Re: Random Restarts - Please Help

This won't fix your problem, but it'll keep your machine from rebooting.

Unless the rebooting is caused by a hardware problem.

It may also help reading a BSOD. Blue Screen Of Death.

Choosing recovery actions if Windows stops unexpectedly.

Right click My Computer | Properties | Advanced tab |
Click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery |
Under System Failure | UNCheck: Automatically restart |
Click OK | Click Apply | Click OK

Automatically restart
[[Specifies whether Windows will automatically reboot whenever the system
stops unexpectedly.
You must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group to set
recovery options.]]

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Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:80EBA8E5-B309-43E4-968F-DB5A38103864@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
tbi3040 <tbi3040@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> hunted and pecked:
I am at my wits end and any suggestions from an expert would be greatly
appreciated. (I'm sorry if this is the incorrect section of the forum to
post this question.)

1) I am on a PC I bought back in 2001 and I don't have the money to buy a
new one - because of no job and therefore no money.
2) At first, back at the end of 2006, I was just experiencing random
re-starts.
3) I saved my files and formatted my HD. The problem still persists.
4) Bought what I thought would solve my problem - a system optimizer
touted to be the best one according to some reviews, in order to diagnose
my problem. That was a really DUMB move on my part because it made things
worse, I uninstalled it but I'm sure it's down in the registry and after
the fact,
I've read other horror stories about the s/w crashing other peoples PC's
and losing all their data. Thank God that didn't happen to me.
5) I then did some KB research and thought that it could be my drivers,
chipset, a bad piece of hardware or heat issues.
6) I updated the drivers and chipset last week, even thought I didn't have
any "splats" in the device manager. I lost my sound for a few days, but I
got it back when I uninstalled the "new" culprit driver that was
recommended from Driver Agent's w/s.
7) I cracked open the case this past weekend and cleaned it thoroughly and
checked the power supply with a tester - it's still good.
8) I then thought that maybe it's just as simple as a heat issue, because
I had my tower in a desk cabinet. So, when I finished the cleaning and
power supply
testing, I put it on the floor, underneath the desk about 2-3" from the
side so it would get better air circulation. (BTW, I also know the fan is
working too and no unusual sounds at any re-starts.)
8) About the only thing I have left to check is to see if my RAM is
failing. 9) It has also been suggested that I might need to upgrade my
BIOS. That's way too scary for me to even think about without consulting
an expert on this forum.

Because of all of these changes and I'm sure, that damn optimizer program
I so foolishly bought, I am now experiencing a double count of the RAM at
first boot-up, and "Windows cannot start normally" black screens twice at
first boot-up as well sometimes, and I'm STILL experiencing random
re-starts during the day.

So far today in 2 hours time I had 12 re-starts and it took me through the
double count of the RAM at boot-up again and the "Windows could not start
normally" black screen 7 times before I could finally boot-up today!!!

PC Stats - OS - MS Windows XP Pro Version - 5.1.2600 SP2
Processor - Intel (810) Celeron, 952Mhz
BIOS Version/Date - Award S/W Int'l., 6.00 PG, 08/28/2000
RAM -512MB

What should I do next? Check the RAM first? Upgrade the BIOS, and btw,
can I get it somewhere for free (from a reputable source please)? Should
I do a clean install first before the BIOS upgrade?
Or maybe I should just drop-kick it into the river and start over with
another tower? (even though I really don't have the moey to do that)

Please Help!!!

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tbi3040

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