Spontaneous reboot

My Athlon 600 system (FIC SD11 MB, 196MB RAM) running on Win98 has this tendency of suddenly re-booting on me! It is as if I pushed the reset button, and, of course, always when I'm in the middle of something crucial. The only pattern I've noticed is that on several occasions (but not always) it happens when I minimize Outlook. I haven't a clue where to start here--I don't know whether it's even software or hardware! (I did a RAM check with BurnInTest 2.1 and it passed) It also sometimes (about 1/5) hangs on the Norton AV scan when booting Win98. The whole system seems very precarious.
If someone could point me in the right direction or give me some ideas on how to fix these problems I would be forever grateful! Thanks in advance.

Not really sure but.....

Have you tried the usual last resort of re-installing windows over the top of the original?

Just pop the CD in and RUN D:\setup

It may fix it, it may not.....it's the only advice I can suggest.

Do you have a new power supply you could put in even as a test. I would bet that is your problem. Good Luck!


J http://www.sysopt.com/images/ieimages/2000/04/1.gif

sounds more like a heat problem...sometimes if you set a tower under a desk it will not get enough airflow and the only air it will get is the hot air being pumped out into the space under the desk thats its sitting in..Athlons tend to run hotter than any-other chip

Athlons are picky sometimes with the ram they will use as well..even though it passed the test doesnt mean that your chip likes it 100 percent..try a different stick from another machine and see what happens..welcome to the Athlon blues..once all the little 'bugs' are worked out they are really nice

or try each stick alone first and see what if anything that does for you and try different slots..I have one stick of Mushkin 256 that will ONLY run in my 3rd slot and will not even boot in 1 or 2...only one I have ever had like that but....


[This message has been edited by codybear (edited 10-27-2000).]

Has it always done this? Have you checked for a physical problem?
I have had trouble with a screw/post in the wrong place on the case under the motherboard. It would sometimes work for ages then reboot, or sometimes just reboot before windows. Just a thought - It took a while to fault find because on the surface all appeared ok.

Thanks for the suggestions. I went out and bought a new power supply (got a 300 W) and I'm trying it out. It's been OK for the last few days, but I'm not convinced yet. If it fails, I will also try shuffling the memory sticks and definately have a look for poorly placed standoffs and screws.

It all really makes you wonder if it's worth building your own system instead of paying an extra couple of hundred and just going out and buying a Dell or something...

I had similar problem......I found out that a program I was running (BlackIce Defender) was the problem......It would do the same thing when it was running and I was online. I un-installed it and have had no more "spontaneous reboots".

first off, it's always better to build your own system if you're qualified. what better tech support than your own mind?

i had the same problem a while ago with an old p166. yours might be different but i replaced the power supply and nothing happened. someone suggested to me that i turn off wake on ring and wake on lan in my bios and that worked.