NT Server reboots by itself?

[canuck_mike]

I'm running an NT Server 4.0 machine and for the last few weeks, it reboots itself. It did it yesterday and did it once on Monday as well. It's on a 4GB hard drive and has 475MB of free space left. Any suggestions?
Mike

[DES123]

What service pack is installed.

I did have this problem before,
I just re-applied service pack 6a
for Windows NT and problem solved.

des

[canuck_mike]

I'm running SP6. But I'll try upgrading to SP6a and see if that works.
Thanks,
Mike

[canuck_mike]

Just found out that SP6 is the same as SP6a for NT Server Terminal Edition, which I'm running. Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Mike

[canuck_mike]

Just found out that SP6 is the same as SP6a for NT Server Terminal Edition, which I'm running. Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Mike

[DES123]

Check your event logs for any error messages
or stop errors.

Run a virus check, some virus's reboot NT at
certain times or days during the week.

This may sound obvious but, enable security
auditing on your harddrive and check what the your users are doing on the server.
Because you are running terminal server, maybe they are rebooting the server by mistake - if they have appropriate rights.
Or they are performing something that causes
the server to reboot.

[800XL]

Check your winnt directory for a memory.dmp file as well. If you are getting crash dumps it should write out a dump file. This would be a sign of unstable hardware perhaps, and it may be solved by reinstalling the latest service pack. With the way NT handles file replacements in service packs/hotfixes, it is possible for it to get confused and install an older file than it should. I solved a similar problem on an NT 4.0 server (not terminal server edition) by just reinstalling SP6a.

As a side note, make sure you are running the service pack for the edition of NT you are running. Terminal Server Edition and "regular" NT do not use exactly the same service pack. (Unless I missed the memo. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif ) The version numbers may be the same, but the files are not.

[canuck_mike]

Thanks for the info. But how do I check to see what is inside a dump file? I do have a memory.dmp file on my hard drive but how do I actually open it up to see what is causing the problem? Or is this even possible?
Thanks,
Mike

[DES123]

Speaking about dump files, there is a option
in Windows NT to automatically restart, when
a stop error occurs.

Click on Start > Settings > Control Panel >
System.

Click on the Startup/Shutdown tab, and uncheck the Automatically restart option.

This option is maybe checked on your server, because when a stop error occurs, it writes
debug info to a dump file and automatically
restarts.

If you uncheck this option, the server will
not restart and you will find the familiar
blue screen and corresponding stop error.

[MTAtech]

You likely also have your setup set to reboot on error. To view or change this setting, right click on the 'my computer' icon and select the 'startup shutdown' tab. There will be a check box labeled 'reboot on error' [or something like that - I'm doing this from memory.]

I had the same problem using my NT Server as a dual-homed machine so it would act as a gateway to the Internet for my own network. When I applied Service PAk 6a it went away.

[canuck_mike]

Thanks for the info guys. I unchecked the restart server on the Startup/Shutdown tab. So far so good!!!
Mike