computer reboots after 20 mins of being idle

anothern00b · Guest

im very much in need of help, any would be greatly appretiated. for a few months ive been trying to fix this problem, even recently went to a help shop where i paid like 140 bucks to try to get this over with. he thought it was a virus, and that he fixed it, its still doing it. but heres some info that may be useful.

-in normal mode, after ~20 minutes of being idle, the computer will reset itself

-in normal mode, when trying to run the defrag tool (even only analyzing) it will reset itself.

-in event viewer, before resetting it spams 10-20 error entries saying that the hard disk has a bad block.

-when leaving the game city of heroes running when the computer is idle, it actually stops the computer from rebooting sometimes. the game is on a slave hard drive. dunno if that has any use. running everquest used to do this, but that stopped working entirely after a recent patch which somewhat redesigned the login screens.

-in safe mode, the computer will not reboot, not when doing defrag or left idle or what have you.

-the problem emerged slightly after adding 512 RAM to my comp. it was the correct type of RAM, and the system continued to act normal (the bad rebooting normal...) with or without the new RAM.

-in the screen saver power options, i have NEVER selected for turn off monitor, hard disks and system standby.

-in system properties, hardware, device manager, USB controls, i have 2 root hubs, both have unchecked boxes next to allow the computer to turn offf this device to save power in their properties.

-several times i have thought i have fixed the problem, having it go a day or so without resetting, only for it to continue at some random point. the first time i just made the monitor never turn off, that worked for a month or so before it all of the sudden came back.

-i generally keep my computer on all the time.

-for a long time my computer was virus free, when this was still occurring. i really dont think this is virus related. it doesnt tell me that its going to shut down like the MSBlaster worm, and i did the microsoft sasther or whatever its called scan, that came up negative as well.

if anyone has any ideas of how to correct this problem i would be very thankful.
Mike

anothern00b · Guest

almost forgot, i am using winXP and the comp is only ~2 years old.

rancid_ilike · Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2004 5:35 pm Post subject:

hi..

1. do u have antivirus on u'r system?

anothern00b · Guest

yep, norton. also use adaware and spybot alot. its not a virus.

the power supply was replaced, and that didnt fix it either.

John · Guest

Reboot - Windows Boots without warning!
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_qr.htm
http://www.windows-help.net/WindowsXP/troub-03.html
By default when WinXP encounters a system failure, it reboots without warning. The setting that controls this can be changed:

Control Panel/System/Advanced/Settings (Startup & Recovery)/System Failure/Uncheck-Automatically Restart. To view the event log: Admistrative Tools/Event Viewer or Start/Run/eventvwr.

Windows XP Events and Errors
Enter the message source and ID in the text field, then click G
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/support/ee.asp

Or ,

http://www.eventid.net/search.asp

Or ,

Windows Error Generator
http://www.netdevel.net.nz/index.php?mo...l/software
Ever wondered what Error(312) means ? Look it up with this, or have it list all the errors your operating system is able to give. Also good for programmers who need to throw a specific system error. Go to Software menu.

========================================

Another very common reason is > the cpu is overheating , make sure the fan is working & if it is , try running an external fan into the internals , just to see if the problem goes away .

If it does , try cleaning the blades of all fans ( & the fins of the cpu ) including the power supply .

Is your cpu fan of good quality ? If not , you may want to invest in a better quality , copper-bottomed cpu cooling fan and mount it with a dab of high-quality thermal paste ( applied according to directions . . . not too much , not too little )

Check the failsafe shutdown temp in the bios ( it might be set too low )
http://www.pcmech.com/bios.htm

Random reboots can be caused by bad memory .
http://windows-help.net/cgi-bin/2003/6.28.cgi?62802


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