sometimes when I'm on my pc playing a game the game will crash and go back to the desktop, is this a graphics card problem. Also sometimes the computer restarts itself on its own, I have had a look inside and made sure no wires are touching the case. Tested the memory but it isnt that. Anyone shed some light on this. Windows XP Home Pentium 4 3.0ghz 768MB PC3200 120gb Hard Drive ATI Radeon 9200 Series 16x DVD Dual Layer RW Mart

check for: -spyware/virus/malware -incorrect display settings in-game and in windows -memoary allocation settings (dont mess with unless u know what your doing) it sounds like a software issue, not hardware. =SkiesOfBordom= --Gaming sig

Usually shutdowns are caused by overheating or a bad power supply which would cause the restarting. What kind of thermal heat paste did you use when you installed the CPU. Are your fans all working? Are they supplying and exhausting air the right directions if you have multiple case fans installed. What kind of power supply did you install? Have you scanned for viruses/malware using you anti-virus and spyware programs while in the safe mode? Have you used the scans on line scans like Housecall, Kaspersky, Panda, Etc.?

the thermal paste was already on the heatsink when it was installed. the powersupply is 400w (possibly 350w). I have 1 case fan at them moment, which is set to blow air into the system, and it does work, I put my hand on the hard drive this evening and found it to be quite HOT is this normal or would you suggest getting a hard drive cooling fan. Windows XP Home Pentium 4 3.0ghz 768MB PC3200 120gb Hard Drive ATI Radeon 9200 Series 16x DVD Dual Layer RW Mart

Unstable systems can be caused by just about anything. Overclocking would be the first thought to me from personal built computers. Try backing off the OCing a tiny bit. you might also try turning off the auto restart and see if you can force a message to give a link to what might be causing the issue. go to system properties > start-up recovery "settings button" > then under system failure untic the auto restart box. then ok out. This should cause a page lock-up with a message as to why it needs to shut down. IN THE MATTERS OF STYLE, swim with the current; in matters of principle, STAND LIKE A ROCK

continued from previous post... If the computer just continues to shut down without warning then it is a hardware problem and as mentioned by capt, is probably heat related. use a monitoring program to monitor your heat on the cpu and hdd and complete system..... These temps that re recorded are probably not as accurate as a direct probe would be but it should give a reasonable explaination as to what the temps are. IN THE MATTERS OF STYLE, swim with the current; in matters of principle, STAND LIKE A ROCK

the computer has never been Overclocked and i can't find anything to do with auto restart on my computer. Windows XP Home Pentium 4 3.0ghz 768MB PC3200 120gb Hard Drive ATI Radeon 9200 Series 16x DVD Dual Layer RW Mart