Strange reboots occuring at random intervals

[Nagendra]

Hi All

I have a Windows XP SP2 box which I assembled. It has been working fine for
teh past three years and I have never had major issue. Recently however it
has started to simply reboot itself for no apparent reason. I did change the
power supply in Jan 2007. What happens is that I am working on something and
- boom - the machine restarts. When it comes back alive, I DO NOT See event
ID 6008 indicating a drty reboot. This really puzzles me. I then did a filter
for event log events and noticed that I only see events 6009 and 6005 in the
sequence. I rarely see 6006.

Now, if a machine simply restarts, should I not see a 6008? Why doesnt my
system log it?

I have been told that this may be a hardware problem... either power supply,
or RAM, or mother board. I am willing to check out the hardware but I still
dont see why a 6008 should not be logged on a dirty reboot.

Any ideas on how I should proceed on this one?

Thanks

Nagendra

 

[Plato]

=?Utf-8?B?TmFnZW5kcmE=?= wrote:
>
> I have a Windows XP SP2 box which I assembled. It has been working fine for
> teh past three years and I have never had major issue. Recently however it
> has started to simply reboot itself for no apparent reason. I did change the

Overheating? When was the last time you cleaned out the dust from your
cpu fan and any intake case fans with a can of "compressed air"?

--
http://www.bootdisk.com/

 

[KB]

One tip ... disable the system from rebooting on errors so that you can
actually see the error message. Right click My Computer, choose Properties,
click the Advanced tab. Click the Settings button under Startup and
Recovery.
Uncheck the box next to Automatically restart. Click OK.

That's a really dumb default XP setting, if you ask me. How would one ever
know what the issue was if the system kept rebooting ?

Alternatively, when's the last time you cleaned the tower? Check your vent
fans for debris and the insides of the tower for dust bunnies. Heat will
cause unusual events and being that this is the summer season in the US, you
may be having problems because of the aforementioned dirt.

It's summer folks, let's keep our systems well ventilated

Good Luck :!:

"Nagendra" <Nagendra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6E0EA0FA-C6FE-4AE9-8FC9-63FA62F31DA7@microsoft.com...
> Hi All
>
> I have a Windows XP SP2 box which I assembled. It has been working fine
> for
> teh past three years and I have never had major issue. Recently however it
> has started to simply reboot itself for no apparent reason. I did change
> the
> power supply in Jan 2007. What happens is that I am working on something
> and
> - boom - the machine restarts. When it comes back alive, I DO NOT See
> event
> ID 6008 indicating a drty reboot. This really puzzles me. I then did a
> filter
> for event log events and noticed that I only see events 6009 and 6005 in
> the
> sequence. I rarely see 6006.
>
> Now, if a machine simply restarts, should I not see a 6008? Why doesnt my
> system log it?
>
> I have been told that this may be a hardware problem... either power
> supply,
> or RAM, or mother board. I am willing to check out the hardware but I
> still
> dont see why a 6008 should not be logged on a dirty reboot.
>
> Any ideas on how I should proceed on this one?
>
> Thanks
>
> Nagendra

 

[frodo@theshire.net]

random reboots are typically caused by:

bad ram
bad power
overheating
a driver issue

as recommended, turn off auto-restart-on-error so you can see the exact
error BSOD. That may provide some insight, especailly it it repeats w/
the same exact error over and over again. If not it truely is random.

advice has been given on checking for excess dust etc, and verify that
airflow thru the case is not restricted (flat cables should be tucked
away). Check that all fans are running, the internal Power Supply fan
too.

get a monitoring utility for your motherboard to check temperatures (check
maker's site first, or goohoo for "Motherboard Monitor" for a compatable
generic util; make sure it lists your MoBo model before trying it.)

use memtest86+ to check ram; it should pass with ZERO errors, anything
else is unacceptable. remove and reseat the ram sticks to wipe their
contacts clean.

have you altered a driver recently? are your drivers "resonably" up to
date? You do not always need the latest version driver, especially video,
but you should check out what fixes have been made - if any apply to you
then it's worth an update. Video drivers are the most troublesome to
update, if yours has been installed and working fine for a while I'd leave
it alone. Often video driver updates fix/accomdate things in new model
boards, support for the older boards doesn't really change, so going to
the latest driver when your board is 3 years old is a waste.

and beware driver updates from Windows Update - these are updates to MS's
own drivers, and they will gleefully overwrite any manufacturer's version
you may already have - you are always better off using a driver direct
from the maker. If you know you're using an XP default driver then sure,
take the MS update, otherwise turn it down.

as far a power supply issues, the only way to be sure is to swap it out.
they do fail, especially the lesser-name brands. By all means check all
power connectors when you're in there cleaning the dust - slip the
connectors off and re-seat 'em. Often that will wipe the pins and
reestablish a cleaner connection.

good luck

 

[Nagendra]

Thanks much Frodo (and Plato and KB)

I did not mention in my earlier post, but I had already cleaned my system
using a vaccum cleaner, reseated cards and cabled and RAM chips, and had
checkedd driver updates, etc. I had also unchecked the restart option. So,
whatever was causing the reboots was something else.

My fundamental question still remains unanswered. If my PC is restarting
(whatever may be the reason), shouldnt Windows XP not log an event id 6008
indicating that the rpevious restart was dirty? Why is my system not logging
it?

BTW, I have bought a new 400 watts SMPS and will see how this behaves.

"frodo@theshire.net" wrote:

> random reboots are typically caused by:
>
> bad ram
> bad power
> overheating
> a driver issue
>
> as recommended, turn off auto-restart-on-error so you can see the exact
> error BSOD. That may provide some insight, especailly it it repeats w/
> the same exact error over and over again. If not it truely is random.
>
> advice has been given on checking for excess dust etc, and verify that
> airflow thru the case is not restricted (flat cables should be tucked
> away). Check that all fans are running, the internal Power Supply fan
> too.
>
> get a monitoring utility for your motherboard to check temperatures (check
> maker's site first, or goohoo for "Motherboard Monitor" for a compatable
> generic util; make sure it lists your MoBo model before trying it.)
>
> use memtest86+ to check ram; it should pass with ZERO errors, anything
> else is unacceptable. remove and reseat the ram sticks to wipe their
> contacts clean.
>
> have you altered a driver recently? are your drivers "resonably" up to
> date? You do not always need the latest version driver, especially video,
> but you should check out what fixes have been made - if any apply to you
> then it's worth an update. Video drivers are the most troublesome to
> update, if yours has been installed and working fine for a while I'd leave
> it alone. Often video driver updates fix/accomdate things in new model
> boards, support for the older boards doesn't really change, so going to
> the latest driver when your board is 3 years old is a waste.
>
> and beware driver updates from Windows Update - these are updates to MS's
> own drivers, and they will gleefully overwrite any manufacturer's version
> you may already have - you are always better off using a driver direct
> from the maker. If you know you're using an XP default driver then sure,
> take the MS update, otherwise turn it down.
>
> as far a power supply issues, the only way to be sure is to swap it out.
> they do fail, especially the lesser-name brands. By all means check all
> power connectors when you're in there cleaning the dust - slip the
> connectors off and re-seat 'em. Often that will wipe the pins and
> reestablish a cleaner connection.
>
> good luck
>
>