Re: XP Home rebooting randomly

From: WinGuy (no_spam_at_nomail.bot)
Date: 07/10/04 

Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 17:35:22 GMT

"Janice" <jem16@nospammail.com> wrote in message
news:OWsarbpZEHA.3664@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> Our posts have overlapped a bit.
>
> On the master IDE I have the main HD and a CD Writer. On the secondary IDE
I
> have another HD and a CD-Rom. If I read the error message correctly, it's
> the secondary IDE that has the fault. I can easily disconnect both of
> these - but the shop doesn't think this would cause the reboot as I'm not
> accessing either of these at the time of the crash.

The unit that I serviced just last week had a failed HDD. I replaced it. A
good ways into restoring the operating system the new HDD started to fail.
It turned out that one of the 2 CD drives had also failed, which I detected
by disconnecting the HDD booting to dos using a diskette and trying to
access the CD drives; one was ok, the other was not. Replaced the CD drive
too, and the unit has not been back with the problem. First time I ever saw
something on a secondary IDE cause problems, much less a failure, of a
device on the primary IDE channel. The only commonality was the controller
chip on the motherboard, my end diagnosis was the defective CD drive was
hurting the controller chip so badly that it affected the HDD too. But I'd
never seen such a thing before in my decades of service.

> As I said in my overlapping post, both HD were tested and are OK. The PSU
> was replaced also.

I wonder how the HDD was tested. A good "thorough" test for bad sectors
ought to be strenuous enough, as that would get the HDD plenty warm. Getting
another PSU was a good move, regardless, and certainly rules it out.
Especially if it was of a higher capacity.

I seriously doubt that an external device failure such as a monitor,
keyboard, or USB device etc. would cause IDE failures. Do you have another
computer to try them on? I guess anything is possible, but that would be
really weird because except for USB they all have their own power supplies
and the chip-level I/O would blow out if there was a sufficient short to
draw down a new PSU to the point that the unit would reboot, I'd think. If
USB drew to much power most systems will cause a warning popup notice to
appear, and that wouldn't be enough to draw down the power supply anyway.

No, this is still seeming to still be a heat related problem (is the CPU
getting too hot at your location?) or, I'm afraid, it's also starting to
look like a motherboard (probably a controller) problem. Really past time to
back up that HDD before its content gets more damages. External devices are
buffered from the computer power supply by way of integrated circuits that
can not withstand what the PSU is capable of outputting in the way of
current without blowing up with a bang, so they should not be able to cause
a reboot. No, something else seems to be at fault. Did the shop test things
streniously with the case "buttoned up" so the temperature gets warmer, or
with it open so that things inside run cooler? Did they use a heat gun to
warm chips up (but not excessively) to see if they'd fail? How about usage
of freeze spray?

Might try another graphics card, or try a graphics card if using onboard
graphics chipset. If that turns out to be it, consider getting another
computer or motherboard if you're currently using onboard graphics chip
instead of a slotted card. It has been my experience that once something
goes bad with a motherboard, it doesn't get better and the electrical
"strain" eventually starts affecting other motherboard chips even if you're
not using the functionality of the defective chip (unless the chip is
replaced, of course).

Bad physical memory is possible but I assume the shop ruled that out very
well, since it's such a common cause of problems. I also assumed that the
shop swapped memory stick locations if you have more than just one memory
stick installed.

I'm not trying to second guess the shop, just to offer up some things that
from what you've related as symptoms might be of root problem or might
warrant further testing. But unless you have more info to supply, I'm about
out of thoughts on this because I can not physically examine the unit
myself.. All I know for sure is that you still have problems after a
service, and you have publicly asked for some thoughts.

That it only has a problem at your location is, as the shop relates,
suspect. Maybe you have a bad cable, it is possible to have a short of the
power supply via the cable, since most of them have a pin that outputs at
least one PSU voltage, directly from the PSU. I doubt that an external
device itself is bad (a chip would probably blow) but a bad cable is a real
possibility. But a bad cable would almost surely not be affected by how much
activity your computer CPU is performing, so I doubt it as cause in your
case and total topic rendition of symptoms.

Do check your wall AC power outlet, properly wired and functioning 3-wire
plugs are required with computer power supplies (and they could be a life
hazard if they do not test properly). A PSU operated without a good earth
ground will allow power surges to get into the computer circuitry, and
eventually something will blow out or become weakened by such surges.

Best wishes.