What could this be?

ingeborgdot · 04-Nov-2009, 08:58 PM #1

I know it could be a number of things but does anyone have a suggestion? It started about 7 days ago that my computer would just restart by itself. It did this several times in a short period. Now it has only done it a couple of times in the last several days. What does it sound like?

win2kpro · 04-Nov-2009, 09:16 PM #2

It sounds like one of three things is happening.

#1-The +5v rail in the power supply is "dropping out"

#2-Defective start/stop board circuitry

#3-Problem with a USB device connected to the machine if there are USB devices connected.

ingeborgdot · 04-Nov-2009, 09:22 PM #3

It is a 6 month old ps power and cooling psu.
Antec P182, Abit IP35 Pro, Q6600, 4GB Crucial Ballistix, VisionTek Radeon HD 4850 , P&C quad 750watt, 3-Seagate Sata 500, HT Omega Claro, Altec Lansing ADA995 5.1 THX, Digital Doc 5+, 2 Samsung SATA DVD burners, Canopus ADVC50,Vista Ultimate Retail 64 Bit, Vista rating 5.9
#2 explain please.

win2kpro · 04-Nov-2009, 09:24 PM #4

The 1st thing I would try would be to disconnect the reset switch from the motherboard front panel header. It's possibility that it could be a "dodgy" reset switch, however they generally don't go bad.

After you disconnect the switch, see if the problem continues.

win2kpro · 04-Nov-2009, 09:27 PM #5

PC Power & Cooling makes great power supply's. I've used many of them in builds, but like everyone else's they can also have problems. Is the fan running in the power supply?

ingeborgdot · 04-Nov-2009, 09:55 PM #6

Yes, it is running.

win2kpro · 05-Nov-2009, 02:53 AM #7

Intermittment problems can be very hard to diagnose. If a machine does something consistently it provides an opportunity to set up test equipment to try to "catch" the area where the problem is occurring. If your machine is not connected to a UPS the problem could even be caused by a drop in input line voltage causing a reset.

In November 2007 I was having a problem every morning between 6:30AM and 7:00AM where for whatever reason the the UPS would intervene because of a drop in input line voltage. As you can see from the attached pic the UPS intervened 38 times in a 4 week period. The machine never reset because the UPS intervened, but I feel sure that if I didn't have the UPS I would have gotten restarts. After a few weeks of interventions by the UPS the problems stopped, and I don't think since that time I've had more than just a couple of times where the UPS had to intervene.

Over the years I've had a couple of machines that would restart on a consistent basis. What I had to do in those cases was set up the machine on my workbench with a set of needle probes connected to one of my digital multimeters connected to one of the +5v leads on the the main power plug on the motherboard, and physically watch the meter for the event to occur. Since I have a UPS on my workbench I knew the problems were not occurring on the input line voltage, but when the event occurred I could physically see the +5v rail momentarily drop out to 0v, and of course the machine would restart. In those cases for whatever cause the +5v rail in the power supply would "drop out".

Chasing an electrical problem at times can be like chasing ghosts. Sometimes you just have to wait for a component or components to totally fail before you can determine the problem.

ingeborgdot · 05-Nov-2009, 09:01 AM #8

I have a UPS. I just got my first BS this morning after I unchecked the restart auto box. How do I read the problem on the blue screen?

ingeborgdot · 05-Nov-2009, 10:50 AM #9

STOP 0x00000050 or PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

win2kpro · 05-Nov-2009, 12:22 PM **#10**

That error could be either hardware or software related. I'm not much on software, but I would start by building a CD or floppy with Memtest 86+, boot with Memtest and check each stick of memory individually for errors. Let Memtest make a minimum of 4 full passes on each stick.

Also, I see in your specs you are running Seagate hard drives. A few months ago Seagate had a firmware upgrade on some of its drives, so you might get your model and serial numbers and check the Seagate site to see if any of your hard drives are drives that were subject to problems.

On the software side, have you installed any new programs recently?

ingeborgdot · 05-Nov-2009, 12:54 PM **#11**

Only a new logitech upgrade for my mouse and keyboard and AVG 9.0. I had installed another piece of software over 2 weeks before this started happening.

win2kpro · 05-Nov-2009, 03:56 PM **#12**

As I said I'm not much on software problems, but I do know that two of the biggest culprits when it comes to software are antivirus and printer software, especially HP printer software.

When you installed AVG does it coincide with when the problems started?

ingeborgdot · 05-Nov-2009, 04:04 PM **#13**

It is very close to the time, also there were some microsoft updates that seemed to have failed at the same time. I don't know if it is the updates or what. I am doing a memtest right now and am starting to narrow it down.

win2kpro · 05-Nov-2009, 05:36 PM **#14**

Also, since you know exactly what memory you purchased check BIOS to make sure the vDimm voltage is set correctly for your memory.

ingeborgdot · 05-Nov-2009, 08:54 PM **#15**

I have run a memtest for 6 hours now and there is 1 error. With 1 error could that cause a problem?

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