Random restarting

  • Thread starter Thread starter Adam
  • Start date Start date
Have you scanned for viruses recently? MSBlaster is known to do this.
Otherwise check the event log to see what errors you're getting. Hope that
helps.

Steve
 
First, be sure your antivirus software has the latest definitions and run a
virus scan.

If your system is clear of viruses, open Control Panel, open System, go to
the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery, remove the
check from "Automatically Restart" under System Failure. This will cause
the system to blue screen instead of restarting on errors and the
information on the blue screen may give a clue as to the source of the
issue.

Open Control Panel, open Administrative Tools, open Event Viewer, look for
errors corresponding to the crash, double click the error, the information
contained within may give a clue as to the
source of the problem.

Assuming you have an XP CD and not a recovery CD, place the XP CD in the
drive, when the setup screen appears, select "Check System Compatibility,"
the report it generates may point to problem hardware or software on your
system. If you do not have an XP CD, you can download this application
known as the Upgrade Advisor from the following site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp
Note: If you have access to a broadband connection it might be best to
download using that as this is a rather large download.

Check for the latest drivers for your hardware, especially your graphics
card and soundcard and all peripherals connected to your system. No not use
Windows Update for this, go to the device manufacturer's web sites and if
you install updated drivers, ignore the message about drivers being unsigned
by Microsoft.
 
My system has been doing this for the last two days also.
It restarts for no reason...and doesn't seem to matter
what program is running at the time. I updated the "USB
issue" Wind XP update today and that didn't solve the
problem. I thought it might help because I just installed
a new scanner on my harddrive, but to no avail. I'll
follow your instructions here and see what I come up with.

KT
 
I have done everything you suggested here...the last thing
I tried was the "Check System Compatibility," and when I
clicked on that link (through the XP Pro CD) the system
shut down and gave me a blue screen with this message:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL


It included some technical information too, but I won't
post that unless you want me to.


It doesn't make sense for my new scanner to be causing
this problem.. I had it installed a day or two before this
problem started occuring.

Also, how do you restart the computer when the blue screen
is up? I had to push the button on the tower to get it to
do anything....

Thanks!
 
When you blue screen, if your system doesn't have a reset button, try
hitting Ctrl-Alt-Delete, if that doesn't work, try hitting that combination
twice and see if it gets the system to reboot or possibly bring up task
manager from which you can get to a menu that has "restart" and "shutdown"
on it.

Yes, it might have been useful to see the entire error message but the
message as you posted indicates a driver problem. Start with the scanner as
that is the most recent change. Indeed it does make sense. The fact you
purchase hardware new does not mean the drivers included with it are the
most recent so you must check the manufacturer's website for the latest
drivers. You have no idea how long the item was in the shelf in the store
or in a warehouse waiting to be delivered and in that time, updated drivers
might be introduced.

Also, have you checked it's compatibility:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/compat.asp

Further, if the scanner has a software bundle included with it, while the
scanner and the driver may be compatible, the software may and often does
cause conflicts that can cause the system to crash. And, even if the
scanner is XP compatible, you may have other devices with which the scanner
conflicts and that could be the issue. Is the scanner plugged directly into
USB port (I'm assuming it is a USB scanner) or is it plugged into a hub. If
plugged into a hub, are there other devices plugged into the same hub.

If plugged directly into the port on the PC, is the port in front or in back
of the PC? Also, is it a port that you added after or is it a port that was
built into the system when you purchased it? If you added the port, you may
have an IRQ conflict necessitating moving the card to another slot. Or, you
may have some other card, soundcard or some other such card that needs to be
moved as it might be conflicting with the device. Additionally, if your
other drivers are not up to date, they may conflict with the scanner and
cause the system to crash so you need to be sure those drivers are up to
date if we can't narrow this down. If the system blue screened when you
tried to run the compatibility wizard, there might be a corresponding error
in Event Viewer. Open Control Panel, open Administrative Tools, open Event
Viewer, look for errors that correspond to when the blue screen appeared and
double click the error, the information contained within may give a clue to
the source of the issue.
 
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