Computer keeps restarting all the time. Even when I am not on it.

I can't seem to track down why this is happening.I can be sitting here on the
ineternet, or even just playing solitaire with nothing else open. It even
does it when I leave the computer to go and cook the dinner. It just knocks
off and then restarts again. I haven't put anything new on here for years,
this has been going on for months, but it seems to be getting worse.
Yestarday it rebooted every half and hour all day long. Today it is a bit
better, it has only done it about 5 times since 9am. Can you tell me where to
find the log to tell me why it is stopping, so that I can try again to find
out why this is happening.

Got to your system Events and look to see what is happening there.

To find them go to Start > Run and type EVENTVWR.EXE and click OK

Look under system.

You will probably find an entry just after your system restarted with an
Information message about "Save Dump". The file mentioned in the details of
that error is what you want (just double click on the error to see the
detailed display).

Understanding what any of it means is another matter

There is a free download from MS (got to KB article 838079) of Windows XP
Support tools.

Install that package and then open a command window (Start > Run > CMD.EXE).

In the command window type DUMPCHK forllowed by the full pathname of the
file in the error message.

This will give you a list of gobbledigook but the last section tells you
what your system was trying to load when the error occured. Could shed some
light on which part of your system is malfunctioning.

I only know this because I have just been troubleshooting a similar problem
on my system. Fingers crossed it turned out to be bad Audio Drivers.

Good luck

Carol Haynes
..

"Kayande" <Kayande@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:54369CEA-E78E-46DC-9A07-4A99A41A0546@microsoft.com...
>I can't seem to track down why this is happening.I can be sitting here on the
> ineternet, or even just playing solitaire with nothing else open. It even
> does it when I leave the computer to go and cook the dinner. It just knocks
> off and then restarts again. I haven't put anything new on here for years,
> this has been going on for months, but it seems to be getting worse.
> Yestarday it rebooted every half and hour all day long. Today it is a bit
> better, it has only done it about 5 times since 9am. Can you tell me where to
> find the log to tell me why it is stopping, so that I can try again to find
> out why this is happening.

Random restarts can be caused by failing hardware or overheating.

To check for possible hardware/software causes:
Click Start > Run, type in: eventvwr.msc and press Enter or click Ok.
Click once on any item listed in the Left pane to view a list on that item in the
Right pane.
Double click on and listed item in the Right pane to open a Details window with a
description that may also include a link to a possible solution.

If the machine may be/is overheating, open the case and clean out all of the dust
that accumulates over time.


--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

Sounds like it's overheating due to dust accumulations inside the case
on the CPU heatsink. If you aren't comfortable opening the case and
blowing out the dust bunnies with canned air, take it to a shop.

Kayande wrote:
> I can't seem to track down why this is happening.I can be sitting here on the
> ineternet, or even just playing solitaire with nothing else open. It even
> does it when I leave the computer to go and cook the dinner. It just knocks
> off and then restarts again. I haven't put anything new on here for years,
> this has been going on for months, but it seems to be getting worse.
> Yestarday it rebooted every half and hour all day long. Today it is a bit
> better, it has only done it about 5 times since 9am. Can you tell me where to
> find the log to tell me why it is stopping, so that I can try again to find
> out why this is happening.

I have been to the event viewer, but there doesn't seem to be anything like
you say in there. The actual eventlog says...
> Microsoft(R)windows(R)5.01 2600 service pack 2 uniprocessor free, which according to microsoft means that I have either shut down or started the computer with the ctrl, alt and delete keys. Which of course I haven't.
All the other information bits say something on the lines of so and so is in
the running state, has started succefully and things like that. There is an
error message ..... Timeout error (30000 milliseconds)waiting for the
application layer gateway service service to connnect, but I think my
antivirus program has blocked this runnning and this is only a recent thing
and the restsarting has been happening for months
Before you say anything about the automatic restrt butten, I have been into
that and the box is unchecked, so it shouldn't restart, but it does. Even
when I am not sitting here. In fact thinking of it, it seems to crash more
often when I am not working on it than when I am. I have been here now for
1.5 hours and it hasn't crashed as yet. But I had it on this morning, no
programs open, no internet on and it was crashing and restarting every 30
mins. Weird.

Uniprocessor free message always appears in the event log when the system
shuts-down/starts-up you don't have to use CTRL/ALT/DEL to see that.

Have you moved your PAGEFIL.SYS to another drive?

If you have creat another small one on your C: drive too. Without a page
file on C: Windows doesn't save BSOD errors so they don't get logged. A 2Mb
page file on drive C: should allow Windows to report what is going on during
the random reboots you are experiencing.

I really feel your pain in this as I am having similar problems at the
moment which I think I am gradually tracking down (at least they are getting
less frequent).

Something that really frustrates me is that MS error messages are so
cryptic, and most of them aren't documented in the MSKB. I can't understand
why anybody would provide an error code and not document it even briefly!

=?Utf-8?B?S2F5YW5kZQ==?= <Kayande@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
in news:54369CEA-E78E-46DC-9A07-4A99A41A0546@microsoft.com:

> I can't seem to track down why this is happening.I can be sitting
> here on the ineternet, or even just playing solitaire with nothing
> else open. It even does it when I leave the computer to go and
> cook the dinner. It just knocks off and then restarts again. I
> haven't put anything new on here for years, this has been going on
> for months, but it seems to be getting worse. Yestarday it
> rebooted every half and hour all day long. Today it is a bit
> better, it has only done it about 5 times since 9am. Can you tell
> me where to find the log to tell me why it is stopping, so that I
> can try again to find out why this is happening.
>

Usually this is due to overheating. Over time, dust tends to
accumulate on and cake into the insides of the computer causing it to
overheat. Hint: Does this happen more often on hot days than cold
days?
You should open up your case and make sure that the CPU fan is properly
spinning and clean up the accumulated dust, particularly on or near the
CPU itself.

Other things you can do:

Check the event log for entries
Start -> Run -> eventvwr

Disable the automatic restart so that you can view the Blue Screen:
R-Click "My Computer"->Properties->Advanced Tab-> Startup and
Recovery "Settings" -> Uncheck "Automatically Restart..."

HTH,
John