We're going down!!!

**Kender** · 07-28-2003, 12:43 AM

"May-day! May-day! We've been hit, and are going down! AHHH!!!"

*boom!*

A re-enactment of my system crashing...

Every 13-15 minutes...

My dad and me finally got it to work. A7N8X (non-deluxe) with 30 gig WD Caviar (very old) HD, AMD Athlon XP 3200, and some crappy 7 dollar PCI ONLY vid card.

As happy as I am right now that I can finally use my own computer for once, it comes with indominable frustration, since every 15 minutes or so, my system simply restarts.

Sometimes I'm watching a movie, it restarts.

Sometimes I'm using IE, and it restarts.

Sometimes I'm not even doing anything at all. My IE browser is sitting there, doing nothing, and it restarts.

GARGH! I'm hoping it's because I have such an old, beat up HD. That's what I'm really hoping, however, I'm very worried that my mobo might have been damaged *somehow* in the process of getting windows to install on the antique hard drive.

I tried getting a SATA PCI adapter card. It got to the "Press enter to install Windows XP" blue-screen. If I press enter, I see a glimpse of the progress bar before Windows graciously tells me that it encountered a serious error. (The dark blue screen with grey-ish writing) I mean, I must've seen every type of error screen that Windows XP has to offer (except my friend gets some really weird ones...) and I'm getting I---I this much worried that something other than my antique HD might be damaged....

Any help is appreciated, and I know how much of a bother these types of posts must be for the seasoned veterans. I moderate another forum about an online game, and find myself having to repeatedly tell each newbie that signs up the answer to their question, even though they could have simply searched the history for 2 seconds and foun their answer, or looked at the FAQ.

But right now, I'm up a tree without a paddle... Or whatever.

Thank you in advance for any help.

**Bovon** · 07-28-2003, 02:48 AM

#1, a 30 gig hard drive is not that "ancient"... I still use 6 & 12 gig drives.

Your problem can be several things, but may be drivers. try removing the sound, modem and any other card including a NIC if you have one.

The problem could also be a ram problem, maybe the timing is too fast..it could be flaky ram.

What kind of drivers are you using with that 7 buck video card?..

I donno if Winxp has a version of System File Checker or not..it is/was very useful in Win98.

Try some of the above and someone here will be able to help you once the problem area gets narrowed down

**cbh** · 07-28-2003, 03:12 AM

If you have a lot of time and patience, uninstall Windows and reinstall everything again.

**Kender** · 07-28-2003, 04:31 AM

So this could all be windows' fault?

Hmm, I'm poised to update my BIOS, but I really want to ask you guys about it. Is it necessary? I'm looking at the "improvements" each one gives, but everyone I ask keeps asking me "Why do you need to update?"

I'm using the Asus Update/Flash Utility, and it gives a list of updates in chronological order, along with a description of what each one does.

Thank you again.

**fishybawb** · 07-28-2003, 05:25 AM

Go to Settings->Control Panel->System->Advanced->Startup and Recovery Settings. Uncheck the "Automatically reboot" option and see if it'll give you an error message of some kind next time around.

**michaeln** · 07-28-2003, 06:27 AM

If the system is crashing at reasonably regular intervals it could be a heat problem or power supply not up to the job, particularly when using the Athlon chips as they run hot and need good cooling.

Check if the cooling fan feels hot. Is it properly mounted to the processor. Again check to see if the air expelled by the power supply is more than warm.

Is the cooling on the Athlon 3200 up to the job and rated for that processor?

**strat1** · 07-28-2003, 10:14 AM

Originally posted by fishybawb
Go to Settings->Control Panel->System->Advanced->Startup and Recovery Settings. Uncheck the "Automatically reboot" option and see if it'll give you an error message of some kind next time around.

Do this and post it here.

Also do a search on here and google for the error you get.

**cheekymonkey** · 07-28-2003, 10:24 AM

Originally posted by Bovon
#1, a 30 gig hard drive is not that "ancient"... I still use 6 & 12 gig drives.

I have a couple of 540mb drives right here !
Dos is about the only os that will install fully and still have room for other apps and stuff !

**Bovon** · 07-28-2003, 10:42 AM

Originally posted by cheekymonkey
I have a couple of 540mb drives right here !
Dos is about the only os that will install fully and still have room for other apps and stuff !

Yeah, me too. I still have one 540 with Win3.11 on it. I hook it up every so often to "remember the good ole days"

I have a 386 sitting here with ham radio apps on it in a pure DOS 6.1 environment. I have't run it in two ~ three years now..kinda lost my interest in ham radio..and the monitor here sits on the box

**elleon30033** · 07-28-2003, 11:23 AM

hey Bovon, long time no see.....oh, yeah, i'd bet the farm its heat. Take the side cover off the case and find a find to blow air from the open side (a big fan, you know like you put in a window). See if it still reboots, if not, you probably need to get some case fans for that dragon (athlon 3200+, what an animal). ok, just my 2 cents i mean....good luck.

**Kender** · 07-28-2003, 02:56 PM

Ok, I turned off "Automatically Restart," but my 3200 runs at 48-50C normally, and I asked about this on the boards earlier, and someone told me that 60c is when I should get worried.

I guess I should just get a better heatsink/fan anyway though...

I'll post the results like you said I should.

**Optimus Prime** · 07-28-2003, 04:03 PM

Originally posted by Bovon
Yeah, me too. I still have one 540 with Win3.11 on it. I hook it up every so often to "remember the good ole days"

I have a 386 sitting here with ham radio apps on it in a pure DOS 6.1 environment. I have't run it in two ~ three years now..kinda lost my interest in ham radio..and the monitor here sits on the box

Yeah! Well... well i gotta Sinclair Spectrum! Beat that

.

Mmm, 486.

30 gig is old? Teh fux? My primary HD is "only" 40 gig.

**Ol'Tunzafun** · 07-28-2003, 04:10 PM

I'm curious about your PSU specs (Make & model) and what all you have running on there.

**killer_teddy** · 07-28-2003, 05:40 PM

Originally posted by Kender
my 3200 runs at 48-50C normally, and I asked about this on the boards earlier, and someone told me that 60c is when I should get worried.

yeah but the temps aren't always accurately displayed anyways so just touch the side of your HSF to see how hot it actually is.
Then give the HSF a light prod, if it wobbles it may not be on properly try looking between the die and HSF base while you do this to see if there is a gap.

**elleon30033** · 07-28-2003, 09:30 PM

kender, i was guessing system overheat ie. video card, memory, power supply etc. that might be the cause... you are right, if your cpu die temp. is accurate that is well within range....try the fan just to disallow the possibility of components overheating....good luck....oh and guys i just upgraded my linux box from a 75mhz pentium to a 133 and increased the memory from 24mb to 48, now the old girl really flies LOL....its a desktop zenith...i imagine she was a real looker back in 1992 huh? oh, just to get even i put a 4 gig 7200rpm scsi drive in her running off a 50 pin scsi card...the jump in speed was truely a quantum leap.....we now return your puters to the year 2003 rotflmao

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