SP2 issues? not till now...

edited February 2006 in Science & Tech
Ok, so I built this PC about 4 months ago, and had no problems until recently. About a month ago, my computer would randomly restart. It did it very very rarely, so I assumed it was some application conflict, and didn't pay it much attention. This past weekend, I was gone for 3 days, and left my PC off. When I turned it on, XFire had some update, and when it was done, my PC restarted... nothing too out of the ordinary. After that, I never saw windows again. The computer would continually restart after the XP splash screen. So I figured I'd reformat. Windows worked fine all the installs for drivers and apps I have, but after SP2, it would randomly restart when I would click certain "buttons" on the screen... and random buttons too (for example, it restarted when I clicked submit at the bottom of this forum post page, once when I clicked to launch Mozilla Firefox, once when I clicked "accept" on MSconfig screen... just completely random). So, after several more reformats, I've come to the conclusion that SP2 is messing something up, the odd thing is, I didn't change any drivers or software from my last reformat, and had nowhere near this level of difficulty. Right now it has not restarted once and I am only running SP1. Oh one more tidbit... sometimes I got a blue screen, sometimes not, when I DID get it, it was up for 1 second or less... not enough time to read an error message...
Thanks for any input!!

Comments

  • deicistdeicist Manchester, UK
    edited February 2006
    I suspect a hardware error... run memtest and see what that throws up, bad memory can cause the symtoms you're seeing. Also check your CPU temperature using something like 'motherboard monitor' or 'speedfan', and overheating CPU is also a suspect in random reboots.

    Memtest

    Motherboard monitor

    Motherboard monitor will also allow you to check your power supply rails (ie your 12v, 3.3v etc actual voltages. ) if they vary beyond certain limits it can cause reboots.

    Once you've ruled out Memory, CPU and PSU as suspects post back and we'll continue from there.
  • edited February 2006
    deicist wrote:
    I suspect a hardware error... run memtest and see what that throws up, bad memory can cause the symtoms you're seeing. Also check your CPU temperature using something like 'motherboard monitor' or 'speedfan', and overheating CPU is also a suspect in random reboots.

    Memtest

    Motherboard monitor

    Motherboard monitor will also allow you to check your power supply rails (ie your 12v, 3.3v etc actual voltages. ) if they vary beyond certain limits it can cause reboots.

    Once you've ruled out Memory, CPU and PSU as suspects post back and we'll continue from there.

    Thanks for the information, but I don't understand how it could be hardware related. I have ran this PC for 5 days consecutively now, and not a single issue, no freezes, reboots, or anything. If it actually was hardware related, why would SP2 install trigger these issues? I would assume that hardware issues would be consistant reguardless of software installed. I have given up resolving why SP2 creates this problem, and have resorted to just using SP1. If anyone has heard of this issue before, or know what causes it, I would be interested in finding out why it does this.
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited February 2006
    Its probably bad ram run memtest and yes memory will randomly die.
    http://memtest86.com/
  • scottscott Medina, Ohio Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Don't rule out the memory

    SP2 has a lot more going on than SP1.

    I had a new rig that ran great , benchmarked great and even folded great. But as soon as I started playing HL2 it would crash. I ran Memtest and it found some errors. I RMA'd my brand new "BIG BUCK" memory and upon receiving the replacement everything was fine.


    HL2 was software, but it was not the problem.


    Run memtest

    If it shows any errors , that is the problem.

    You don't want to give up on SP2...It fixes a bunch of vulnerabilities in SP1


    Scott
  • edited February 2006
    I apologize for the delayed response, but I do have some new information to add. I ran memtest through several cycles (16 or 17) and it reported no errors. I am thinking it is a motherboard issue now. I get random error messages on boot up now, everything from no hard drive found to no keyboard to no hard drives attached to the FastTrack Controller. Oh, and last night, while trying to access a friends DSL, I found that a windows registry was corrupt for no apparent reason; as we all know I did several reformats within the last week, and have run no online applications, and basically nothing but PowerDVD and OfficeXP. Any continued information is well appreciated, as I am planning on purchasing a new MB tonight
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2006
    Before you give up completely, make sure you run the diagnostic test from the Hard Drive manufacturer.

    Good Luck. :)
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    what brand Mobo you currently running?
  • DonutDonut Maine New
    edited February 2006
    Could you post your complete system specs? (including the amperage on the different rails of your psu)
  • edited February 2006
    Well, I was using the following setup:

    Asus A8V-Deluxe
    Codegen 400W PSU
    Athlon64 3200+
    1GB DDR Ram (400)
    1- 80 SATA (WD)
    1- 250 GB IDE (WD- backup only)
    1- DVD+/-RW
    ATI Radeon 9800 PRO All-in-Wonder

    I have not attempted any sort of overclocking, so as for the RAM timings and power, quite frankly, they are set at default, and have no idea what they are =/.
  • deicistdeicist Manchester, UK
    edited February 2006
    You say it's a 400W PSu, is it a no-name one by any chance? ie: not from a well known company? If so it's entirely possible that it's not supplying the juice needed to run your system with any degree of stability. Even though it says it's 400W that doesn't really mean a lot.

    edit: another random thought, open your case and have a look how much dust has accumulated around your processor / memory and in your system fans. It could just be heat build up due to dust that's causing your problems.
  • edited February 2006
    Problem solved! Solution is described below...

    I had a minor surge come through my PC, after taking it to the shop, nothing was damaged except the bios. The bios was not only reset, but it would no longer save changes you made. After replacing the motherboard with a MUCH better Asus A8V-SLI Premium, I ran into similar problems, but for a different reasons. Apparently the version of Windows XP didn't like something, so when I borrowed a friend's copy, it worked fine. In any case, the Power Supply is fine (tested at the store), RAM is fine (ran Memtest for 10 hours). Thanks for pointing me in the right direction... I never would have guessed it was hardware that was refusing SP2!! Thanks again!
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2006
    Good to hear that you're back in business. :cheers:
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