My computer keeps restarting.
Ok the computer used to run just fine. For a few months now whenever i am playing a game or a video or just using the computer it will randomly restart. As far as i can tell all software is up to date. Nothing is conflicting with other hardware or software. It is becoming increasingly frustrating. Help would be apreciated.1 person needs an answerI do too
October 24th, 2010 9:48pm

Hi Josh91, 1. Do you receive any error message when the computer restarts?2. Have you made any recent changes on the computer? I would suggest that you check in the Event Viewer to know the cause of the issue and post back with the details. How to view and manage event logs in Event Viewer in Windows XPhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427 There is a possibility that some third party programs installed on the computer is causing the issue.I would suggest that you perform clean boot and check. To help troubleshoot error messages and other issues, you can start Windows Vista or Windows 7 by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This kind of startup is known as a "clean boot." A clean boot helps eliminate software conflicts. Refer the below link to know more about clean boot procedure.How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135 Reset the computer to start as usualAfter you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps to reset the computer to start as usual:a) Click Start, type msconfig in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.b) If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.c) On the General tab, click the Normal Startup option, and then click OK.d) When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Restart. Hope this helps!Halima S - Microsoft Support.Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.
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October 25th, 2010 11:16am

If your computer is restarting it sounds like you are experiencing a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).If you want to fix it, you need to supply more information.If you experiencing a BSOD you can determine exactly what the problem is.XP is set up to automatically reboot on some system failures, so you need to disable that feature so the BSOD information will stay on the screen for you to see it. You can also configure XP to create a memory dump file for each BSOD.Disable Automatic restart on system error Configure your system to not automatically restart on system failure (that is what it wants to do):Right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Startup and Recovery Settings.In the System failure section:Put a check mark in the "Write an event to the system log" boxPut a check mark in the "Send an administrative alert" boxUncheck the "Automatically restart" boxIn the Write debugging information section, choose:Small memory dump (64 KB)Set the Small dump directory to:%SystemRoot%\Minidump Click OK, OK.Restart your computer.Please provide additional information about your system:What is your system make and model?What is your XP version and Service Pack?Describe your current antivirus and anti malware situation: McAfee, Norton, Spybot, AVG, Avira!, MSE, Defender, ZoneAlarm, PC Tools, Comodo, etc.Click Start, Run and in the box enter:msinfo32Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select All, Copy and then paste the information back here.For video driver information, expand the Components, click Display, click Edit, Select All, Copy and then paste the information back here.There will be some personal information (like System Name and User Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just delete it from the pasted information.Do, or do not. There is no try.I need YOUR votes and points for helpful replies and Propose as Answers. I am saving up for a pony!
October 26th, 2010 1:52pm

You may have some useful BSOD information already. If you do not, then you need to accumulate a few BSODs and then collect the information and share it as follows:Here is a BSOD example showing information you need to provide:http://techrepublic.com.com/i/tr/downloads/images/bsod_a.jpgSend the information pointed to with the red arrows (3-4 lines total). Send the entire *** STOP message line since there are clues in the 4 parameters.Skip the boring text unless it looks important to you. I know what a BSOD looks like, I need to knowwhat your BSOD looks like. Download BlueScreenView from here:http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.htmlUnzip and run it (BSV installs nothing) and let it finish scanning all your crash dump files. If you double click on of the dumps, you will get some information about it (including the Caused By Driver field) and you may be able to spot the problem right away - especially if you see a pattern in the dumps where the Caused by Driver field is the same (start with that driver).Select (highlight) one or more of the most recent dump files by clicking them and holding down the Ctrl key to select multiples files. Try to select just the most recent ones that relate to your issue (maybe five or so dump files to get started).Click File, Save Selected Items and save the information from the dumps to a text file on your desktop called BSOD.txt. Open BSOD.txt with a text editor, copy all the text and paste it into your next reply.Here is an example of the BSV report from a single BSOD that I initiated on purpose that shows the cause of the crash as the i8042prt.sys driver belonging to Microsoft Corporation:==================================================Dump File : Mini062110-01.dmpCrash Time : 6/21/2010 11:51:31 AMBug Check String : MANUALLY_INITIATED_CRASHBug Check Code : 0x000000e2Parameter 1 : 0x00000000Parameter 2 : 0x00000000Parameter 3 : 0x00000000Parameter 4 : 0x00000000Caused By Driver : i8042prt.sysCaused By Address : i8042prt.sys+27fbFile Description : i8042 Port DriverProduct Name : Microsoft® Windows® Operating SystemCompany : Microsoft CorporationFile Version : 5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2108)Processor : 32-bitComputer Name : Full Path : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini062110-01.dmp==================================================Send the information from the last 5 memory dumps. Do, or do not. There is no try.I need YOUR votes and points for helpful replies and Propose as Answers. I am saving up for a pony!
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October 26th, 2010 1:55pm

If your computer is restarting it sounds like you are experiencing a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).Not until you see the error and collect more information will you be able to fix it.XP is set up to automatically reboot on some system failures, so you need to disable that feature so the BSOD information will stay on the screen for you to see it. You can also configure XP to create a memory dump file for each BSOD.Disable Automatic restart on system error Configure your system to not automatically restart on system failure (that is what it wants to do):Right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Startup and Recovery Settings.In the System failure section:Put a check mark in the "Write an event to the system log" boxPut a check mark in the "Send an administrative alert" boxUncheck the "Automatically restart" boxIn the Write debugging information section, choose:Small memory dump (64 KB)Set the Small dump directory to:%SystemRoot%\Minidump Click OK, OK.Restart your computer.Please provide additional information about your system:What is your system make and model?What is your XP version and Service Pack?Describe your current antivirus and anti malware situation: McAfee, Norton, Spybot, AVG, Avira!, MSE, Defender, ZoneAlarm, PC Tools, Comodo, etc.Click Start, Run and in the box enter:msinfo32Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select All, Copy and then paste the information back here.For video driver information, expand the Components, click Display, click Edit, Select All, Copy and then paste the information back here.There will be some personal information (like System Name and User Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just delete it from the pasted information.Do, or do not. There is no try.I need YOUR votes and points for helpful replies and Propose as Answers. I am saving up for a pony!
October 26th, 2010 1:56pm

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