service Control Manager'.
In 'application', the last command before the reboot was
"wuauclt (2948). The database engine stopped."
and others along similar lines. (Started new instance, stopped instance etc.) There were no errors.
Well in all honesty I've not heard of Conexant or Traceplus/Ethernet - neither show up on searches or in the dialog box for my ethernet controller. The computer has a Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast ethernet NIC device in it.
I've gone and completely uninstalled the ATI graphics drivers and Catalyst control centre - and then re-installed with the latest edition. (It booted to a mind bending 640x480 resolution but I quickly changed that!)
Everything seems to be fine with the picture now, however it took approx. 6 minutes to crash whilst playing Unreal Tournament (which is at least 5 years old and should be easily within my computers ability).
[It will also often will freeze whilst performing a pre-windows scan of the file system immediately after the crash. I usually re-boot manually and the check is then successful.]
It seems like the last .dmp file posted (08/07/2005) is the most recent .dmp file (of 6).
Any other ideas?
My own concern was initially about the power supply - I read somewhere on the net that the individual rails (3.3v, 5v, 12v) are just as important as the overall wattage and can cause system instability at high power when under spec.
My old power supply (300w overall, 3.3v-28a, 5v-30a and 12v-15a) is in fact better at the individual rails than the new 450w one. Particularly in the 12v rail, where the new one only registers at 14a (and -12 at 15a). I assumed my computer would require a minimum of 15/16a. Is this significant or am I incorrect?
Newbie
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