PC Spontaneously Rebooting

[Deadshot]

Hi,

I am running an AOPEN PIII 800MHZ machine with 512MB of RAM. No changes to hardware or software installations recently. Running Windows XP Pro with SP2

Tonight after running my computer for about an hour after it being off all day, the system began to spontaneously reboot. I have tried to load Last Known Good Configuration as well as Safe Mode. Neither got me farther than a few moments at the Windows boot screen before rebooting again.

HELP! :(

[Whyzman]

Is it rebooting while in SAFEMODE?

You might want to just enter the BIOS and look at the temp monitoring if the motherboard is so equipped. Keep an eye on the temps and see if they are climbing...

Speaking of that, have you had a look at the computer innards to see if there's an accumulation of dust on the heatsink?

[Deadshot]

With some digital camera video wizardry I managed to get a split second shot of my screen when a blue screen flashed a second before rebooting. It says:

STOP: c0000218 (Registry File Failure)
THe registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete.

Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.

It is rebooting in Last Known Good Configuration as well as all Safe Mode options. Checked the tower and no big amounts of dust/debris on the heatsink. Cleaned it out anyway.

[Whyzman]

If you have a floppy drive, I would suggest downloading the Harddrive diagnostics and running them. They can be downloaded from the harddrive manufacturer's website.

[ski]

Some other possible causes:

-Everything not completely seated on the motherboard.

-Overtaxed or bad power supply
Either test it, or swap it out with a different(preferably higher wattage) unit.

-Bad memory
Run Memtest86 and if problems are reported then -> remove and reinsert the memory a few times, if using multiple modules then install just one module at a time and try it in different slots, do not use any optimal settings for the memory in BIOS, and swap it out with known good memory.

-Bad video card.
Make sure it's fully seated, it's fan is running, and its heatsink is securely mounted.
If those are ok, then swap it out with a known good card.

-Bad MB.
Check for bulging, leaking, or ruptured capacitors.
If they look ok, then swap it out with a known good MB.

-IRQ conflict with a network card.
If no problems show up for the NIC in Device Manager, then remove it from DM, shut down, remove the card from the MB, and restart.

-Viruses and spyware.
Run Ad-aware, Spybot, and Hijack This for removing spyware.

[ErnieK]

Ms's response to your problem, as has been said it looks like possible hardware fault or failure.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=830084

[Deadshot]

All of the hardware seems to be functioning fine.

I couldn't get into the repair option as it kept asking for the admin password and even though I know what it is, the comp wasn't accepting it. I tried a few things regarding admin password fixes but none worked.

I resorted to installing another instance of windows on the same partition so I can pull off what data I can from it. I have lost my most recent bookmarks and the passwords that were saved in some of my programs but I was able to salvage most everything else.

There were two folders that I have found corrupted. One was with pictures and the other was the System32 folder.

This computer is 5 years old and has been on almost constantly. Over the past year I have changed the power supply, added a new hard drive and video card and a dvd burner. There were no issues with these components at the time. I have tried swapping out the RAM with no change and I can't see anything that indicates that the motherboard is gone.

Since I installed windows again the computer has run fine so I don't believe it is a hardware issue.

When the spontaneous rebooting happened, I was attempting to load a quicktime movie into Soundforge to rip the audio portion of it. It said I didn't have the appropriate plugin for Quicktime to do that. I cleared the error and then when I attempted to close Soundforge the rebooting began.

[ErnieK]

If you have not yet deleted the original installation try the following If it will stay up long enough. It might work it might not, but is worth a try.

As soon as the computer has booted to the desktop go to MY COMPUTER and RIGHT click it and select PROPERTIES.

Next select ADVANCED and go to START & RECOVERY and ensure that "AUTOMATICALLY RESTART" is DE_SELECTED (tick taken out of box)

Now re-start the computer manually (if it has stayed up long enough) and try to get into safe mode.

Make sure you have your Windows disk inserted to the CD drive.

Now Open a command prompt window (link for it usually found in system tools in the start menu) and at the A:\ prompt type (without quotes)
"SFC /all" and hit enter.

This will bring up a lst of choices. Select SCANONCE and hit enter.

This is system file checker and it will check all system files and restore any corrupt that it finds at the next re-boot so re-boot now. You might have to keep pointing the program back to the CD drive when asked fopr a specific file.