2000 shutting down by itself, not on purpose

[namek0]

I just got done ripping a dvd last night, and decided to watch a little bit of it. About 5 minutes into the video, my computer simply restarted itself out of nowhere. First I thought maybe it was a heat problem, but the temperature checked out fine. I checked the bios auto-shutdown temperature, and it was nowhere near it. So I start it up again, and play the video. About 30 seconds into it I hear once again the click of my speakers indicating my computer is shutting down/restarting. I'm freaking out at this point. It hasn't done it since, but what in the world could of caused this.

specs:
Athlon 1.1 ghz
iwill mobo (model I don't know off hand, I'm at work)
256 pc133 ram
radeon 7200 32ddr
13 gig hd
120 gig hd
some old creative sound card

 

[namek0]

Ok, apparently the problem was a bad sector on my hard drive. I ran chkdisk, installed my drivers and now it seems to be working A ok

 

[juicebykurt]

I think I might have the same problem. However, after formating my hdd and running a fresh install of win2k, I still get random restarts. Is this a common thing? Are there any other ideas concerning this issue?

Win2k Pro
Shuttle AK31 v3.1
AMD TB 1.2MHz
256MBs Nanya DDR PC2100
Maxtor 40GB 7200rpm
Lite-On 32x CDRW
VisionTek GF2 GTS
300w PSU
My system averages 32 degrees C.
I normally just run mirc and halflife on a consistant basis. I am pretty sure it has restarted on me other times also, but it usually seems to happen when I'm in Halflife.

Any light you guys can shed on this for me would be great.

 

[mibbetson]

Could be bad, or incompatible memory. When we put generic memory in our Dells they do this. We were getting a memory dump before it rebooted though to indicate this.

 

[RobD]

Check your mini dump logs. These will give you error codes and then run it through MS Knowledge Base. Should give you an indication as to where the fault lies. Does sound like memory to me though.

 

[RobD]

Sorry, that post was meant for you Juice.
I had this problem at home. Random lock ups, reboots etc etc. Had that many it trashed a hard drive totally. Eventually discovered it was RAM. Generic RAM, ouch!
Always go for branded!

 

[juicebykurt]

Ive had this RAM for over a year with no problems, hmm. BUT, last week I was getting a lot of mem dumps and now it just restarts without the blue screen.

Where would I find the "mini dump logs"?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by juicebykurt on 01/03/03 11:56 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[RobD]

In you Winnt folder, there's a sub folder called "Minidump".
In there you will probably find a shed load of files. Each one wil be called after the date they were created. Each one about 64k in size. Microsoft has a little program to help debug them (Can't recall it's name, sorry!).
After that, you should be able to determine the nature of the fault with the MS-KB.
Can you tell I've had a LOT of experience with this type of problem! lol!
Let us know how you go!

 

[juicebykurt]

well... i got memtest86 to test my ram but i couldnt get it to work. i got another restart and this time it blue screened again. im almost positive its my ram. my hdd is fine from what check disk says. i tried the microsoft debug tools but thats a little over my head and it didnt recognize the minidump files. i have a lifetime warranty on my ram to i guess ill just get it replaced. thx for all your help.

 

[juicebykurt]

this was funny enough i thoguht id post again. after updating my bios today i was checking my bios settings when i happened to look at the system and cpu temp. i am one lucky bastard. my cpu was hanging out at around 95C. i couldnt believe my eyes. so i immediatly shutdown my pc and checked my hsf. the fan was working but the fins on my hs were clogged with dust. the thought never crossed my mind to check for that. anyway, i cleaned and and put it back on and im back down to about 45C. so i think its safe to say i found my problem. and as an extra bonus i still have another 256MBs of DDR on the way.

 

[RobD]

You struck very very lucky there!
95C! Close man, real close! Almost had a liquified CPU!
I must admit, I once found my GPU fan clogged up, so I always keep a can of the compressed air stuff handy.

Mind you, I do go through it, especially when I see some peoples machines that I work on. Jesus, they look like they belong to Swamp Thing!