Question about a faulty video card

[tri z racer]

I think i have a faulty video card, my computer will randomly restart when im installing new programs... any type of program, it will restart when its copying files during instalation. when it restarts the monitor wont turn back on. i have to shut the computer off for like a minute or two, and then turn it back on and sometimes the monitor will turn on, sometimes it wont. i have the latest drivers for my ATI radeon 7000. I am runing XP can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[JSanguancheu]

can you list your system's components?

Have you tried using a different video card?

It sounds more like a power supply or memory problem to me. Also, check your CPU heatsink fan to make sure it's working properly.

 

[bencpht]

If trying a different video card doesn't work, I'd scan for viruses and run scandisk. I had a virus last year that caused the same problems you're mentioning. Try booting off the Norton Antivirus cd or whatever you use and let it check things out.

 

[tri z racer]

well i dont think it is virus related issue because it was doing the same thing to me when i was running win 2k pro. I wanted to upgrade and start fresh so i formatted the drive and installed XP pro on my drive, it was doing the same thing. I read a few other posts about switching around memory sticks. I havent tried it yet. I built the computer myself a couple years ago, it is a

Athlon 1.2 ghz
512megs of pc 133
ati radeon 7000
300W PS
im not sure the mother board, but it runs a VIA chipset.
3 com ethernet card
soundblaster live 5.1 card,
Scsi Contoler card
2 maxtor 30gig 7200 RPM
Plextor CDR
Pioneer DVD

A power supply or the heatsink fan not working properly would cause tyhe computer to restart? It mostly restarts when i am trying to install stuff, leaving me with half an installation. i can surf the net, type up stufff in word, listen to music all day long, but as soon as i instal anything, it gives me a blue screen and then restarts. And after it restarts the monitor wont turn back on, the light will stay amber, to get it to turn back on i have to leave the computer off for like 2 or 3 mins, then when i turn the computer on the monitor will turn on and the cpu wuill boot up. Hopefully this will help. I will be able to test a different video card next week because i ordered an ATI AIW 8500.

Thanks everyone for the help, but anything else would be of great appreciation

 

[JSanguancheu]

I had the same problem with my PC for several months. Turned out to be a minor error in the memory. The PC worked fine most of the time, but when used hard (gaming etc.) it would just restart without warning.

Go here: MemTest and download the MemTest software. It installs on a floppy that you use to boot up your system. It will take about an hour or two to run various tests on your memory.

See if any errors show up. If so, get some good name brand memory.

good luck.

 

[tri z racer]

I Switched out my mem sticks and moved them to different slots, made sure they were seated good, then I ran Mem Test for 13 hours last night, it made 31 passes and found zero errors. I tried to install adobe photoshop this morning and it worked, i also tried a couple windows updates, those worked too. I tried to install my CAD program and it gave me this blue screen error "bad pool caller" can anyone help?