Spontaneous resetting

  • Thread starter Thread starter Graeme Hartley
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Graeme Hartley

Win2k has been the most stable OS that I have used for the past few years
until recently!!!

I am now having problems with processes not completing (like deleting files,
changing permissions, closing applications etc...). If I take a look at
these processes using the task manager they are running and or not flagged
as 'not responding'. If I forcefully stop them then other applications which
I start up do not run properly and eventually my hard disks power down and
the whole system goes down just as if I have pressed the 'reset' switch on
the front of my machine. There are other times where I can just be panning
the mouse over something or opening and menu and my computer just
spontaneously resets as above.

Invariably, when the system self-reboots, I get the little dialogue box
stating "Windows is starting up..." and this stays up indefinitely until I
have to press 'reset' in my computer's front panel, then the computer will
boot up properly after this.

I have no idea what is causing this (no error log, nothing!), but suspect it
is one of Microsoft's latest Update patches... As I said before, I have
never had problems like this but only since I have recently (in the last two
months or so) updated using MS Update!

Anyone any ideas?

Cheers,

Graeme
 
Graeme Hartley said:
Win2k has been the most stable OS that I have used for the past few years
until recently!!!

I am now having problems with processes not completing (like deleting files,
changing permissions, closing applications etc...). If I take a look at
these processes using the task manager they are running and or not flagged
as 'not responding'. If I forcefully stop them then other applications which
I start up do not run properly and eventually my hard disks power down and
the whole system goes down just as if I have pressed the 'reset' switch on
the front of my machine. There are other times where I can just be panning
the mouse over something or opening and menu and my computer just
spontaneously resets as above.

Invariably, when the system self-reboots, I get the little dialogue box
stating "Windows is starting up..." and this stays up indefinitely until I
have to press 'reset' in my computer's front panel, then the computer will
boot up properly after this.

I have no idea what is causing this (no error log, nothing!), but suspect it
is one of Microsoft's latest Update patches... As I said before, I have
never had problems like this but only since I have recently (in the last two
months or so) updated using MS Update!
Click to expand...

I have two systems running Win2k. One old system that has been upgraded from
Win98 and a new system that only have used Win2k. Both systems are updated
using MS Update with nothing more to update.
The old system behaves similar to yours. The new system never fails.
I think that rules out any M$ fault, except that the lack of structure of
the OS have stopped me from finding what is wrong with the old system.
(Which really annoys me.)

Couldn´t you try to make a repair installation of the OS? Something has
obviously gone broke - I wish I could be more specific.

Kurt F
 
Graeme Hartley said:
Invariably, when the system self-reboots, I get the little dialogue box
stating "Windows is starting up..." and this stays up indefinitely until I
have to press 'reset' in my computer's front panel, then the computer will
boot up properly after this.

I have no idea what is causing this (no error log, nothing!), but suspect it
is one of Microsoft's latest Update patches... As I said before, I have
never had problems like this but only since I have recently (in the last two
months or so) updated using MS Update!

Anyone any ideas?
Click to expand...
Suggest you have a look at the motherboard, could be a VRM problem or
might be a fan failure. Make sure to check *all* the fans. MS stuff
isn't always rock solid but it usually does leave a trace of its
failure.
 
I could go back and re-install (this will be about the tenth time I've don
this!) service pack 4 and leave it at that. This current installation seemed
okay until yesterday when I installed Windows Media Player from the Update
website, then I got the problems with the resetting. Even though I
rolled-back the installation this hasn't helped.
 
Graeme Hartley said:
Win2k has been the most stable OS that I have used for the past few years
until recently!!!

I am now having problems with processes not completing (like deleting files,
changing permissions, closing applications etc...). If I take a look at
these processes using the task manager they are running and or not flagged
as 'not responding'. If I forcefully stop them then other applications which
I start up do not run properly and eventually my hard disks power down and
the whole system goes down just as if I have pressed the 'reset' switch on
the front of my machine. There are other times where I can just be panning
the mouse over something or opening and menu and my computer just
spontaneously resets as above.

Invariably, when the system self-reboots, I get the little dialogue box
stating "Windows is starting up..." and this stays up indefinitely until I
have to press 'reset' in my computer's front panel, then the computer will
boot up properly after this.

I have no idea what is causing this (no error log, nothing!), but suspect it
is one of Microsoft's latest Update patches... As I said before, I have
never had problems like this but only since I have recently (in the last two
months or so) updated using MS Update!

Anyone any ideas?
Click to expand...

Worth checking your memory with a memtest (free) boot floppy:
http://www.memtest86.com
before you go any further as faulty ram can cause all kinds of wonderful
weirdness like this. Leave it testing for a few hours.
I also had a bad PSU which caused similar symptoms - when I used
monitoring software, I found that +5v was actually 4.62v which is well
below spec. Replaced the PSU and everything worked perfectly, so
although your problem may well be software, check hardware first,
if poss.
HTH
 
Rob said:
Worth checking your memory with a memtest (free) boot floppy:
http://www.memtest86.com
before you go any further as faulty ram can cause all kinds of wonderful
weirdness like this. Leave it testing for a few hours.
I also had a bad PSU which caused similar symptoms - when I used
monitoring software, I found that +5v was actually 4.62v which is well
below spec. Replaced the PSU and everything worked perfectly, so
although your problem may well be software, check hardware first,
if poss.
HTH
Click to expand...

Might also be a temperature issue. Case clean inside and airflow inside
and out unobstructed? Not in an overly warm environment; next to a
radiator, for example?

If your hardware manufacturer didn't supply a monitor I can recommend
SpeedFan from www.almico.com.

I'd second the use of memtest86, BTW.

HTH
 
Rob Hemmings said:
Worth checking your memory with a memtest (free) boot floppy:
http://www.memtest86.com
before you go any further as faulty ram can cause all kinds of wonderful
weirdness like this. Leave it testing for a few hours.
I also had a bad PSU which caused similar symptoms - when I used
monitoring software, I found that +5v was actually 4.62v which is well
below spec. Replaced the PSU and everything worked perfectly, so
although your problem may well be software, check hardware first,
if poss.
HTH
Click to expand...

Check the voltages in the Bios Monitor (if there is one) had a system
that would shut down or start up on it's own and often started
"tweeting" in the speaker. Found one of the voltages was oscillating
between 0 on -12v at a random interval. New PSU did the trick.
 
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