Computer continually restarts

[BarryMurphy]

Every so often, maybe 30 min, maybe 2 hrs, my PC spontaneously restarts. I had a hardware upgrade a couple of weeks ago, and I've had many problems getting programs to work properly since then, but this one has only been happening in the last two or three days. I can't find anything on the Microsoft knowledge base that appears to apply to my situation. Is ther anything I can do to identify the cause or am I in for another reinstall? I am running Win98 SE.

 

[Arkayic]

It could be some of the hardware you updated, could be the ram specifically. or Do you have a ADSL link? USB speed touch?

Craig

 

[Jakespeare]

Your problem sounds like it is hardware related.

What is your CPU temp ?
Video drivers ?

Did the people who upgraded your computer do a complete resinstall of Winows (wipe the hard drive clean) ?

Is it a Via Chipset ? Did they get the 4in1 loaded ?

Your post just lacks information to really even get started.

Power supply ? Is that new?
Did you keep the OLD case, and upgrade to an ATHLON ?
(OLD power supply would cause what is happening, possibly)

Post more info.........

 

[BarryMurphy]

Thanks for your replies, Arkayic and Jakespeare. I don't have all the details you asked about, but here is what I do know.
I upgraded in August from a Celeron 400 on a Tekram M/B with 128 MB SDRAM to an Athlon Thunderbird 1.2GHz with 256MB PC2100 DDR RAM on an FIC AD11 M/B, and added a 40GB 7200rpm HDD to the existing 10.2GB 5400rpm HDD. Two weeks ago I upgraded again, this time adding another 512MB DDR RAM and an 80GB 7200rpm HDD, and removed the old 10.2GB HDD. I did indeed keep the old case and power supply, and the recent upgrade did involve reinstalling Windows to a clean HDD.
I'm sorry, I'm no sure what chipset it has and I don't know what a 4in1 is. I wouldn't know where to look for my CPU temperature. But as for the video driver, under Driver File Details it shows vmm32.vxd (vdd.vxd) and vmm32.vxd (vflad.vxd). Since I posted the question above, I have had a number of blue screens with messages such as: A fatal exception 06 has occurred at 0028:C00629F in VXD VMM(01) + 0000529F. The current application will be terminated etc.
I should say that before the latest upgrade I was planning to upgrade from Windows 98 to XP but the purchase of XP I had previously arranged fell through (I actually made a successful bid in an online auction but the seller had sold the item before bidding closed!). So I had to reinstall Win98, but I am still planning to install XP soon. If the present situation seems to require a Windows reinstall, then I will buy and install XP, rather than doing another reinstall of Win98.

 

[BarryMurphy]

Sorry, I should have mentioned, I don't know what USB speed touch is but I don't believe I have it, and I have a dialup connection, not ADSL.

 

[ngagne]

I would suspect that your power supply is less than adequate. Try upgrading to at least a 300W supply, preferably a 350W. The price difference is not all that great. Nate Gagne
nathan.gagne@verizon.net
AKA Nick Burns - Your Company's Computer Guy
"Would you like me to save your game of Minesweeper first?"

Like my post? Let me know it was helpful!

 

[hotfusion]

One issue that can cause instabilities (and did with mine) with Win98 is having too much RAM. Sounds odd I know, but the fact is, for various reasons, don't install more than 256 Mb of ram. (actual maximum seems to be about 320)
Probably not the cause of your trouble, though, but everything helps.
Sort this out anyway, but look at the PSU capacity as suggested above - that is a most likely cause. My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. Andy.

 

[tempo21]

i go with the CPU temp. Run your PC with the cover off and make sure thatall the fans in your system are turning throughout. To find your CPU temp go into bios at startup and the info should be there!

Also check power settings in the control panel.

 

[ngagne]

tempo21 -

I can almost guarantee that it is not a heat issue. A PS meant to run a Celeron 400 will be maxed out when trying to run a 1.2Ghz Athlon. I bet that the power supply in there is only 150W, half of the recommended amount for the AMD chip. An heat related issues are probably caused by the power supply overheating while trying to provide enough power to the system. Nate Gagne
nathan.gagne@verizon.net
AKA Nick Burns - Your Company's Computer Guy
"Would you like me to save your game of Minesweeper first?"

Like my post? Let me know it was helpful!

 

[bestdoc]

If any of the suggestions above don't help - although the power supply and heat are most likely - you may find that the motherboard is faulty and needs replacing under warranty.

 

[BarryMurphy]

Thanks very much everyone.
I will replace the power supply. That does appear to be a likely contributor to the problem, if not the whole cause. Certainly the new hardware must require more power, and although I don't know its capacity, it seems unlikely that it would be much more than the required wattage for the original CPU. Interestingly, the PC has been running continously for about 5 hours today, and the only thing I have done differently is to run only two or three applications simultaneously, whereas I was running more like 7 or 8 before when it was playing up. Perhaps this means that the CPU is using less power, so the PS is not being overloaded.
I just checked the CPU temperature and it is 46C - I don't know if that is high or low.
Hotfusion, your experience is very interesting and unexpected. I don't think I will remove any RAM though, as I am intending to upgrade to XP shortly, and that should remove any issues related to Win98.

Barry Murphy