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My computer just restarts on its own. I cannot tell if the hard drive is failing, if its a PCI card that's causing it or whether its the ram. Anyone know of any good programs in Windows or DOS to test the health of the parts in my computer?
I bought new ram for my PC and also a USB 2.0 PCI card. I've tried all different configurations... old ram with new PCI card, one new ram stick with no new PCI card in, etc. Any ideas?
Try this:
Open the Control Panel and click on System Properties.
Click on the Advanced Tab.
Click on Startup and Recovery/Settings.
Uncheck the "Automatically Restart" button if it is checked.
If that button was not checked to begin with we need to look at something else.
With the Automatically Restart button unchecked and your computer encounters problems you will get a BSOD instead of the restarts.
Please post back.
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Ok, so that option WAS checked, now I unchecked it! Now if I get an error, what do I do with the info on the BSOD?
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"what do I do with the info on the BSOD?"
Write it down in its entirety and let us know what the error is? Google for the error and a possible resolution?
Skip
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Well this time my computer just froze. I got no BSOD. It completely froze, the mouse wasn't able to move. I didn't get a blank white screen either, I could see all my applications plainly.
However, I looked at the event logs and here is what came up for around the time of the crash:
TrueVector engine: File "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\IAMDB.RDB" was corrupt and has been copied to "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\xDB2B.tmp". File "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\IAMDB.RDB" was corrupt and has been deleted.
TrueVector engine: File "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\IAMDB.RDB" was corrupt, restoring from backup "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\BACKUP.RDB".
TrueVector engine: File "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\SNYDER.ldb" was corrupt and has been copied to "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\xDB2C.tmp". File "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\SNYDER.ldb" was corrupt and has been deleted.
These errors seem to keep coming up all the time. Now what do I do?
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True Vector is part of ZoneAlarm. I am not all that familiar with ZA but if it is running on your computer run msconfig and disable ZoneAlarm to see if it is the root cause of your problem. You can always use msconfig to get ZA back up and running.
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Wait a minute. I just realized that I am running Windows Firewall and Zone Alarm at the same time. Could that cause an issue?
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Cannot say for sure but two firewalls may interfere with each other. I would suggest you disable the Windows FW for starters.
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Ok, I got the BSOD finally. Here are the errors I got:
Page_fault_In_Nonpaged_Area
Stop: 0x0000050 (0xFDBC7FFC, 0x00000000, 0xBFA1648D, 0x00000000)
ati2dvag.dll
THEN, it happened again twice and this is what came up;
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
tcpip.sys - EFE59598 base at EFE590000, Date Stamp 444775d3I am thinking this has to do with my ATI drivers, so I am upgrading them. I loaded an image of my XP installation about 6 days ago to, so I think I have old drivers from 2002! So I will upgrade the drivers.
Any other ideas?
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Okay, maybe we disable the wrong firewall. Turn the XP firewall back on and turn off ZoneAlarm. Make sure no part of ZoneAlarm is loaded at startup.
You can download a program, "WINTOP", that will tell you everything that is loaded at startup.
http://tinyurl.com/9exwkTry that for awhile. I did a Google search for your error message and it looks like ZoneAlarm can cause the error you received.
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I will try that next.
However, I think this may be a heat issue. I can run my computer for a day straight with no problems, but then after that it will crash. Then I can restart it and 5 minutes later, it will crash. And then 5 minutes after that!
I noticed my Power supply is kicking off a lot of heat and my cpu temps are 60 C. So I will try disabling ZA and if that doesn't change anything, I will get a new power supply and clean out my comp fans.
What are some other good alternatives to ZA? (besides WF)
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I am beginning to think heat also, and that you have multiple problems on your machine.
The best firewall, IMHO, would be a hardware firewall. That along with the XP firewall should be all that you need.
Which one would be best for you would depend on your Internet connection. You may want to spend some time doing research on firewalls. Or ask the question in another thread.
I have a DSL connection and use an inexpensive D-Link DI-604 Ethernet Broadband Router that has a built in firewall.
Keep us informed.
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Hmm, also since I just applied an old image. I just realized my version of Zone Alarm is also YEARS old, so I may try upgrading that. Thanks for all of your help so far!
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Now I get a new BSOD
Fs_Rec.sys Address F8DDB51D base at F8DDB000, Datestamp 3b7d8361.
Well I am looking into getting this PSU:
http://shop2.outpost.com/product/45...And I'm thinking of changing the heatsink/fan on my CPU as well. What do you guys think?
PS: Also, my comp froze twice with no BSOD before THIS last BSOD.
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UPDATE
So its been a while since my last post. I have not had a BSOD since my last post, except for when I run chkdsk! If I put chkdsk /f in the run window and then restart windows, chkdsk will run. As soon as its done, it will give me a BSOD.
When I boot normally, my computer will run fine, and then eventually just freeze. No BSOD, nothing. Just freeze. I tried both old ram and new ram, but nothing is changing that fact.
Any ideas?
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Small point about (software) firewalls:
Running two at the same time is not advised. Either neither will work, or the system may just "get stuck" - to coin a fraze...
ZA has had a few minor issues for some pholks recently with XP and it's wise to have the version suitable for your OS etc.
For most general users, the XP-SP2 firewall is fine. And from what I have read around the wwww, software firewalls tend to be more useful in blocking outbound info (courtesy of nasties); whereas the hardware firewall (as in your router) is better for inbound - outbound may need a little more know-how to set it up, although the defaults are usually OK in most cases?
I have had less than adequate satisfaction with Norton's firewall; likewise McAfee...
BSOD can be due to RAM; which you have chased around the block already? Also due to flakey system files (though seemingly not so common from my trawls various). The drive may be dying - and I tend to think in this area is where to look - especially as it happens after chkdsk routine? Perhaps replace the drive with another "known/believed" to be OK...
I seem to reall an observation/report "somewhere out there - scully", that occasionally mobo issue can be ibnvolved - perhaps the on-board cache is a little flakey. Sadly I can't recall just where I found that one so can't point you to it.
There are a few references around too that suggest RAM specs. may be an issue for a given make/generation mobo; too slow or too high speed RAM may result in problems various...; likewise mis-natched (mixed specs) RAM should be avoided like the plague it at all possible.
If you have any reason to believe the system has overheated at all, then the damage may already be done to the cpu... PSU are usually a little more forgiving unless run constantly close to their tolerances, limits etc.
As always ensure "all" vents in/out and fan blades etc are clean - free of dust or whatever.
Also ensure the air flow around the drive is adequate - that the drive is not too confined in its location in terms of free-space.
Overall, apart from the cooling isues - which apply to any PC/laptop..., I'm inclined to favour the drive itself being a possible issue...
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 New psu for emachine t326...
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New SATA not responding
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