It's probably not MSblast-- I believe this b/c it doesn't give a countdown before it reboots. I've had MSblast on my old comp, and this problem is somewhat different than my msblast experience. Rather, it just reboots without warning. I'm in the middle of working on something, and the computer suddenly restarts.


Something got screwed up bad when it happened the most recent time and it wouldnt boot, so I have winxp setup running now. The good news is that most of my data is safe on my other comp, which hasn't given me problems so far.


I did a virus/spyware scan, and both tests came up clean.

Could voltage spikes/power surges be a possibility? I'm willing to accept this possibility b/c of the following things:

1.) The comp uses a generic powerstrip w/o surge protection. I didn't know about it until I checked it closely-- my parents bought it and had some lamer from comp-usa come out to set it up when I was out one day. I plan to get a decent power strip w/ necessary protection ASAP.

2. This problem seems to happen when someone turns on a light, or the air conditioning cycles on, etc. It happens most in the evening.

Any thoughts? I've also suspected a defective power supply. Could that have the potential to cause these problems as well?






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Most people regard me as the dark and immoral side of Massassi. At least I'm getting what I want out of life.

Well here is some thoughts...

1) Your computer is overheating...
2) You maybe tripping a circit (unlikely)...
3) There is software causing computer crashes... and what is going on in the room is just chance.

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Don't be unwise judge me not by my size. You wont believe your eyes watch the xwing rise!

Winxp setup finished, and my situation is a hell of a lot worse. The computer still won't boot, so maybe something got fried or damaged.

Basically, it powers up the drives, and then goes to a black screen when the winxp loading screen is supposed to come up.

I'm glad I have an extended warranty on both comps, so instead of hassling repairs, I'll just get a new one.



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Most people regard me as the dark and immoral side of Massassi. At least I'm getting what I want out of life.

AC units draw a lot of power, especially at start up, but that would only affect your comp if it were in the same cicuit (and it would more likely trip the breaker)

I'd try getting some more fans or upgrading the cooling first. Your Processor or video card may be getting too hot.

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

maybe.... I have to keep it in this stupid cabinet. it's my parents comp, so I don't have any say in where it goes.

My comp is sitting out where it can get the proper cooling it needs.



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Most people regard me as the dark and immoral side of Massassi. At least I'm getting what I want out of life.

maybe you have to go in...BUM BUM BBBUUUUUUHHHHH.

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Madquack and Firbnic have a signature.
Remnant Temple Part A beta test.
Light And Darkness

How powerful is your computer's PSU?

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Cantina Cloud | BCF | The Massassian 1 & 2 | Gonkmeg
Corrupting the kiddies since '97

????

Anyway, I have another suspicion.

Since that comp has to remain in the cabinet, I do all I can to alleviate heat by leaving the door open when i'm using it. (The little vents on top are laughable-- I can feel the heat through the door when it's closed.

I left it on last night doing a 3d rendering job, and as usual, i left the door open. When i woke up this morning, the door was shut and
it felt hot as hell in there.

After b****ing to my parents about it for the

Xth time, I turned the comp off to let it cool and left it along until about an hour ago.

I think my parents are at fault for this. Their idiotic reasoning for wanting to keep a heat-producing machine in an insulated little wood enclosure with little to no cooling has single handedly destroyed a decent machine.

Even though its not my comp, I still feel pissed about it b/c it was so stupid, avoidable, and unnecessary.


Jaiph: It was a 2.1 GHZ athlon when it worked. now, its a paperweight taking up space.


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Most people regard me as the dark and immoral side of Massassi. At least I'm getting what I want out of life.

[This message has been edited by Pagewizard_YKS (edited March 14, 2004).]

Sounds like another case of computer illiteracy. Maybe the MBS should do something about this...

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There is no signature

You mean...*gasp*...the Enlightenment Division?

PSU != CPU...

He wants to know the wattage rating for your Power Supply Unit. (Mine, for example, is 400 watts.)

There could be a few causes for random reboots. Start with the easy things first... is the inside of the case dusty as hell.. dust in the heatsinks, etc. etc. I used to have an old Packard Hell that would reboot if you did something CPU intensive for any considerable amount of time. Cleaned out the case a bit with a can of air, and bam. Fixed it. Seems it was getting a liiiitle too warm, and as a precaution it was rebooting.. so that it didn't.. you know..melt.

Just take off the cover of the case, and get in there with your lungs (prepare to sneeze), a can of air (don't turn it upside and spray... iirc that sprays water vapor), or hell, even take a vacuum's hose and hook it up to the exhaust... if you can do that. Generally just get the dust off of fans, and heatsinks, and if your case has air filters or something, you may want to clean/change them as needed.

If all that doesn't work, then it's more than likely not a thermal issue. This is where the PSU and such will come into play. A 300w or better PSU probably wouldn't be the issue..

If it happens only when someone turns on a light or air conditioning.. you may be overloading the circuit all that happens to be on juuust a bit. I know that where I live, if my mother runs her hairdryer in the next room, with the lights on, and I'm in my room with the lights off (I'm really a vampire), Comp on, and air conditioner on, then we'll trip the breaker. If she tursn the hairdryer off, no problem. Not your problem, but its something to think about.

Getting a good powerstrip might help, and hell, I couldn't recommend running a computer off of a wall outlet, as anyone with a brain will tell you that wall outlets are fed with what's called "dirty" power. Electricity is funny like that... sometimes you'll get surges, sometimes you'll get sags, and you'll also get spikes. The surge protector tends to even that out some, or at least the good ones do. At worst it'll probably act like one of those things you shove into a wall socket to give you more outlets.

Regardless, a powerstrip would be good. Wall outlet power is fine for stuff like lightbulbs and normal electronics and such, but for a computer you'll probably want a powerstrip. Just in case.

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I'll admit to Reactor CTF, Duel Abyss, Duel Turbulent, Duel Dustball, and even the CCCP, but not Sky High! (my first, be kind!) Ok so maybe I will.

The chopper is prepped and ready for flight

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

Huh... does American power fluctuate a lot? My power is constant - I've never had problems, apart with occasional powercuts. Then again, we turn off lights we don't use. In reality, I wouldn't care if there were no lights, so...

Heat, maybe? My computer randomly shut down after hitting too high temperatures. I remounted my heatsink and all was hunkydory.

And I can symphathise with you on stupid parents. My dad complains about having to replace the batteries in our optical, cordless mouse every two weeks. And then I point out it's a power whore and he gets stressy. It's not like he's illiterate, just missing the finer points of not spending £10 a month on batteries for something you wouldn't have to pay for with a cord.

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The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but one cannot stay in the cradle forever.
-- Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, The Father of Rocketry

[This message has been edited by - Tony - (edited March 15, 2004).]

Yes, it's sad how few people actually know how to properly take care of their computers... Parents should take some advice from their childred.

What's worse is that often enough, the parents think that they still know more about the subject than their children, simply because they are the parents, and have lived longer. Fortunately, much of my family is at the opposite end of the spectrum; my grandfather assembles PCs as a hobby.

As for your computer being dead, chances are 99% that it is still functional, just the hard drive's dead. On the average computer, the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is by far the greatest point of vulnerability for heat. The CPU, GPU, and PSU all come with sufficient fans for normal use. HDDs don't have any method to cool off, and as you can imagine, they can get quite hot by spinning at 7,200 rmp (or higher). Also, the HDD is the most easily damaged component. I would reccomend that you inform your parents that they know next to nothing on taking care of computers, and replace the HDD. A decent-sized one would be easily under $100US.

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Nes digs around in the trash can.
Nes finds a hamburger!
Nes puts the hamburger in his backpack.

~63 for a 40 GB HDD from WD

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There is no signature