Computer Randomly Restarts! Yup another one.

Hi VanDyk220,

do you get a blusecreen on the restart or does it just restart completely with no errors, if so check the caps on the MOBO itself, if they are leaking anything out the top then thats your problem, i have seen this in many machine (mostly IBM's)

if you get a blues screen - can you note the error

also do your event viewers say anything of interest?

Cheers!

No Blue Screen pops up when computer restarts, just randomly goes off then right back on. I went into ControllPanel>>System and turned off the restart when error orrurs button and it still restarts without notice.

And I have checked the event viewer and it shows no errors or anything that I can see relating to the restarts.

Oh and the Motherbord looks clean everysoon to me looks fine. It was all cleaned the other day for dust (fan and such) when they were trying to get it working.

if you leave the machine running in the BIOS for a little while, do you get the same problems, just trying to narrow down to windows or hardware
whilst your in there also have a check at the system temp if the bios shows it

Im sorry :( I have only a breif idea on what it is ment to have my machine running in the BIOS.
And I downloaded Hmonitor, and nothing seemed to be overly high. (I was compairing to my laptop that im on now) I dont know what the Temps should be at.

thats ok no need to apologise,

BIOS can be entered on restarting your machine and usually hitting the DEL key although it may be F1 F2 or F12    you just have to take note when your machine first turns on - it will say hit "F?" for setup

just leave your machine sitting in that for a while and see if it turns off

Well after restarting I didnt see where it says what key to hit. So the next time I hit F1 and im at a grey,teal and blue screen that says -
 " Phoenix - Award BIOS CMOS Setup Utility"
So im guessing im in the right place. Anything I need to do here or just wait to see if it restarts. It hasnt yet but its only been a minute.
I'll post back in a bit and let you know whats going on.

Out of curiosity if it resets, are you thinking hardware error and if not, a windows?

Thank you for all you help, the whole family here really appreciates it.

VanDyk220,

mate thats a pleasure I know what its like to be stuck on something like this....

your in the right place with the BIOS - if you can leave that there for half hour or so it will narrow down hardware to windows

if it resets then hardware - if not then we might have to run some virus scans in safe mode with windows

cheers

James

Ok its been 45 minutesand hasnt restart. YAY!!!! (I think)  I'll still keep it in BIOS untill my next peice of advice. Thanks again.
Oh and im not sure whats on this computer for virus removal or anything like that, because as I said its not mine, and the owner hs gone to bed for the night :P

okay mate if its still good then try booting into safe mode

you will have to hit F8 repeatedly after getting past the very initial boot screen

ok doing that now. Computer is in safe mode. Have to go out to help my girlfriend sort somthing. So be back in a bit.
Im assuming im waiting to see if it restarts on its own again right? cause so far its all good :)

yeah just checking it stays on for a sec and then we will go through a few checks

i am sorry to say though i am off him in an hour! ill jump back online when i get home but if its night where you are i dont want to keep you up all night :)

home* off home* !!1!

Hey I got all the time in the world, day off work tomorrow lol. So ya safemode has stayed on for I guess 10-15 minutes now. And thats a good sign for this computer. If you let me know when your off for the night that would be great :P just so i dont wait for a responce and not get one.

of course :)

sooo so far it looks like probably a peice of malware that starts in normal mode

if you boot back into normal mode, how long till the computer shuts down  -  just run a few appz in safe mode to put some strain on the processor and see if it handles it ok

then try normal mode and take note of when the machine turns off - we will need to get hold of a couple of spyware appz which ill send you the links to when we figure out normal mode again

***OK I get your post now lol. Missed the edit. Awesome, this will give me time to help my girlfriend. I'll be online all night and will keep checking back here. Got some stuff on my computer to work on too :P Thank you in advance for future help.

no worries mate    not a problem     im out of here at 5 my time (its 4.20 now)

where abouts are you in the big world?

I left it in safemode for half an hour and it never reset on me. I played around in paint for a bit, and opened different programs, just played around and it was fine.
I reset the computer manualy and within a minute it reset, I left the room and it could have reset after that but if not then its been on for about 5 minutes without reseting. As I think I said earlier, It can last up to an hour or only a few seconds. Its restarted while loading windows. No one even has to be near the computer, no Apps open and it resets.

Oh ya I Missed the big world question. Im on the west side of Canada. Pacific timezone, and its 9:45pm.

nice! Malware i would be thinking

you will need to grab a couple of tools on another machine

1) windows Defender available from MS
2) hijack this is highly enjoyed on experts
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3155.html
and paste the results into
http://www.hijackthis.de/ and then paste the analysis here

this shoud begin to find what is going on - i just hope the computer stay on long enough to install windows defender! when you run that scan safe mode is the best and make sure you select a deep scan with all tick boxes selected

also try running sfc /scannow from safe mode to see if any windows files are stuffed

and with that i bid you farewell for an hour or so :) i will be in canada at the end of the year, when we get this fixed you can buy me a beer :)

talk soon champ

James

ok I will do my best to get those downloaded on that computer. Its going on and off very frequently now, every couple minutes.
I did put a full version of Spyware Doctor on there today, dont know if it has the same effect of those you told me to use.
I'll download them both now and let you know the results.

spyware doctor is also an excellent one to use   prob on par with windows defender,

at home now mate so will check in every so often with you :)

Wow took me a long time to download Windows Defender, because computer kept reseting, but got a luck break. The first time I did the scan I got a pop up error saying.
 "Windows Defender encountered an error: 0x80508012. An unexpected problem is preventing the program from scanning your computer for unwanted software. Try to scan computer again."

So I did just that and go no errors. Now I am doing a full scan in safe mode, its been scanning for 33 minutes now lol. Once its done I'll use that hijackthis.

What i would do here , is identify if the problem is due to hard or soft problem.
To do this, download a bootable cd, likke knoppix from www.knoppix.org, burn it to a cd, and boot from it.
If it does NOT reboot, your problem comes from software.
Here some useful info on the max cpu temperatures :   www.heatsink-guide.com/maxtemp.shtml 

ah k    deffinitely looks like malware to me

is it showing a lot in the defender screen yet?

Took just over an hour to finish the defender scan in safemode but said everything was fine.

I downloaded Hijackthis and posted the log on that website.
Here it is http://www.hijackthis.de/logfiles/aa72e5525ff03d53420b4f68fb409518.html
I hope that worked. Im not sure what I should be doing from here. Thanks.

wow that surprises me that windows defende came up clean..

from hijack this
O3 - Toolbar: Big Fish Games - {4E7BD74F-2B8D-469E-86BD-FD60BB9AAE3A} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\BFGTOOL...\BFGTOO~1.DLL

that came detected as nasty, can you in safe mode remove this in add remove programs and then mae sure the BFGTOOL... folder under programs is deleted also

boot back up and see if that makes any difference - by the way you used hijack this perfectly!

if your system still shuts down...

boot to safe mode     run regedit   HKLM\Software\micrososft\windows\currentversion\run\   delete all entries in there and HKLM\Software\micrososft\windows\currentversion\runonce  delete in there also

if you run msconfig and look under the startup TAB  you should see a whole stack of things, ill get you to untick all of them but make a note of what was ticked to start with (msonfig is just a nice interface into the above registry keys so just check both)

quick question. I have "Run" "RunOnce" and "RunOnceEx" do I delete all 3?

oh and I got rid of the Big Fish, and still reset on me after :(.

yeah get rid of them all - its all 3rd party appz and potential hazards

VanDyk, did you see my post?

Ok I deleted all 3 of those Run folders.

I also unchecked everybox in the msconfig startup TAB (they were all checked)

It said I needed to restart to make changes, so I did. Now im in normall mode, waiting to see what happens.

excellent   hopefully its good

>>  VanDyk, did you see my post?   <<

yes Nobus but Jay has me on a roll. I dont want to get confused.
Oh and Jay. When it first turned on in normall mode. after about 30 seconds the sceen flickered black for a sec, but it didnt reset. It stayed on.
But on a plus side the computer has been on for a whole 10 minutes, thats giving me hope. But im so scared lol. After all this I dont want my excitment to come crashing down. at the 30 min and an hour mark I will post. (Unless it goes sooner) and then Post back tomorrow. Thank you so much for your help Jay! You've spent alot of hours and its really appreciated.

its not a problem my friend - tomorrow we shall work out what it was that was making the computer reboot so you know for future ref

Ya its been over half an hour, and wow im psyched. Dad gets up in a few hours to goto work, and it would be sweet to have this fixed for him. He is a big gamer lol and has been lost without his RPG's. Not acctualy my fatherinlaw but my girlfriends dad. Close enough :P Thanks again I'll post Tomorrow if its still ok. And sooner if its not.... Then I think I will have to cry. G'night. Thank you again.

gnite mate,

talk to you tomorrow :)

This computer hates me so much. It stayed on for just under an hour. Longest it has in a long while. And then bam, when I think its in the clear it restarts.
Im going to go back and rescan everything and then probably get some sleep and try again tomorrow. Any thing else I should Try?

argh! nothing more that i can think of tonight mate,

let me know when your up tomorrow and we'll go again    damn computers! damn them all!   I'm sorry you cant give good news to you Father in Law - we'll get it though dont worry :)

If the computer is not in use for a while (hours) try to leave it turned on again either in safe mode or the BIOS screen or the Knoppix CD.
Do something so you can see if it resetted again and place a note for others so they don't reset it or whatever.

This is just to make more sure it's really not a hardware problem. Your 2 tests where a bit short from what I read. Though I understand waiting for a crash is not something you want to do, so let it run when nobody uses the computer for a while.
Just because you found malware doesn't mean it's the problem, though I'm not saying it aint either.

The Knoppix CD as mentioned by nobus is a great way to test if some problem is hardware or software related.
It's a Linux that runs from CD (or DVD). No need to install anything.
You just need to download it, burn it, insert it and restart the computer.

I suggest you check the site if you want more info.

Blah! Good Morning :P
I dont have  blank disc here so couldnt try the Knoppix CD.
 but last night I put it back in BIOS and left it there untill just now.
 It never reset on its own, BIOS was still up. Went out  of BIOS and windows was loaded for about a minute and it reset again.

Ok we were on the right Track. Those run files JAY got me to delete seem to be the problem.
After I deleted them last night the computer ran fine for an hour before it started reseting. This morning I just went over everything I did last night and those run files were back and there were a couple checked boxes in the MSCONFIG startup tab.
 I deleted the run folder again (that removed the boxes so i didnt even have to uncheck them) and the computer ran fine for  while. I looked for the run folder and it was still gone. About 15 minutes later the computer reset and it is back again with a checkbox in MSCONFIG.

** In the run folder I have two files.
 name                                 type                                   data
- (Default)                          REG_SZ                           (value not set)
- KernelFaultCheck              REG_Expand_Sz                %systemroot%\system32\dumprep 0 - k

and the checked box in MSCONFIG/STARTUP   is the later of those two files

So to sum what I said up.... When those files are off the computer its running fine, but they keep coming back and I dont know how to stop them.

* One more side note, in Currentversion folder in the Regedit, there is also a IntlRun folder. Just thought I would throw that in there incase its related to the Run folder. (I just dont want to be deleting anything I shouldnt be)
 

Oh one more thing that might be important or not. I've been deleting the Run folder because when I try to delete the (Default) file in that folder it says.
 "Unable to delete all specified values." (in a pop up error box)
But all the other files in the run folder delete fine. (They just keep coming back along with the folder)

Ok right now I still have the Run folder but the "KernelFaultCheck" file isnt there.
 And it is NOT reseting on me.
One of the other files that was in the run folder before is in it again. Its called NvCplDaemon.
I looked it up and apparantly its a file relating to Nvidia graphics cards.
Its been about 15 minutes since the last restart. I'll post again when somthing happens.

40 minutes later and the KernelFaultCheck (called dumprep 0 -k in MSCONFIG) is back!
 and yup, restart after restart. Im reading now on what that file is hopeing to understand it, but still have no idea how to remove it for good.

Morning VanDyke220

That KernelFaultCheck can be disabled under   my computer - properties - advanced - startup and recovery and taking the tickbox out of auto restart...

lets see if that helps :)

Wow the computer hasnt reset for about 2 hours now. (went out for a bit and left it was a creen open to check) I earlier had turned off that auto restart check box. And after that failed alone to work I removed the Nvidia driver off the computer. I later installed a new one from their website and that crated more files in the Run folder, I removed the driver again and the computer hasnt made another Run folder for itself and so far hasnt reset.

Oh and I also switched the Write debugging info from "small memory dump (64)" to "(None)" I just now switched it back cause I am not 100% sure what that means.

so its looking like those Nvidia Drivers - i might be wrong but i thinkg that kernal value is created in the case of a crash

so if the nvidia drivers are killing the machine then it would explain a lot

was this a new graphis card??

Well im going to try and find a video driver that wont screw up this computer. As I said this isnt my computer so its hard for me to tell what went wrong, I dont even know what kind of GFX card it has. I dont get how the problem could have slowly started (restarting occasionly) to the last few days ( hardly lasting 5 minutes).
 I really wish i understood this better, lol so hopefully I could prevent it from happening again. Anyways, I'll go look for a video driver and if its still running fine in a few hours, we'll call it case closed!

no worries matey! let me know how you go

Grrr any tips for finding a driver that will work. I know there is one out there lol because this computer ran fine for a year playing games.
I went to the emachine website and the driver link just leads to a 'Page not found" :(

emachine popped up as dodgy on your hijack this scan

best off going to nvideas site

Thats where I dowloaded it earlier today before I removed it for a second time. But there were two different drivers, I guess I will try the other one.

hmm bit dicey when the actual manufacturers drivers kil your machine!

Im not sure if this computer even has a Nvidia compatible graphics card. Many people use that computer so it could have been on their for many reasons. But I did try the other Nvidia download and it said I didnt have hardware to match it. So im not sure what kind of video driver I should try or how to figure out what is compatible with this computer.  

if you check device manager it should tell you what kind of card is installed   if its not nvidia then theres your biggest problem! or you can check the card itself for clarification

In other devices I have my Video Controller. and its says in brackets beside it (VGA Compatible)
 I found a download off the emachine site but that driver wont install right. Its the s3_unichrome_v6.
 
Guess I will just keep searching :P

maybe just leave it as the windows default if it is working

the computer is working, but I need a graphics driver, it wont play anygames :P and thats the primary use of the computer.

haha i see i see yeah fair call can understand that       got a model off the card???

lol omg.... Spent so much time looking, I thought I was just blind, but it doesnt have a GFX card. so im not really sure how this works, looking for the right drivers and such. I know it can play City of Villains and world of warcraft when working right.

it should have a system cd that came with it - the MOBO cd will have drivers on it

ya they cant find it :(

jump onto the website of the manufacturer of the motherboard

ummm i went to the emachine website and got the driver for this model of the computer.
Im not sure if thats what you ment about the manufacturer of the motherboard.

is the motherboard an emachine MOBO?

im asuming so, how can i be certain?

hmm just check on the MOBO itself, it will have the manufacturer on there somewhere

well I know its made in China lol. a little black square has VIA on it... I cant find anything.

hmm do they have any of the original documents that came with the machine, im just worries about that emachine as it came up bad on your hijack this log     i dont know if they are a manufacturer of the board or not  gimme a sec - have you tired that driver you just got

ya when I try to download the driver (s3G UniChrome) I got from the emachine website it says setup was unable to complete installation.
The progress log is a bunch of jiberish to me but here it is.


=========== S3SETUP LOG FILE - Started at 17:58:49 on 3-29-2006 ===========
S3Setup v1.00.09-CL (1.01.16) on Win XP
  bAllowReboot: TRUE
  bSilentReboot: TRUE
  bPromptReboot: TRUE
  bPromptSilentReboot: FALSE
  bDisableMenuAnim: TRUE
  bDisableMenuShadow: TRUE
  VendorID to find:1106
INF File Located at: C:\Drivers\Video\UpdatedDriver_3-11-2004\kmviaga.inf
Found - ven:1106 dev:3065 ss_dev:80FF ss_ven:1043 rev:78 bus:00 devnum:12 func:00  (inVGA=1)
Enumerating Display class devices...
  Display #0 has DevInst=00001CD0
    Instance=PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_7205&SUBSYS_80F91043&REV_01\4&1FEB96E4&0&0008.
  No more displays.
Could not find an enumerate device to match hardware.
Enumerating all Enum\PCI registry entries...
  Device #0 subkey: 'VEN_10B9&DEV_5459&SUBSYS_910014FE&REV_00'
  Device #1 subkey: 'VEN_10DE&DEV_0322&SUBSYS_290A107D&REV_A1'
  Device #2 subkey: 'VEN_1106&DEV_0571&SUBSYS_80ED1043&REV_06'
  Device #3 subkey: 'VEN_1106&DEV_3038&SUBSYS_80ED1043&REV_81'
  Device #4 subkey: 'VEN_1106&DEV_3059&SUBSYS_810A1043&REV_60'
  Device #5 subkey: 'VEN_1106&DEV_3065&SUBSYS_80FF1043&REV_78'
    Found matching hardware.
Found InstID=PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3065&SUBSYS_80FF1043&REV_78\3&61aaa01&0&90.
Found Mfg line: "VIA.Mfg".
Description="%viagfx.DeviceDesc0% = viagfx, PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_7205".
Cannot find compatible device for VEN_1106&DEV_3065 in C:\Drivers\Video\UpdatedDriver_3-11-2004\kmviaga.inf.
DestroyTimerWindow returned an error!
-> Setup was unable to complete the installation.  Check the progress log in your Windows directory for more details.


looks life jibberish to me too!   whats the model of your machine  im on the emachines website now

c2782

VIA S3 UniChrome™ 3D Graphics (1 AGP slot available for upgrade)

http://downloads.emachines.com/drivers/video/S3_Unichrome_v6_14_10_74.exe
i take it thats what you downloaded?

http://www.via.com.tw/en/resources/pressroom/2003_archive/pr030410km400.jsp

see if you can find your board there

Thanks for that site.

This is my Chip ****
http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/k7-series/kt880/

Its the VIA  VT8237

Dont know where this will get me yet lol, Im not really educted on drivers and such.

would be so much easier if they had the original disks, that site is a bucket of ***** ! ehe

Not on the Graphics card, but im done for the night. Important thing is the computer is no longer restarting!
Thank you so much for you help, it ment alot.

thats a pleasure mate, give me a yell later when your free and we'll fix the graphics error

Good to hear you got things working again.
As for finding out video info, also for this you can very well use this Knoppix CD.
But since you can't get that now as you mentioned, you better find out, some of the other ways.

It seems VT8237R is not for the graphics.
http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/k7-series/km400/
The VIA VT8237R Plus is the latest in a series of market leading South Bridge chips integrating the very latest in I/O innovation, like Serial ATA/RAID, faster than the competition, while maintaining backwards compatibility and rock solid reliability.

On the same page:
Integrated VIA UniChrome™ Graphics
The VIA UniChrome KM400 comprises ...

So KM400 is for the graphics it seems.

Does this offer any help? (link given by via website under tech support)
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=2&Type=1&OSID=1
My guess is this is the VIA suggested video driver for 2000 & XP:
http://downloads.viaarena.com/drivers/video/KN_KM400/KM400_16942416_XP_wIShld_logod.zip
I hope it works for your machine.

Yes I have tried that KM400 driver, it wont install. Thats the same one I got from the emachines website.

I continued my Video card problem in a different topic.
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/21798875/Problem-with-Win-Fast-Video-Card.html